Review: October 12th - Jets at Rangers and other thoughts

Jets at Rangers:
Well, that was another playoff loss type of game. Rangers worked hard, created shots, and made a goalie look pretty stellar. You have to put shots in places where the goalie isn't. Our guys that can do that - Stepan, Nash, Kreider, Yandle and Brassard - just weren't doing it. Between them 17 shots and no goals.

I'm not terribly disappointed here. The AV Rangers work. They create opportunities. These guys will either start figuring out placement and score goals or they won't. If it's the latter, Rangers make playoffs; Rangers will be tough in the playoffs; Rangers lose in the playoffs to a team that can finish small opportunities.

Winnepeg has a kid I haven't heard of before - Nikolaj Ehlers. This kid should be watched. He skates very well. He has a nose for the puck. as they say. He reminds me of Sami Vatanen in Anaheim. Both are lesser Karlssons (Ottawa). I thought he was a defenseman - guess not: Right Wing. Now he doesn't look quite the same. Maybe a Hagelin but smaller.

Hutchinson played well. But this is that thing with goalies. If they face more than 30 shots, they get first star if less than one goal scored. Shot count is almost meaningless. The Rangers didn't dominate this game as the shots would allude to. Switch goalies and the outcome is the same...maybe Lundqvist gets a shutout.

Notes:
I'm still progressing through last night's games. Just from the brief review, I am surprised by San Jose and Detroit and Vancouver. Season is early, but these teams are "clicking".

I like what San Jose has done with this team in the off season. Top 4 d-men are tough and Saavy. Marleau and Thornton have always had top-tier hands and Thornton's vision. But they are soft. Couture and Ward, however, are not.

Detroit just continues to do what Detroit does - play good hockey. This Larkin kid seems like a good find at 15th in 2014. Richards can be very solid when playing confidently and not relied on to be the leader. And right now - Datsyuk hasn't touched the ice. And I totally forgot about DeKeyser - not a top-impact guy, but he adds to make things more solid.

Vancouver. Sedins. Consistent and consistently not easy to stop. Add a good system and some good hands and this team is pretty good. The defensive depth is quite solid. Tanev is arriving and I love those Sbisa style d-men. He is solid and doesn't kill with mistakes or over-doing it. Brandon Sutter will be interesting to watch. Seems he's getting lots of playing time.

More thoughts later...