The New York Rangers kicked off their post-season run last night at Madison Square Garden in front of a packed house against the Pittsburgh Penguins, looking to secure a Game 1 victory and a promising start to the series.
Well, if taking the first lead of the game and the series less than 30 seconds in isn't a good start, I don't know what is. Dan Girardi fired a cross ice 100 foot pass right on the tape of a streaking Rick Nash, who crossed the Penguins blue line and fired a low hard shot. Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stopped it, but gave up a big fat juicy rebound that an onrushing Derick Brassard was waiting for. Brassard got seperation from defenseman Paul Martin and buried that rebound into the yawning cage for a 1-0 lead at the :28 mark.
As stated in the (P)review, the Penguins are the most penalized team in the NHL, and after gifting away a couple of power play chances, the Rangers capitalized. Also stated in the (P)review, Keith Yandle needs to be the catalyst on the power play, and after taking a smart feed from Mats Zuccarello off a zone entry, Ryan McDonagh fed Yandle. Yandle shuffleboarded a little pass over to the Captain. McDonagh let the puck glide into the wheelhouse and one-timed a shot from the blue line through a maze of players and in between Fleury's arm and body to the back of the net for a 2- 0 Ranger lead. The goal, assisted by Yandle and Zuccarello came at 15:16 in the first period, and that's how the score stayed through the end of the first 20 minutes.
Based off of the events of the 2nd period, I have a question to pose to the National Hockey League and it's Officials Association. CAN WE PLEASE HAVE SOME CLARIFICATION ON WHAT IS GOALTENDER INTERFERENCE AND WHY THERE'S A GOAL CREASE TO BEGIN WITH? Sorry to shout, but there is no rhyme or reason to the way anything around the net is called. Penguins fugazi tough guy Maxim Lapierre, who was running around, running his mouth, and leaving his feet all night, parked himself smack in the middle of the blue painted crease, locked up with defenseman Dan Boyle, "unintentionally intentionally" bumped Lundqvist and allowed Blake Comeau to deposit one into the net, cutting the lead to 2-1.
Though both teams had chances in the third, both goaltenders stood their ground and the final scoe stayed 2-1. The Rangers now have a 1-0 series lead.
PLUS/MINUS
PLUS: Derick Brassard (NYR) - When you open the playoff season at home by scoring in under 30 seconds, that's a huge boost for te team and for #16.
PLUS: Ryan McDonagh (NYR) - People like to forget sometimes that the Captain has a huge upside to his offensive game, and his power play goal, while completely stoppapble, was huge.
PLUS: Maxim Lapierre (PIT) - Even though I don't like him as a player, he played his role to the letter last night, yipping and yapping, causing commotion, and being indirectly responsible for the Penguins only goal. Also amazed he stayed out of the penalty box - reminded ne a lot of Ottawa's Chris Neil last night.
MINUS: Sidney Crosby (PIT) - Due to the crazy number of penalties taken by his team, #87 wasn't on the ice very much, and when he was, he was a complete non-factor.
MINUS: Dan Boyle (NYR) - I understand he was bought in to be a power play guy, but he refuses to play along with the system set up by the coaches, and is old and slow on the defensive end of the ice. When Kevin Klein returns, and as well as Matt Hunwick has played, I would have no problem with Boyle assuming the role of healthy scratch sooner rather than later.
MINUS: Marc-Andre Fleury (PIT) - Although he made plenty of saves to keep his team in the game, the rebound on the first goal was gift wrapped and had a neon sign pointing to it. The McDonagh goal is a goal that I KNOW he wants to have back. He did nothing to disprove the "can't handle pressure" rep he's gotten.
Game 2 takes place Saturday night at 8:00 PM exclusively on NBCSN with Mike "Doc" Emrick and Pierre McGuire on the call. Look for the game 2 (P)review on Saturday afternoon.
One down, 15 to go. 6.25% of the goal has been acheived. What will Saturday bring? I can't wait to find out.
Friday, April 17, 2015
Thursday, April 16, 2015
#BecauseItsTheCup - New Blue (P)Review - Game 1 - PIT @ NYR
The Stanley Cup Playoffs take center stage at Madison Square Garden tonight as the Pittsburgh Penguins limp into the Big Apple to take on the New York Rangers in Game #1 of the Stanley Cup Playoff Eastern Quarterfinal series.
The Rangers come in as the #1 overall seed, having secured home ice through the entirety of the playoffs based off of their 113-point season. The Penguins come in as the 2nd wild card team in the Eastern Conference after posting a 98 point season. During the regular season, the Rangers held a 3-0-1 advantage over the Penguins.
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS - KEY PLAYERS
SIDNEY CROSBY - No Penguin conversation can begin other than with #87. He is, even in a down year, the best player on the Penguins roster. During the regular season, the Pens Captain scored, in a down year for him but a great year for anyone else, 28 goals, and 56 assists for a team high 84 points. He is the straw that stirs the drink, and coming off a down year, preceded by a down playoff season last year, Crosby may feel he has something to prove. Combine that with the fact that nobody is really giving Pittsburgh much chance in this series, and we may see a very determined #87.
EVGENI MALKIN - The enigmatic #71 always seems to play well against the Rangers, and is looking to lead this team forward. He always seems to score against the Rangers, too.
MARC-ANDRE FLEURY - After another stellar regular season where he lead the league with 10 shutouts, the question again will be "But can he do it in the playoffs?" It seems the Penguis won the Stanley Cup in 2009 in spite of him, and he has earned a reputation as a playoff choker. The Rangers will be looking to pepper him with shots and hope he lets up a soft one, because when he does, the floodgates usually open.
PAUL MARTIN - The reason Fleury may be bombarded is because the Penguin defense is completely threadbare. Kris Letang and Christian Ehrhoff are out, so the one defenseman to watch is Martin. The former Devil will be counted on to provide offense and leadership to a group that may sport the likes of Ben Lovejoy, Brian Dumoulin (who?), Taylor Chorney (isn't he in One Direction?) and Scott Harrington (I think he plays in my beer league).
NEW YORK RANGERS KEY PLAYERS
RICK NASH - The lone All-Star from the best team in the league - which doesn't sound right at all when you think about it - is coming off of a 42 goal campaign. He's also coming off of a very disappointing playoff run last year, so it will behoove the Rangers to have this year's Nash show up, and not last year's. He plays all three zones extremely well, and I would think is eager to erase last year from everyone's memory.
HENRIK LUNDQVIST - The King is determined to get to the throne, and with the stigma of Los Angeles not being a threat this time around, many believe this will be the year he does it. Since his return from injury, he has looked stellar. His only concern will be crease crashers, but hopefully the defense will take care of that.
KEITH YANDLE - The Rangers picked up the offensively gifted blueliner for a long playoff run, and as a power play quarterback, he should have plenty of chances to stimulate the offense, as Pittsburgh led the NHL in penalty minutes this year - but that's what happens when you employ phony tough guys like Steve Downie and Chris Kunitz. The Rangers HAVE to take advantage of the power play - and Yandle has to deliver on that.
The puck drops at Madsion Square Garden at 7:00 PM and will be shown on the MSG Network, with Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti on the call. Follow me at @newbluereview for live tweets during the game.
The playoffs have arrived - and the Cup is in sight. 16 wins to go.
The Rangers come in as the #1 overall seed, having secured home ice through the entirety of the playoffs based off of their 113-point season. The Penguins come in as the 2nd wild card team in the Eastern Conference after posting a 98 point season. During the regular season, the Rangers held a 3-0-1 advantage over the Penguins.
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS - KEY PLAYERS
SIDNEY CROSBY - No Penguin conversation can begin other than with #87. He is, even in a down year, the best player on the Penguins roster. During the regular season, the Pens Captain scored, in a down year for him but a great year for anyone else, 28 goals, and 56 assists for a team high 84 points. He is the straw that stirs the drink, and coming off a down year, preceded by a down playoff season last year, Crosby may feel he has something to prove. Combine that with the fact that nobody is really giving Pittsburgh much chance in this series, and we may see a very determined #87.
EVGENI MALKIN - The enigmatic #71 always seems to play well against the Rangers, and is looking to lead this team forward. He always seems to score against the Rangers, too.
MARC-ANDRE FLEURY - After another stellar regular season where he lead the league with 10 shutouts, the question again will be "But can he do it in the playoffs?" It seems the Penguis won the Stanley Cup in 2009 in spite of him, and he has earned a reputation as a playoff choker. The Rangers will be looking to pepper him with shots and hope he lets up a soft one, because when he does, the floodgates usually open.
PAUL MARTIN - The reason Fleury may be bombarded is because the Penguin defense is completely threadbare. Kris Letang and Christian Ehrhoff are out, so the one defenseman to watch is Martin. The former Devil will be counted on to provide offense and leadership to a group that may sport the likes of Ben Lovejoy, Brian Dumoulin (who?), Taylor Chorney (isn't he in One Direction?) and Scott Harrington (I think he plays in my beer league).
NEW YORK RANGERS KEY PLAYERS
RICK NASH - The lone All-Star from the best team in the league - which doesn't sound right at all when you think about it - is coming off of a 42 goal campaign. He's also coming off of a very disappointing playoff run last year, so it will behoove the Rangers to have this year's Nash show up, and not last year's. He plays all three zones extremely well, and I would think is eager to erase last year from everyone's memory.
HENRIK LUNDQVIST - The King is determined to get to the throne, and with the stigma of Los Angeles not being a threat this time around, many believe this will be the year he does it. Since his return from injury, he has looked stellar. His only concern will be crease crashers, but hopefully the defense will take care of that.
KEITH YANDLE - The Rangers picked up the offensively gifted blueliner for a long playoff run, and as a power play quarterback, he should have plenty of chances to stimulate the offense, as Pittsburgh led the NHL in penalty minutes this year - but that's what happens when you employ phony tough guys like Steve Downie and Chris Kunitz. The Rangers HAVE to take advantage of the power play - and Yandle has to deliver on that.
The puck drops at Madsion Square Garden at 7:00 PM and will be shown on the MSG Network, with Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti on the call. Follow me at @newbluereview for live tweets during the game.
The playoffs have arrived - and the Cup is in sight. 16 wins to go.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
RETURN OF THE REVIEW - NEW BLUE (PLAYOFF) (P)REVIEW!
After a long and winding road for both myself and the New York Rangers, I can happily confirm two things - The New York Rangers are back in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the New Blue Review Blog is back just in time for them as well!
The Rangers finished the regular season with a league best record of 53-22-7, establishing team records for wins (53) and points (113), eclipsing the previous marks set in 1994, and we all know how 1994 ended.....
The Blueshirts offense was led by Rick Nash, who tallied an impressive 42 goal campaign. There were two other Rangers who hit the 20-goal mark.....and if you guessed Martin St. Louis and Chris Kreider, give yourself a round of applause.
Derick Brassard was the most unselfish Ranger this year, dishing out a team-leading and career high of 41 assists, two more than Derek Stepan's 39. All in all, this Rangers team was a very unselfish bunch as 8 Blueshirts finished with 25 or more assists.
One of the biggest surprises of this season was the emergence of rookie Kevin Hayes, who adjusted to the NHL, and once he found his comfort zone, tallied 17 goals and 28 assists for an impressive 45 points. Many of his goals were highlight reel quality, and his goal against the New York Islanders where he spun, beat Jaroslav Halak and then was obliterated by a Matt Martin semi-late hit may well be the goal of the year for the Rangers.
The defense, led by Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi and Marc Staal continued to block shots, make smart plays in their own zone, and chipped in offensively. Kevin Klein, who is still recovering from an "upper-body injury" suffered against the Washington Capitals, tied Dan Boyle for the team lead for goals by a defenseman with 9, and of those 9, I believe all 9 were clutch, important goals, including 2 OT winners.
The goaltending was the story of this President's Trophy winning season for the Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist posted another 30 win season, the 9th time in his career the King has reached that lofty throne. After suffering a scary vascular injury against the Carolina Hurricanes, and playing one more game after that, the King was sidelined, and the Goalbuster, Cam Talbot manned the net for New York, and he earned himself an opportunity after this season to be a starter somewhere in the NHL. Talbot posted a 21-9-4 record including 5 shutouts, tying the King in posting doughnuts. Lest we forget, the "Buffalo Soldier", Mackenzie Skapski started two games, both against the Sabres, going 2-0-0 with 1 shutout and a 0.50 goals against average.
The Rangers captured the President's Trophy for the third time in franchise history, and secured that they will have home-ice advantage in every playoff round this year. They will open the playoffs against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
On November 11 at MSG, the Rangers posted a 5-0 whitewash of the Penguins, with Lundqvist stopping all 33 shots he faced, and goals from Mats Zuccarello, Martin St. Louis, Kevin Klein, Derick Brassard and Rick Nash.
The second meeting of the season featured the strangest ending to a hockey game I have ever seen in my close to 45 years on this planet. On November 15, the Rangers fell behind at the CONSOL Energy center 1-0 on a Blake Comeau goal, but answered back 15 seconds later on a goal by now-former Ranger Lee Stempniak. Martin St. Louis tallied to give the Blueshirts a 2-1 lead, but Evgeni Malkin tied the score at 2. This game went into and past overtime, and in the shootout, the Rangers believed they had won the game when Dan Boyle's shot beat Marc-Andre Fleury, but then both teams were called back from the dressing room when video review determined that Boyle made contact with the puck twice, which nullified the goal, and Brandon Sutter took advantage of the second chance, scoring to give Pittsburgh the very strange 3-2 shootout victory.
On December 8 back at MSG, the Rangers spotted the Penguins a 1-0 lead, then got 3 consecutive goals from J.T. Miller, Rick Nash and Kevin Hayes to take a 3-1 lead. The Pens. with 2 goals in a 24-second span in the 3rd period, rallied to send the game into overtime, but Kevin Klein buried the game winner with 1:15 left in the extra mini-period, giving the Rangers a 4-3 win.
Exactly one month later, on January 8, the Rangers once again headed into the Steel City and wasted no time as Rick Nash scored 26 seconds into the game, and 5 1/2 minutes later Derick Brassard tallied to make it 2-0. Sidney Crosby then scored a power play goal to cut the Ranger lead in half at the end of one period. Rick Nash again wasted little time, scoring just 2:39 into the second period to give the Rangers their two goal lead back, and then Derek Stepan padded the lead even more to give the Rangers a commanding 4-1 lead after 40 minutes. The teams traded goals in the third period, with David Perron lighting the lamp for the Penguins, and Stepan once again finding twine for the 5-2 final score.
As the playoffs open, and the Rangers owning a 3-0-1 record against Pittsburgh this year, I will predict that the Rangers will handle an injury-riddled Penguins team, taking the series in 5 games. Pittsburgh is without their best defenseman, Kris Letang, as well as defensemen Christian Ehrhoff and Derrick Pouliot, and the highly regarded offense from the Penguins has gone dry. I also believe the Rangers have a huge advantage in goal, as Henrik Lundqvist is healthy, and more importantly, after tasting the Stanley Cup Final last season, he is hungry to bring the most beautiful trophy in sports back to the city that never sleeps.
Game 1 preview to come tomorrow, as well as live social media posts throughout game one.
The Rangers finished the regular season with a league best record of 53-22-7, establishing team records for wins (53) and points (113), eclipsing the previous marks set in 1994, and we all know how 1994 ended.....
The Blueshirts offense was led by Rick Nash, who tallied an impressive 42 goal campaign. There were two other Rangers who hit the 20-goal mark.....and if you guessed Martin St. Louis and Chris Kreider, give yourself a round of applause.
Derick Brassard was the most unselfish Ranger this year, dishing out a team-leading and career high of 41 assists, two more than Derek Stepan's 39. All in all, this Rangers team was a very unselfish bunch as 8 Blueshirts finished with 25 or more assists.
One of the biggest surprises of this season was the emergence of rookie Kevin Hayes, who adjusted to the NHL, and once he found his comfort zone, tallied 17 goals and 28 assists for an impressive 45 points. Many of his goals were highlight reel quality, and his goal against the New York Islanders where he spun, beat Jaroslav Halak and then was obliterated by a Matt Martin semi-late hit may well be the goal of the year for the Rangers.
The defense, led by Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi and Marc Staal continued to block shots, make smart plays in their own zone, and chipped in offensively. Kevin Klein, who is still recovering from an "upper-body injury" suffered against the Washington Capitals, tied Dan Boyle for the team lead for goals by a defenseman with 9, and of those 9, I believe all 9 were clutch, important goals, including 2 OT winners.
The goaltending was the story of this President's Trophy winning season for the Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist posted another 30 win season, the 9th time in his career the King has reached that lofty throne. After suffering a scary vascular injury against the Carolina Hurricanes, and playing one more game after that, the King was sidelined, and the Goalbuster, Cam Talbot manned the net for New York, and he earned himself an opportunity after this season to be a starter somewhere in the NHL. Talbot posted a 21-9-4 record including 5 shutouts, tying the King in posting doughnuts. Lest we forget, the "Buffalo Soldier", Mackenzie Skapski started two games, both against the Sabres, going 2-0-0 with 1 shutout and a 0.50 goals against average.
The Rangers captured the President's Trophy for the third time in franchise history, and secured that they will have home-ice advantage in every playoff round this year. They will open the playoffs against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
On November 11 at MSG, the Rangers posted a 5-0 whitewash of the Penguins, with Lundqvist stopping all 33 shots he faced, and goals from Mats Zuccarello, Martin St. Louis, Kevin Klein, Derick Brassard and Rick Nash.
The second meeting of the season featured the strangest ending to a hockey game I have ever seen in my close to 45 years on this planet. On November 15, the Rangers fell behind at the CONSOL Energy center 1-0 on a Blake Comeau goal, but answered back 15 seconds later on a goal by now-former Ranger Lee Stempniak. Martin St. Louis tallied to give the Blueshirts a 2-1 lead, but Evgeni Malkin tied the score at 2. This game went into and past overtime, and in the shootout, the Rangers believed they had won the game when Dan Boyle's shot beat Marc-Andre Fleury, but then both teams were called back from the dressing room when video review determined that Boyle made contact with the puck twice, which nullified the goal, and Brandon Sutter took advantage of the second chance, scoring to give Pittsburgh the very strange 3-2 shootout victory.
On December 8 back at MSG, the Rangers spotted the Penguins a 1-0 lead, then got 3 consecutive goals from J.T. Miller, Rick Nash and Kevin Hayes to take a 3-1 lead. The Pens. with 2 goals in a 24-second span in the 3rd period, rallied to send the game into overtime, but Kevin Klein buried the game winner with 1:15 left in the extra mini-period, giving the Rangers a 4-3 win.
Exactly one month later, on January 8, the Rangers once again headed into the Steel City and wasted no time as Rick Nash scored 26 seconds into the game, and 5 1/2 minutes later Derick Brassard tallied to make it 2-0. Sidney Crosby then scored a power play goal to cut the Ranger lead in half at the end of one period. Rick Nash again wasted little time, scoring just 2:39 into the second period to give the Rangers their two goal lead back, and then Derek Stepan padded the lead even more to give the Rangers a commanding 4-1 lead after 40 minutes. The teams traded goals in the third period, with David Perron lighting the lamp for the Penguins, and Stepan once again finding twine for the 5-2 final score.
As the playoffs open, and the Rangers owning a 3-0-1 record against Pittsburgh this year, I will predict that the Rangers will handle an injury-riddled Penguins team, taking the series in 5 games. Pittsburgh is without their best defenseman, Kris Letang, as well as defensemen Christian Ehrhoff and Derrick Pouliot, and the highly regarded offense from the Penguins has gone dry. I also believe the Rangers have a huge advantage in goal, as Henrik Lundqvist is healthy, and more importantly, after tasting the Stanley Cup Final last season, he is hungry to bring the most beautiful trophy in sports back to the city that never sleeps.
Game 1 preview to come tomorrow, as well as live social media posts throughout game one.
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