Though someone did crunch the numbers on it, apparently - seems like 2-2 is the way to go to maximize raw damage, instead of 3p-1g. At least in terms of raw DPS, there's literally nothing without a priest that can beat a comp with a strength priest in it. 1-3 priests and 3-1 gunners is the way to go if you're going pure gun. Missile launcher'll deal with the rest, ha. For me.Four gunner is an absolute pain early, but once you get around submarine or so the price is negligible, especially if you either compo for magic or invest a little - 20'll get base sniper rifles to cost $1, and those hurt plenty to deal with most things up till cavern or so. The Rangers’ coach wouldn’t discuss his lineup decisions at all after the game. Top regular season scorers Zibanejad, Kreider and Artemi Panarin were all broken up and spread out on the Blueshirts’ top three lines, as if Gallant was willing to sacrifice offense for balance. Gallant’s new forward line combinations were uninspiring, however, and the Lightning jumped all over the visitors.
#Stick ranger games series
The coach dressed fourth-line wing Dryden Hunt instead for the first time since Game 3 of the first round series against the Penguins. He scratched young winger Kaapo Kakko for the first time all playoffs and broke up The Kid line, which had received less playing time in recent games. Gallant had assembled an unusual starting lineup. The Lightning had 23 shots on goal to the Rangers’ 13 after two, and a lopsided 50-23 shot attempts advantage heading to the third. And Gallant abandoned his poorly-conceived early game forward lines early in the middle frame, reuniting Zibanejad and Kreider, rather than spreading his big guns out.īut the Blueshirts put only six shots on goal in the entire second period. Trouba put a clean, tone-setting hit on Corey Perry early in the second period. Zibanejad had the puck hop off his stick on two chances in the slot. Lightning top defenseman Victor Hedman left the ice temporarily midway through the period after taking an Alexis Lafreniere hit to the chin, but the Rangers weren’t able to capitalize in his absence. Shesterkin made five stops on shots from point blank range in the second period alone, denying Anthony Cirelli and Kucherov with his left pad and glove, stopping Pat Maroon with his right pad, and stoning Ondrej Palat and Killorn bearing down on a scoreless Tampa power play. The game was only still within reach because of the Rangers’ all-world goalie.
The 1-0 Lightning lead felt worse than the score. Strome would sit the entire third period, ruled out with a lower body injury. A lot of guys with some courageous efforts, playing through some injuries and putting it on the line. “That’s a lot of hockey in a short amount of time. Look no further than top defenseman Adam Fox, who was clearly laboring through some undisclosed injury the past couple games, without his typical jump in his step.įox posted a blistering 23 points in the first 17 games of these playoffs and none in the last three. We battled hard and did the best we could.” “We go seven, seven, really no breaks … Guys don’t get a chance to heal much.
“There’s no doubt it showed up,” Gallant said. Gallant admitted that playing 20 games in 40 got to his team, through fatigue and injuries, and said the workload was “definitely” responsible for their lack of offense recently. Zibanejad, ineffective for most of the night, put the final shot on Andre Vasilevskiy’s right pad from the left circle with Shesterkin pulled for the extra skater in the final seconds.