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.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
A Tale of Two Hits - and "Moore" time off.
In the Rangers' improbable comeback win over Minnesota on Monday night, aside from the five goal third period outburst, the thing everyone will take away from the game were the two ejections to Rangers players, the reasons behind them, and the subsequent discipline that could or will come from them.
I was lucky enough to get through to the "War Room" on Sirius/XM NHL Radio yesterday and had the pleasure of a brief discussion with hosts Mick Kern and Peter Berce regarding the two plays, and before my call was taken, they discussed how the Kreider hit could be construed as a "hockey play gone bad." When my call was taken, I enhanced their viewpoint by saying, in my opinion, it was a BAD hockey play gone bad. As youth players learning how to check properly, you learn that the numbers on the back of the uniform are off limits. I know what kind of player Chris Kreider is. He's full speed, and a monster of a physical specimen. He is one of those players who I truthfully do not believe has any idea how strong he is. The shove that sent Brodin into the boards took him off his feet and launched him about 10 feet, which normally would give you enough time to brace yourself, but with the force of Kreider's strength, 10 feet acted more like 5 feet, and Brodin took a short flight with a bad landing. It was called a Boarding Major with a Game Misconduct, which is an important determination as compared to the second hit we will discuss. As Kreider has never been suspended, but did injure Carey Price in the playoffs last year, albeit I felt then and still feel he was tripped into him by Alexei Emelin, I thought there might be a 1-2 game suspension coming his way, but the NHL Department of Player Safety ruled that by slowing slightly and bracing for the hit, Brodin attempted to reverse the hit, so they determined his role was partially responsible for the result.
My take in a nutshell - it was a bad hit by Kreider, and he caught a break from the Department of Player Safety. You have to be smarter in that situation, and putting yourself in their shoes, if someone ran McDonagh into the boards that way, Rangers fans would be screaming bloody murder. Chris Kreider, you should buy a lottery ticket - you are a lucky man.
The second hit was the John Moore hit on Erik Haula that knocked Haula out of the game. This was a bad looking hit. John Moore came across on a player in a compromised position as he was following through on his shot. He delivered a shot that from the perspective of the back referee looked squarely to the jaw of the player, knocking him off his feet. I point out the perspective because that's who called the penalty - the back referee, The front referee may have been following the puck, but did not have his arm up. A second replay I saw from the Minnesota feed showed what appeared to be more contact to the chest, with the force snapping the head back, which is natural body physics when you take that kind of a hit. Moore was given a Match Penalty for intentional contact to the head. Match penalties are different from major penalties, in that they carry an automatic suspension until review, pending a hearing.
My take on the Moore hit - the onus is on the player delivering a body check to deliver it legally. The player was in a compromised position, and it seemed a little predatory. John Moore will never be confused with John Scott, but hits like these, of which he has two now, put him in the Pittsburgh/Vancouver era Matt Cooke class. I like John Moore, and I think he has a strong upside, but you have to learn how to do things, otherwise you won't be around long. That being said, Matt Cooke has played over 1000 NHL games so maybe I'm wrong on that, but I see a 6-10 game suspension for John Moore on this hit, unless he can somehow prove by the second replay I saw that he hit him in the chest.
As of this writing, Moore has not had his hearing with the NHL yet. I will go on a limb and predict 8 games for Moore, with the caveat that if the replay does indeed show chest contact as opposed to head contact, it will be less. As it stands, I say 8 games for John Moore.
What do you think? Comment here, tweet me at @newbluereview or if you're linking through Facebook, comment there.
I was lucky enough to get through to the "War Room" on Sirius/XM NHL Radio yesterday and had the pleasure of a brief discussion with hosts Mick Kern and Peter Berce regarding the two plays, and before my call was taken, they discussed how the Kreider hit could be construed as a "hockey play gone bad." When my call was taken, I enhanced their viewpoint by saying, in my opinion, it was a BAD hockey play gone bad. As youth players learning how to check properly, you learn that the numbers on the back of the uniform are off limits. I know what kind of player Chris Kreider is. He's full speed, and a monster of a physical specimen. He is one of those players who I truthfully do not believe has any idea how strong he is. The shove that sent Brodin into the boards took him off his feet and launched him about 10 feet, which normally would give you enough time to brace yourself, but with the force of Kreider's strength, 10 feet acted more like 5 feet, and Brodin took a short flight with a bad landing. It was called a Boarding Major with a Game Misconduct, which is an important determination as compared to the second hit we will discuss. As Kreider has never been suspended, but did injure Carey Price in the playoffs last year, albeit I felt then and still feel he was tripped into him by Alexei Emelin, I thought there might be a 1-2 game suspension coming his way, but the NHL Department of Player Safety ruled that by slowing slightly and bracing for the hit, Brodin attempted to reverse the hit, so they determined his role was partially responsible for the result.
My take in a nutshell - it was a bad hit by Kreider, and he caught a break from the Department of Player Safety. You have to be smarter in that situation, and putting yourself in their shoes, if someone ran McDonagh into the boards that way, Rangers fans would be screaming bloody murder. Chris Kreider, you should buy a lottery ticket - you are a lucky man.
The second hit was the John Moore hit on Erik Haula that knocked Haula out of the game. This was a bad looking hit. John Moore came across on a player in a compromised position as he was following through on his shot. He delivered a shot that from the perspective of the back referee looked squarely to the jaw of the player, knocking him off his feet. I point out the perspective because that's who called the penalty - the back referee, The front referee may have been following the puck, but did not have his arm up. A second replay I saw from the Minnesota feed showed what appeared to be more contact to the chest, with the force snapping the head back, which is natural body physics when you take that kind of a hit. Moore was given a Match Penalty for intentional contact to the head. Match penalties are different from major penalties, in that they carry an automatic suspension until review, pending a hearing.
My take on the Moore hit - the onus is on the player delivering a body check to deliver it legally. The player was in a compromised position, and it seemed a little predatory. John Moore will never be confused with John Scott, but hits like these, of which he has two now, put him in the Pittsburgh/Vancouver era Matt Cooke class. I like John Moore, and I think he has a strong upside, but you have to learn how to do things, otherwise you won't be around long. That being said, Matt Cooke has played over 1000 NHL games so maybe I'm wrong on that, but I see a 6-10 game suspension for John Moore on this hit, unless he can somehow prove by the second replay I saw that he hit him in the chest.
As of this writing, Moore has not had his hearing with the NHL yet. I will go on a limb and predict 8 games for Moore, with the caveat that if the replay does indeed show chest contact as opposed to head contact, it will be less. As it stands, I say 8 games for John Moore.
What do you think? Comment here, tweet me at @newbluereview or if you're linking through Facebook, comment there.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
New Blue Review - Game #9: A Wild one, beginning to end.
The Rangers returned home from Montreal with a .500 record, lots of questions, and an unfamiliar opponent awaiting them as they faced the Minnesota Wild on Monday, October 27. It seemed in the first period, the Rangers left their game at the border, being outshot 13-5, and killing off two penalties. The penalty kill would get a LOT more practice however. With 16 seconds left in the first period, Chris Kreider was by no means "Easy Kreider" as he went in to forecheck on Minnesota's young star defenseman Jonas Brodin. Kreider made initial contact with Brodin and with what can only be described as reckless disregard, shoved him into the backboards, nearly causing a human explosion. Kreider was given a Boarding major and a game misconduct.
In the 2nd period, the Rangers were able to kill off the remaining 4:44 of the major power play, but the momentum of the power play manifested in the opening goal of the game. Justin Fontaine slid a pass from the left wing across the crease to a rushing Nate Prosser, who deftly deflected the pass through the best efforts of Henrik Lundqvist and into the net for the 1-0 lead at 5:29 of the second period.
The Wild would double the lead to 2-0 just 55 seconds later. Matt Cooke, fresh off the bench for a player change, found himself completely unchecked in front of the net. Unfortunately for the Rangers, Justin Fontaine found him as well, and Cooke one timed a centering pass short side on Lundqvist, and the Rangers were looking at a two goal deficit, and looked like a team that had no idea how to play positional hockey, but it was about to get even worse.
Less than a minute after the Cooke goal, Minnesota again threatened the Rangers zone, and Erik Haula took a drop pass and fired a shot toward the goal. John Moore, slightly tardy to his defensive assignment, completely blasted Haula with an extended forearm/elbow which snapped Haula's head back, and flipped him in the air. Moore was assessed a Match Penalty for deliberate contact to the head, and the Rangers not only were shorthanded for five more minutes, they were now down two players.
The Rangers are lucky that Minnesota have an abysmal power play, which makes no sense when you can throw out Ryan Suter and Zach Parise. They have not scored a power play goal all season, and would continue that trend, as the Rangers killed off the major portion of the Match penalty. Again, the momentum of the power play paid dividends as the Wild finally extended to a 3-0 lead as Jason Pominville, in an ode to Rick Jeanerette, "increased the population of Pominville by one." His wrist shot from the slot rattled the back of the net, and that's how the period ended. Again, the Rangers were badly outshot in the frame to the tune of 11-3, or an ugly two period total of 24-8.
I can only imagine what was said in the intermission, but whatever it was, a fire was lit between 7th and 8th avenue, and the Rangers came out for the third period with a new focus - and due to ejections, new line combinations. One of which was Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello surrounding Derick Brassard, and within three minutes, that combo helped break the ice. Nash made a strong play along the right wing wall, feeding the puck to Zuccarello, who bought a little time and then feathered a pass to Kevin Kline. A Fish Called Wanda again got a good rating as Klein fired a slapshot through a Rick Nash screen past Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper to get the Rangers on the board for a 3-1 deficit at 2:52 of the third period.
The floodgates were cracked a little at this point, and proceeded to be cracked a little more. Brassard fed Matt Hunwick at the point, and Hunwick sent a wrist shot to the net. Kuemper, fighting through another Rick Nash screen, stopped the puck, but the rebound dropped to the ice where the Rangers leading scorer, with one backhand swipe, sent it under Kuemper, and just inside the left goalpost to cut the lead to 3-2. Nash's 9th of the season, tying him with Corey Perry of Anaheim for the NHL lead in goals again, came at 4:48.
Minnesota quieted the raucous Madison Square Garden crowd briefly, and did it within a minute of the Nash goal. Suter took a pass from Charlie Coyle, faked a shot, feeding Nino Neiderreiter in the high slot. The former Islander sent one in on Lundqvist, but Jason Zucker, cruising thought the goal mouth, got the shaft of his stick on it, deflecting the puck past Lundqvist for a 4-2 Wild lead. The goal was Zucker's team leading 5th of the year.
That could have been the nail in the coffin, but a desperate Rangers team playing desperate hockey woldn't give up, and at 7:54 closed the lead back to one goal. Carl Hagelin took a pass in the slot and released a hellacious wrist shot that Kuemper never saw until it was past him. Bad luck for Hagelin though as he rang the crossbar with the shot. Derick Brassard played "Johnny on the Spot" and was the only one who saw the puck hit the crossbar and drop straight down. As Kuemper and his defense looked for the puck, perhaps thinking the initial Hagelin shot had gone in, Brassard swept the puck into the yawning open net to make the score 4-3 at 7:54.
The Rangers continued their unlikely comeback, and at 16:12, history was made. Kevin Klein fed Matt Hunwick, who looked up and sent a perfect cross ice pass to a streaking Anthony Duclair on the right wing. The Duke took the pass in stride, and with a release that was quicker than a hiccup, snapped one that handcuffed Kuemper, squirted through him and into the net for his first NHL goal, and more importantly a 4-4 tie.
As the Garden Faithful were just about to sit, the roof nearly came off the place less than minute later as the Rangers completed the comeback. Mats Zuccarello pitchforked the puck high in the air, into the Wild zone, where Derick Brassard corralled it behind the net. Zuccarello then snuck away from the left side of the ice across the crease to the right post, took a smart little feed from Brassard, and roofed the puck past a stunned Kuemper for the Rangers fifth goal of the period, and an improbable 5-4 lead.
The Rangers, desperately trying to hold the lead, iced the puck on two occasions in the last minute, but Lundqvist made one final save on a Charlie Coyle shot directly off a face off with 2 seconds left to secure the strangest victory in quite some time for the Rangers.
PLUS/MINUS
PLUS - Rick Nash. He set up the first goal, scored the second, and seemed to energize his makeshift linemates in the third period, which brings me to....
PLUS - Derick Brassard. "Brass" took the mantle of best player on the ice for the Rangers. He ended the night with a goal and two assists, as did......
PLUS - Mats Zuccarello. The Hobbit came into the game with one assist. He set up the first goal, fed Hagelin for the wicked shot that Brassard finished off, then made a smart play getting the puck deep, finding open space, and burying the winner.
PLUS - Matt Hunwick. With John Moore ejected, Hunwick responded with two assists and played an excellent game.
PLUS - Anthony Duclair. The Duke already has partial ownership of the city as part of the "royal court" with the King. His goal looked like what I expected it to. Speed and a quick release.
MINUS - Chris Kreider - I'll get into that in depth.
MINUS - John Moore - see "Chris Kreider"
The Rangers now have a long break before they once again take the ice on Saturday, November 1 against the Winnipeg Jets. A New Blue (P)Review will be forthcoming.
In the 2nd period, the Rangers were able to kill off the remaining 4:44 of the major power play, but the momentum of the power play manifested in the opening goal of the game. Justin Fontaine slid a pass from the left wing across the crease to a rushing Nate Prosser, who deftly deflected the pass through the best efforts of Henrik Lundqvist and into the net for the 1-0 lead at 5:29 of the second period.
The Wild would double the lead to 2-0 just 55 seconds later. Matt Cooke, fresh off the bench for a player change, found himself completely unchecked in front of the net. Unfortunately for the Rangers, Justin Fontaine found him as well, and Cooke one timed a centering pass short side on Lundqvist, and the Rangers were looking at a two goal deficit, and looked like a team that had no idea how to play positional hockey, but it was about to get even worse.
Less than a minute after the Cooke goal, Minnesota again threatened the Rangers zone, and Erik Haula took a drop pass and fired a shot toward the goal. John Moore, slightly tardy to his defensive assignment, completely blasted Haula with an extended forearm/elbow which snapped Haula's head back, and flipped him in the air. Moore was assessed a Match Penalty for deliberate contact to the head, and the Rangers not only were shorthanded for five more minutes, they were now down two players.
The Rangers are lucky that Minnesota have an abysmal power play, which makes no sense when you can throw out Ryan Suter and Zach Parise. They have not scored a power play goal all season, and would continue that trend, as the Rangers killed off the major portion of the Match penalty. Again, the momentum of the power play paid dividends as the Wild finally extended to a 3-0 lead as Jason Pominville, in an ode to Rick Jeanerette, "increased the population of Pominville by one." His wrist shot from the slot rattled the back of the net, and that's how the period ended. Again, the Rangers were badly outshot in the frame to the tune of 11-3, or an ugly two period total of 24-8.
I can only imagine what was said in the intermission, but whatever it was, a fire was lit between 7th and 8th avenue, and the Rangers came out for the third period with a new focus - and due to ejections, new line combinations. One of which was Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello surrounding Derick Brassard, and within three minutes, that combo helped break the ice. Nash made a strong play along the right wing wall, feeding the puck to Zuccarello, who bought a little time and then feathered a pass to Kevin Kline. A Fish Called Wanda again got a good rating as Klein fired a slapshot through a Rick Nash screen past Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper to get the Rangers on the board for a 3-1 deficit at 2:52 of the third period.
The floodgates were cracked a little at this point, and proceeded to be cracked a little more. Brassard fed Matt Hunwick at the point, and Hunwick sent a wrist shot to the net. Kuemper, fighting through another Rick Nash screen, stopped the puck, but the rebound dropped to the ice where the Rangers leading scorer, with one backhand swipe, sent it under Kuemper, and just inside the left goalpost to cut the lead to 3-2. Nash's 9th of the season, tying him with Corey Perry of Anaheim for the NHL lead in goals again, came at 4:48.
Minnesota quieted the raucous Madison Square Garden crowd briefly, and did it within a minute of the Nash goal. Suter took a pass from Charlie Coyle, faked a shot, feeding Nino Neiderreiter in the high slot. The former Islander sent one in on Lundqvist, but Jason Zucker, cruising thought the goal mouth, got the shaft of his stick on it, deflecting the puck past Lundqvist for a 4-2 Wild lead. The goal was Zucker's team leading 5th of the year.
That could have been the nail in the coffin, but a desperate Rangers team playing desperate hockey woldn't give up, and at 7:54 closed the lead back to one goal. Carl Hagelin took a pass in the slot and released a hellacious wrist shot that Kuemper never saw until it was past him. Bad luck for Hagelin though as he rang the crossbar with the shot. Derick Brassard played "Johnny on the Spot" and was the only one who saw the puck hit the crossbar and drop straight down. As Kuemper and his defense looked for the puck, perhaps thinking the initial Hagelin shot had gone in, Brassard swept the puck into the yawning open net to make the score 4-3 at 7:54.
The Rangers continued their unlikely comeback, and at 16:12, history was made. Kevin Klein fed Matt Hunwick, who looked up and sent a perfect cross ice pass to a streaking Anthony Duclair on the right wing. The Duke took the pass in stride, and with a release that was quicker than a hiccup, snapped one that handcuffed Kuemper, squirted through him and into the net for his first NHL goal, and more importantly a 4-4 tie.
As the Garden Faithful were just about to sit, the roof nearly came off the place less than minute later as the Rangers completed the comeback. Mats Zuccarello pitchforked the puck high in the air, into the Wild zone, where Derick Brassard corralled it behind the net. Zuccarello then snuck away from the left side of the ice across the crease to the right post, took a smart little feed from Brassard, and roofed the puck past a stunned Kuemper for the Rangers fifth goal of the period, and an improbable 5-4 lead.
The Rangers, desperately trying to hold the lead, iced the puck on two occasions in the last minute, but Lundqvist made one final save on a Charlie Coyle shot directly off a face off with 2 seconds left to secure the strangest victory in quite some time for the Rangers.
PLUS/MINUS
PLUS - Rick Nash. He set up the first goal, scored the second, and seemed to energize his makeshift linemates in the third period, which brings me to....
PLUS - Derick Brassard. "Brass" took the mantle of best player on the ice for the Rangers. He ended the night with a goal and two assists, as did......
PLUS - Mats Zuccarello. The Hobbit came into the game with one assist. He set up the first goal, fed Hagelin for the wicked shot that Brassard finished off, then made a smart play getting the puck deep, finding open space, and burying the winner.
PLUS - Matt Hunwick. With John Moore ejected, Hunwick responded with two assists and played an excellent game.
PLUS - Anthony Duclair. The Duke already has partial ownership of the city as part of the "royal court" with the King. His goal looked like what I expected it to. Speed and a quick release.
MINUS - Chris Kreider - I'll get into that in depth.
MINUS - John Moore - see "Chris Kreider"
The Rangers now have a long break before they once again take the ice on Saturday, November 1 against the Winnipeg Jets. A New Blue (P)Review will be forthcoming.
New Blue Review - Game #8 Win streak doesn't clear customs.
In a game that I finally got to watch on DVR today due to travel issues, the Rangers went into Montreal on Saturday October 25 with a three game winning streak, They came out with a one game losing streak after dropping a 3-1 decision to the Canadiens.
The Rangers did accomplish something I hadn't seen in a long time - a shorthanded two man breakaway. Tomas Plekanec and Max Pacioretty completed what seemed like 47 passes back and forth before Plekanec finally buried the puck into the net behind Henrik Lundqvist for a 1-0 lead at 12:06.
Roughly five minutes later, Carl Hagelin parked near the front of the net, found a loose rebound from a Dan Girardi shot, and made no mistake, tying the game 1-1, which carried to the end of the period.
The second period only saw one goal, proving to be the game winner. Lars Eller, the enigmatic Canadiens forward, found a loose puck on a scramble in front of the net and with Lundqvist sprawled on the ice, found the back of the net for a 2-1 lead. That lead could have gone the other way, had the Canadiens not had Carey Price in net. Not a minute before the Eller goal, Derick Brassard led a 2 on 1, toe dragged the defenseman into the next province and fired a laser to the upper corner, but Price used his glove to snag the puck. Brassard could do nothing but look to the Bell Centre ceiling.
The third period saw Montreal get an insurance goal, as Max Pacioretty took a centering pass from former Ranger Dale Weise and potted his 3rd of the season past Lundqvist for the final 3-1 score.
PLUS/MINUS
PLUS - Carl Hagelin. The speedy Swede is starting to find his scoring touch.
PLUS - Anthony Duclair. The 19 year old, playing in Montreal in front of his family, assisted on the only Rangers goal. This kid belongs.
MINUS - The Power Play. Aside from not scoring, they gave up a SHORTHANDED two man breakaway. Ugh.
The Rangers next game was Monday, October 27 against Minnesota. Review coming up.
The Rangers did accomplish something I hadn't seen in a long time - a shorthanded two man breakaway. Tomas Plekanec and Max Pacioretty completed what seemed like 47 passes back and forth before Plekanec finally buried the puck into the net behind Henrik Lundqvist for a 1-0 lead at 12:06.
Roughly five minutes later, Carl Hagelin parked near the front of the net, found a loose rebound from a Dan Girardi shot, and made no mistake, tying the game 1-1, which carried to the end of the period.
The second period only saw one goal, proving to be the game winner. Lars Eller, the enigmatic Canadiens forward, found a loose puck on a scramble in front of the net and with Lundqvist sprawled on the ice, found the back of the net for a 2-1 lead. That lead could have gone the other way, had the Canadiens not had Carey Price in net. Not a minute before the Eller goal, Derick Brassard led a 2 on 1, toe dragged the defenseman into the next province and fired a laser to the upper corner, but Price used his glove to snag the puck. Brassard could do nothing but look to the Bell Centre ceiling.
The third period saw Montreal get an insurance goal, as Max Pacioretty took a centering pass from former Ranger Dale Weise and potted his 3rd of the season past Lundqvist for the final 3-1 score.
PLUS/MINUS
PLUS - Carl Hagelin. The speedy Swede is starting to find his scoring touch.
PLUS - Anthony Duclair. The 19 year old, playing in Montreal in front of his family, assisted on the only Rangers goal. This kid belongs.
MINUS - The Power Play. Aside from not scoring, they gave up a SHORTHANDED two man breakaway. Ugh.
The Rangers next game was Monday, October 27 against Minnesota. Review coming up.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
New Blue Review - Game #7 - Rangers hand out a "Mephistophi-loss"
I don't expect a lot of you to know what the title means - but the Devil has many names....Lucifer, Satan....and Mephistopholes. The Rangers out a new name on the Devils Tuesday night....defeated. A furious 3rd period comeback culminated in an OT win for the Blueshirts over the New Jersey Devils by a score of 4-3.
The Rangers power(less) play came alive for the first time this season as Chris Kreider tallied off the rebound of a Ryan McDonagh shot at 7:36. Martin St. Louis picked up his 5th assist of the year on the Rangers first power play goal after 17 feeble attempts. Former Ranger Jaromir Jagr was in the penalty box, and the reason I mention this is that roughly six minutes later, the roles reversed. Kreider was in the box for a phantom hook on Jagr, who complained to the referee and got the call. While Kreider was sitting and stewing, Jagr took a deliberate wide shot rebound off of the back boards and scored his first goal of the season at 13:40. The last goal Jagr scored against the Rangers was scored against which goaltender? Answer to follow......(keep in mind Jagr came to the Rangers, was the Capitain of the team, and hold the Rangers single season record for goals scored at 54).
The second period only saw one goal scored, and that was another Devils power play goal. This one was scored by Adam Henrique, who it seems like scores all the time against the Rangers - but in the regular season before this game, in 14 games, he had 2 goals, 0 assists and was a -9. However in the playoffs, it seems like he has 147 goals in 9 games. Either way, Henrique took a pass from Jagr and banked one in off of Kevin Klein, past Henrik Lundqvist to give the Devils the 2-1 lead that they would carry into the third period.
The third didn't start well for the Rangers either, as Jon Merrill took a cross ice pass on, you guessed it, the power play, waltzed in from the right point all the way to just inside the faceoff circle and beat Lundqvist clean, giving the Devils a 3-1 lead. Things did not look great for the Rangers at that point, but the newly energized power play clicked again, as Chris Mueller, promoted from the 4th line, manning the left point on the power play, took a cross ice pass from Derick Brassard and one-timed a shot past Cory Schneider to bring the Rangers within one at 3-2.
With a little over 5 minutes left in the game, three guesses who tied the score for the Rangers. If you guessed the league's leading goal scorer, Rick Nash, you would be right. The Rangers took a gift from Devils defenseman Marek Zidlicky, who blindly threw the puck into the slot, where Kevin Hayes rifled one toward the net. Schneider made the save, but left a juicy rebound that Nash grabbed, moved to the backhand, and deposited his 8th of the season for a 3-3 tie.
Both teams hit goal posts before the end of regulation, but for the second time this season, the Rangers were forced to play "ooooooooovertiiiiiiiime" as Sabres announcer Rick Jeanerette would say. The Devils had a glorious opportunity turned away, and the rebound turned back to a rushing Chris Kreider, who played a little catch with Chris Mueller, who gave Kredier the puck back just inside the Devils blue line. Kreider carried the puck across the slot, and dished to a trailing, and wide open, Kevin Klein. A Fish Called Wanda took the pass, cruised down the slot, and beat Schneider clean for the 4-3 OT win.
PLUS/MINUS
PLUS - Chris Mueller. A promotion from the 4th line, and a goal and an assist. Great game for #14.
PLUS - Rick Nash. The torrid start continues. Again, the best player on the ice all night.
PLUS - Chris Kreider. The power play goal was nice, but the heads up pass to Klein for the game winner was a thing of beauty.
PLUS The power play scored twice!! Break up the Rangers power play!
MINUS - The Penalty Kill. All three Devils goals were Power Play goals, mostly because of.....
MINUS - The referees again made themselves more than needed. Sometimes, it's a good idea to call a lot of penalties to reign in aggressiveness. This was not the case. Phantom hooks both ways.
The Rangers are off now until Saturday night when they have their first rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals against Montreal in "le belle province" at 7:00 PM.
The Rangers power(less) play came alive for the first time this season as Chris Kreider tallied off the rebound of a Ryan McDonagh shot at 7:36. Martin St. Louis picked up his 5th assist of the year on the Rangers first power play goal after 17 feeble attempts. Former Ranger Jaromir Jagr was in the penalty box, and the reason I mention this is that roughly six minutes later, the roles reversed. Kreider was in the box for a phantom hook on Jagr, who complained to the referee and got the call. While Kreider was sitting and stewing, Jagr took a deliberate wide shot rebound off of the back boards and scored his first goal of the season at 13:40. The last goal Jagr scored against the Rangers was scored against which goaltender? Answer to follow......(keep in mind Jagr came to the Rangers, was the Capitain of the team, and hold the Rangers single season record for goals scored at 54).
The second period only saw one goal scored, and that was another Devils power play goal. This one was scored by Adam Henrique, who it seems like scores all the time against the Rangers - but in the regular season before this game, in 14 games, he had 2 goals, 0 assists and was a -9. However in the playoffs, it seems like he has 147 goals in 9 games. Either way, Henrique took a pass from Jagr and banked one in off of Kevin Klein, past Henrik Lundqvist to give the Devils the 2-1 lead that they would carry into the third period.
The third didn't start well for the Rangers either, as Jon Merrill took a cross ice pass on, you guessed it, the power play, waltzed in from the right point all the way to just inside the faceoff circle and beat Lundqvist clean, giving the Devils a 3-1 lead. Things did not look great for the Rangers at that point, but the newly energized power play clicked again, as Chris Mueller, promoted from the 4th line, manning the left point on the power play, took a cross ice pass from Derick Brassard and one-timed a shot past Cory Schneider to bring the Rangers within one at 3-2.
With a little over 5 minutes left in the game, three guesses who tied the score for the Rangers. If you guessed the league's leading goal scorer, Rick Nash, you would be right. The Rangers took a gift from Devils defenseman Marek Zidlicky, who blindly threw the puck into the slot, where Kevin Hayes rifled one toward the net. Schneider made the save, but left a juicy rebound that Nash grabbed, moved to the backhand, and deposited his 8th of the season for a 3-3 tie.
Both teams hit goal posts before the end of regulation, but for the second time this season, the Rangers were forced to play "ooooooooovertiiiiiiiime" as Sabres announcer Rick Jeanerette would say. The Devils had a glorious opportunity turned away, and the rebound turned back to a rushing Chris Kreider, who played a little catch with Chris Mueller, who gave Kredier the puck back just inside the Devils blue line. Kreider carried the puck across the slot, and dished to a trailing, and wide open, Kevin Klein. A Fish Called Wanda took the pass, cruised down the slot, and beat Schneider clean for the 4-3 OT win.
PLUS/MINUS
PLUS - Chris Mueller. A promotion from the 4th line, and a goal and an assist. Great game for #14.
PLUS - Rick Nash. The torrid start continues. Again, the best player on the ice all night.
PLUS - Chris Kreider. The power play goal was nice, but the heads up pass to Klein for the game winner was a thing of beauty.
PLUS The power play scored twice!! Break up the Rangers power play!
MINUS - The Penalty Kill. All three Devils goals were Power Play goals, mostly because of.....
MINUS - The referees again made themselves more than needed. Sometimes, it's a good idea to call a lot of penalties to reign in aggressiveness. This was not the case. Phantom hooks both ways.
The Rangers are off now until Saturday night when they have their first rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals against Montreal in "le belle province" at 7:00 PM.
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