kevin hayes roberto luongo rangers panthers

Last night was all planned out – I’d watch the game in peace. Eat dinner. A nice, relaxing Saturday. Then family came over last second and my two year old niece took control of the TV. So I watched the first period and then Despicable Me 3…twice. Listen, anything to keep a toddler from screaming and crying. That movie works. Also – two year olds are evil.

Anywho…here are some thoughts on the first period and the highlights

  • Florida seems to have issues defending the front of the net. The Rangers have the same issues too. Mika Zibanejad was wide open in front for his goal. It’s like the Panthers forgot he was there.
  • On that goal, Tony DeAngelo pinched in with the puck, and it was Kevin Hayes who recognized this and slid back to the point. This seems like it’s so simple, but it is often forgotten. Hayes moving back gave DeAngelo and outlet, which he used. Hayes’ shot didn’t get through, but it went right to Zibanejad for the goal. For what it’s worth, it was Aaron Ekblad who was way too high on this play.
  • Another beauty by Hayes, who basically outmuscled two Panthers and waited for Vlad Namestnikov for the shorty. Hayes is good at this hockey thing.
  • There appeared to be a lot of traffic in front on that Keith Yandle powerplay goal. That said, it looked like one Henrik Lundqvist could have had. This one was all highlights though, so I didn’t get any context of the play.
  • Bad turnover by DeAngelo on the Jonathan Huberdeau goal. Also I feel like Brady Skjei could have played that 2-on-1 better. It looked like he was drifting too far to Evgenii Dadonov to prevent the pass, and let Huberdeau walk right in. Right through Hank’s wickets – and those changeup shots are infuriating because you expect something else and then let a little dribbler through you. Tough to stop and infuriating when they go in.
  • I love when my crazy predictions are right. Hooray Matt Beleskey.
  • That Ekblad goal was all sorts of ugly. Four Rangers just kind of watching themselves turn the puck over. Can’t blame DeAngelo on that one, he wasn’t given help. Nor was Hank.
  • Fredrik Claesson and Alex Barkov had absolute rockets and picked the corners. You expect that from Barkov. Not from Claesson.

That’s all I got folks. Sorry about the lack of detail on this one. Two year olds control lives.

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