Eastern Conference Quarter Finals Predictions

4. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. 5. Philadelphia Flyers
(Flyers lead regular season series 4-2)
Had to start with what is going to be the most physical, high scoring and entertaining series of all the matchups regardless of conference. This is series is going to be a bloodbath. The Flyers know what it takes to win in the Consol Energy Center, in fact they are 5-1 in Pittsburgh since the new building opened. Pittsburgh has gotten absurd of amounts of scoring depth this season which they will need if they want to keep their season going as Marc-Andre Fleury has been nothing special this season.

Prediction: The way to beat Pittsburgh is to beat them at their own game, scoring, scoring, and more scoring. The Flyers boast similar depth and they do have a couple guys coming back from injury, but with all the questions surrounding Ilya Bryzgalov and his already shaky playoff history, I can't advance the Flyers with any sort of confidence. The series does go the distance. Penguins in 7.

3. Florida Panthers vs. 6. New Jersey Devils
(Panthers lead season series 2-1-1)
From one end of the spectrum to the other, the likely snooze fest series of them all. To be brief, the Devils have won 6 straight at the end of the season, while Florida has lost 8 out of their last 10. Momentum heading into the playoffs can be a big advantage.

Prediction: Jose Theodore's GAA last 4 playoff appearances: 3.04, 3.15, 3.72, 3.70. Are those numbers suddenly going to improve? Didn't think so. Devils in 5.

2. Boston Bruins vs. 7 Washington Capitals
(Capitals lead season series 3-1)
I'm pretty sure the Bruins aren't too happy that the Rangers lost their last game of the season to Washington to set up this matchup, instead of drawing Ottawa, which would've been a short series. More questions than answers when trying to figure out if Washington can even play to their potential. Haven't even mentioned the Caps issues in goal right now.

Prediction: The 4 game regular season series were all close games besides the lone Bruins win on 2/5. The Caps do present a nice test for the defending champions in the first round, but the Bruins are likely too much for a young rookie goaltender in Braden Holtby to handle in his first playoff appearance. Bruins in 6.


RANGERS VS. SENATORS DETAILED SERIES PREVIEW THURSDAY.

The Just Blueshirts blog reviews its preseason predictions

(link to original article)

1. Preseason- Washington

    Actual- New York Rangers

The Caps started 7-0 and dropped off the Earth afterwards. Fought for 8th nearly all season long, fired coach, Ovechkin under-achieved, bad goaltending from Vokoun and still nearly stole the division title from the Panthers on the last day of the season. The Rangers went above and beyond expectations thanks to a rock solid defensive corps and the best goaltender in the NHL.

2. Preseason- Pittsburgh

    Actual- Boston

The Bruins went through their "Cup hangover" in October, then proceeded to lose only 4 games from Halloween until New Years Eve, looked to make another run through the new year, but played barely better than .500 hockey in 2012.

3. Preseason- Buffalo

    Actual- Florida

Buffalo was the sexy preseason pick with their big free agency splashes, but couldn't stay healthy once the season started, lost 4 out of 5 to finish season in 9th place, three points from the cutoff. Florida came out of nowhere, but finished the season poorly winning just 2 games in their last 10 and still held off Washington thanks to overtime and shootout results.

4. Preseason- Tampa Bay

    Actual- Pittsburgh

Tampa lost in the conference finals last season to Boston and could not duplicate last year success into this year despite Stamkos scoring 60 goals and 97 points. Done in by poor goaltending. The Penguins could not overtake the Rangers despite having two winning streaks of 8 and 11 games in 2012. Came within just one point out of first in the Atlantic in mid-March but home and home losses to the Islanders  in late March put the division title out of reach for good.

5. Preseason- Boston

    Actual- Philadelphia

The Flyers were right there with the Pens and Rangers leading up to their Winter Classic matchup with the Rangers. Following the Rangers win, the Flyers could not keep up and settled into third place in the Atlantic following a bad February thanks to brutal goaltending by Ilya Bryzgalov and injuries along their blueline. Seemed to find their game in March but it was too little, too late.

6. Preseason- Rangers

    Actual- New Jersey

Devils played .500 hockey through mid-December and improved as the year went on, still finished with a good enough record to settle comfortably in sixth place in the conference despite finishing 4th in the Atlantic with 102 points.

7. Preseason- Carolina

    Actual- Washington

Carolina finished no where close in the playoff race due to the struggles of captain Eric Staal and goaltender Cam Ward in the beginning half of the year. Won just 4 games for the month of November and 5 games in December. Jeff Skinner struggled to duplicate his outstanding freshman season into a successful 2011-12 campaign.

8. Preseason- New Jersey

    Actual- Ottawa

Ottawa won exactly 50% of their games and floundered around the bottom of the East for most of the season. Backed into the playoffs losing 3 straight and 6 out of their last 10.

NYR Sunday Stats

Every Sunday morning this entry will be updated with a running total of goals, assists and points for the Rangers as well as stats on the Ranger goalies.

Updated 4/8/12 FINAL SEASON STATS

Player                          Goals/Assists/Points
Marian Gaborik             41-35-76
Brad Richards               25-41-66
Ryan Callahan               29-25-54
Derek Stepan               17-34-51
Michael Del Zotto          10-31-41
Carl Hagelin                14-24-38
Artem Anisimov            16-20-36
Brandon Dubinsky         10-24-34
Ryan McDonagh            7-25-32
Dan Girardi                  5-24-29
Brian Boyle                  11-15-26
Ruslan Fedotenko         9-11-20
Anton Stralman            2-16-18
Brandon Prust              5-12-17
John Mitchell               5-11-16
Stu Bickel                    0-9-9
Jeff Woywitka             1-5-6
Mike Rupp                   4-1-5
Steve Eminger              2-3-5
Marc Staal                   2-3-5
Erik Christensen           1-4-5
Sean Avery                  3-0-3
Michael Sauer               1-2-3
Wojtek Wolski             0-3-3
Mats Zuccarello            2-1-3
Tim Erixon                  0-2-2
Andre Deveaux             0-1-1
John Scott                   0-1-1


**italics indicate player is no longer on active roster**

Henrik Lundqvist     38-17-5   GA- 1.97   SV % .930  8 SO
Martin Biron           12-5-2   GA- 2.46  SV % .904  2 SO

Leaders-
PIM- Brandon Prust 156

+/- Ryan McDonagh +28  // Ryan Callahan -8

Shots- Marian Gaborik 276

Rangers fall 2-1 against Boston, clinching first on hold

I'm going to be moving away from the good, bad, ugly format to my game reviews from here until the end of the year and just post some thoughts I took away from each contest.

There's 2 things I took away from Sunday nights contest. First was the apparent confusion inside the locker room of what the Rangers needed to do in order to wrap up the one seed. I firmly believe that Torts never brought up what they had to do in order clinch first, but as a player I believe it's important to know exactly where your opponents are in relation to where you stand in the overall picture of things. Brandon Prust likely knew what the Rangers had to do after inquiring to newyorkrangers.com before the game about who had won the Flyers-Penguins matchup earlier Sunday afternoon. After the game, Marc Staal told reporters he had no idea the Rangers simply had to take Sunday's game into overtime to clinch first.

The second thing is the sense of complacency the Rangers had for a large stretch of Sunday's game. Following Marion Gaborik's opening tally at 4:33 of the first period, the Rangers seemed more than content to sit back and play defense. So much defense, in fact the Rangers only finished with 5 shots on goal in the first period after not registering a shot in the final 11+ minutes of the first period. The Rangers never really turned the pressure up again on Bruins goalie Tim Thomas until the Rangers went on their second power play with less than 1 minute left in the first and were rewarded with a brief 5 on 3 early in the third period, which the Rangers were unable to capitalize. The Rangers finished with 19 shots in the third period alone and 34 shots overall. The Rangers obvious lack of urgency for about 35 minutes cost them from clinching in front of their fans.

I'm sure Ranger fans won't complain if the Rangers sweep the season series with Philadelphia on Tuesday, who have been snakebitten by a Ranger team all season that simply has worked harder game in and game out and have come out undefeated in the season series. The Flyers do have home ice at stake in their likely series against Pittsburgh and will have something to play for. Also, I'm sure the Rangers will get the Flyers best game so the Flyers can prove to themselves that they can hang with the Rangers in a potential series down the road.

RELAX RANGER FANS!!!

Richards, Gabby lead the Rangers to victory over the Isles

The Good: Brad Richards opened the Rangers scoring late in the first period with a coast to coast rush that ended in a wrister over Evgeni Nabokov's shoulder for the Rangers first power play goal in 5 games. Richards made it 2-2 once again on the power play in the second with a blast from the blueline that found its way into the net with Brian Boyle squarely in front of Nabokov who never saw it. Boyle was rewarded again in the third period that tied it following a Ryan McDonagh blast from the point that once again found its way into the net with Ruslan Fedotenko and Boyle screening the goaltender. Marian Gaborik got the game winner with just 6 seconds left in OT, receiving a pass from Richards who smoked a wrist shot off the post and in the net for the Rangers third power play goal of the game.

The Bad: The first two Islander goals were fortunate bounces that went their way. John Tavares was credited with the first goal when a Dan Girardi clearing attempt in front of the net deflected off Tavares' skate and behind Henrik Lundqvist. The second goal was credited to Matt Moulson after a bounce off of the glass behind Lundqvist found Moulson who pushed the puck into the crease, off of a sprawling Lundqvist's skate and into the net. The Islanders made it 3-2 late in the second when Tavares found Andrew MacDonald coming out on the penalty box for a breakaway that beat Lundqvist to the far post.

The Ugly: The Rangers had to have this game and they did it. With the Penguins creeping up on the Rangers in the standings, they dominated the Islanders in shots and puck possession and were still down a goal heading into the third due to some unlucky breaks. But as all good teams do, the Rangers overcame adversity, tied the game early in the third and held on to win in overtime. Tonights game may be one we look back on a couple months from now that awoke the Rangers from their 3 week slumber for a potential run. The Rangers are 1 for 1 on the seven game homestand and now need to keep momentum going into Tuesday's game against Carolina and the huge showdown with the Penguins on Thursday.

The Rangers need to start playing like its March and not January

2010-11 11-6-1 (defeated by Washington 4-1 in Quarterfinals)
2009-10 10-6-4 (DNQ)
2008-09 11-6-1 (defeated by Washington 4-3 in Quarterfinals)
2007-08 9-3-5 (defeated by Pittsburgh 4-1 in Semifinals)
2006-07 12-3-4 (defeated by Buffalo 4-2 in Semifinals)

Above are the Rangers W-L records for March and April going back for the last 5 seasons where the Rangers are a collective 53-24-15. The Rangers should know how to play in March since its usually around this time of the year when the Rangers have started to make their push for 8th. Where as in the foreseeable past we were never sure if the Rangers were going to make the playoffs, for the past couple weeks more or less since the trade deadline we've been talking about who was going to be the Rangers first round opponent in a 1 vs. 8 matchup.

Well, those discussions have been somewhat silenced over the past couple days with the Penguins in the midst of a 7 game winning streak and the impending return of Sidney Crosby coinciding with the Rangers taking a bad 4-1 loss in Newark on Tuesday.

Starting with tonights game in Ottawa, the Rangers need to start playing with a sense of urgency that they've shown they can build in the month of March and ride the wave of momentum that needs to carry them through the playoffs.

Just to give some perspective the last time the Rangers had Games 1 & 2 at home was the 1997 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against Montreal. I know home ice doesn't mean much in the NHL but it would be nice to have that luxury for at least 3 playoff rounds.

NYR hang on against Boston win 4-3 at MSG

I'm going to skip over The Good and The Bad and head straight for The Ugly. It was a playoff-like atmosphere at the Garden and in return was anything but a playoff-like game we are going to see come mid April. Three first period goals combined, as well as 3 fights and a ton of sloppy defensive work on both sides that led to goals unfortunately for the Rangers, their first two goals against. The Rangers tightened the screws in the second period, but that however the period was spent mostly in the Rangers defensive end. If any team ever had a 20 minute power play, the Bruins sure had one in the second period but were unable to get any of their 10 shots on goal through Lundqvist. The Rangers dug deep coming out for the third period and left everything on the ice behind goals from Gaborik and Stepan's game winner to leave MSG today with a win and further distanced themselves from second place Boston and Pittsburgh.

One thing of note: Since Callahan has been out, the Rangers have allowed 9 goals in their last 3 games, well ahead of their season average... coincidence?