ECQF vs. OTT G2: NYR fall in OT 3-2

Rather than going goal by goal like I normally do, I'm just going to point out a couple things.

First off, Hagelin is probably going to get a one game suspension for his elbow that knocked Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson out of the game in the second period. Although it definitely wasn't intentional, the damage was still done and he is going to have a hearing about it. If Hagelin is suspended, the Rangers need to give Kreider his chance to show what he can do. There's nothing wrong with giving Kreider 3rd line minutes with Boyle and whomever else Torts decides to throw in there after lineup changes. Considering how hot Boyle's stick his right now, Kreider feeding Boyle the puck I don't consider to be a bad thing.

Speaking of Boyle, once the Rangers learned of Ottawa's intention to dress their tough guys and start them no less, the Rangers and Boyle himself knew what was coming. Still, it really didn't seem like Ottawa was all that interested in playing hockey until Erik Karlsson was the recipient of a lucky goal on a pass to the middle of the ice that caromed off of Del Zotto's skate and behind Lundqvist towards the end of Hagelin's elbowing major. Quite frankly, all of Ottawa's goals tonight were fortunate bounces that landed on Senator sticks and behind Lundqvist. Del Zotto was perhaps out of position on the goal that went off of his skate but he is far from the reason why the Rangers lost.

Finally, the Rangers played the third period far too passively for me up until Foligno's goal with 5 minutes left. Where as the Rangers stepped on the throat of Ottawa at the start of the third period Game 1 with Richards' goal, the Sens held the puck for far too long in the third period for Game 2. By the way, with less than 5 minutes to go in the third period with the lead, the Rangers need to do a better job at finishing.

Again, for Game 3 if Hagelin is suspended, Kreider and trade deadline acquisition John Scott need to be inserted into the lineup and John Mitchell scratched who has done little to nothing for this team in months. Ranger fans cannot panic with the series shifting to Ottawa, they are the better team with deeper scoring and a much better goaltender, but as a long time die hard of this team, the Rangers always like to make things interesting for us.

Kreider learning hockey, "The Rangers Way"

"It's pretty hard to not get too far ahead of ourselves with the way we go about our business in our organization and in our locker room. I'd say our leadership all the way through, help guys understand the importance of one game at a time. There is now a Rangers way of doing things, and we all understand that." - Derek Stepan

What was a small snippet of a post practice interview with reporters following a practice in Virginia, the day after a 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on December 28th, has turned into a mantra for the Rangers, all the way through the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs as the number 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Chris Kreider, a 2 time NCAA champion and Rangers first round pick in 2009, sat up in the stands for Game 1, took in the MSG playoff atmosphere and was apparently told by Rangers coaches to follow and study fellow rookie Carl Hagelin. And study he did. Kreider jotted down notes like a scout, studying Hagelin's play with and away from the puck and had to be impressed watching Hagelin lift the stick of a Senators' defenseman to feed Brad Richards alone in front of Ottawa's net for the Rangers 4th goal of Game 1. Kreider is a smart kid with a good head on his shoulders to realize he was never going to make the jump to the pros unless he was ready. Kreider now feels like he is ready and Ranger brass does too. It will only be a matter of time before Kreider takes the ice and dazzles Ranger fans and teammates with his skill set and other-worldly speed. But until then, Kreider has to learn how to play the game, the right way, the only way...

The Rangers Way

Series Preview- New York Rangers vs. Ottawa Senators

Ottawa will win if:

All starts with Ottawa's goaltending. If Craig Anderson is up to the task at matching his fellow counterpart in Henrik Lundqvist at the opposite end of the ice, Ottawa will have a good chance at stealing this series. They'll have even a better chance if their secondary scoring decides to kick in. Guys like Turris, Foligno and Greening will have to chip in offensively if the Rangers top defensive pair in Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh are able to neutralize Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson and Milan Michalek for long stretches. Finally, the Senators need to be stout killing off Ranger power plays which have been better as of late. Ottawa's penalty kill was ranked 20th in the regular season and Ottawa cannot allow an under-whelming New York power play to burn them.

New York will win if:
We've all heard about how how fast the Senators are and how their speed poses as a matchup issue. To counter-act this, the Rangers have to come out in Game 1 and bang the Senators around along the boards. Finishing checks needs to be a must to slow down and wear on a quick team over the course of a 7 game series. Look no further than Game 1 of the Flyers-Penguins game last night. The Flyers had 39 hits against the Penguins who were getting badly beaten to pucks along the boards as the game progressed. Next, Ranger fans are about to find out if the increased rest over the course of the season for Henrik Lundqvist is going to pay off. Hank is beginning to hear the mumblings of some detractors in the hockey media about how he is only a regular season goaltender who suddenly becomes average in the playoffs. We've seen Lundqvist turn into a goalie possessed before and it's only a matter time before it happens again. Finally, the Ranger defensemen need to make sure they know where Spezza and Erik Karlsson are at all times, allowing their top guys especially Karlsson distributing the puck on the point to take over could be disastrous.

Prediction:
Goaltending and defensive depth clearly favor Rangers in this matchup and we'll call the offense a wash, but the Rangers have done the little things just a little better than Ottawa has this season and that'll be enough to advance. The Rangers, as always will make it interesting but I think they'll win this in 6 games.

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!!!