Rangers ReportVerified account@rangersreport2h2 hours ago Didn't realize it last night ... Dan Boyle was on the ice, in uniform, for the handshakes.
yea he came back to the bench late in game I believe. Im almost 100% sure I saw him. Hopefully he never plays in the league again....give me Hunwick against TB.
.... Katie Strang @Katie StrangESPN ........... Rangers expected to wear blue jerseys on Saturday ............ #NYR espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/ ^^^ that sucked...someone pls. help me out here : )
As deteriorated as he is, he's still an average or better NHL D-man. Nowhere near as good as Stralman but he's serviceable with rare flashes of above average play
Katie Strang @Katie StrangESPN NY Rangers confirm that Henrik Lundqvist will start over Cam Talbot on Saturday
can always count on the Caps and Ovechkin to fall short when it counts not sure why the ECF is starting before the WCF
Gotta be some sort of scheduling conflict tomorrow night because they don't want Anaheim on Saturday with the time difference to interfere with the triple crown, and they don't want the conf. finals starting so many days later on Sunday. Odd man out is is the ECF early on saturday Although, it doesn't seem like the Honda Center is booked tomorrow night so I don't really see the reason why the WCF wouldn't start tomorrow. What else is going on Friday night?
If more people visited this page i imagine the load would be gettings pretty heavy with a sub 20000 page file Easy answer: Jim Dolan fuckery
Katie Strang @Katie StrangESPN Lots of people jumping on NYR bandwagon. It's like a bunch of new people on a wagon
Katie Strang @Katie StrangESPN Rangers are statistically 100% to win the Stanley Cup with another 8 wins in playoffs
Pat Leonard@PLeonardNYDN · 10h 10 hours ago Rangers Insider: Mats Zuccarello ‘starting to work out’ http://nydn.us/1Pmj0VH
Rangers vs. Lightning matchups By ANDREW GROSS The Tampa Bay Lightning dominated all three regular-season meetings with the Rangers, but the Eastern Conference Final opponents have not played since Dec. 1. Here’s how the teams match up in the series, which marks the first time they’ve met in the playoffs: Goalies The Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist is authoring another outstanding playoff run with an 8-4 record. He has a 1.60 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage – both tops among the final four goalies. Plus, he’s backstopped the Rangers to an NHL-record 10 straight wins at Madison Square Garden in elimination games and he’s matched the NHL record shared by Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy of six career Game 7 victories. The Lightning’s Ben Bishop is 8-5 with a 1.81 GAA and a .931 save percentage in his first go-around as a playoff starter. Bishop is 8-0-0 lifetime against the Rangers with a 1.49 GAA and two shutouts. Edge: Rangers Forwards Both teams enter with an injury question mark. However, it seems likely ex-Ranger captain Ryan Callahan will be available for Game 1 after skating Thursday, just three days after an emergency appendectomy that kept him out of the decisive Game 6 against the Canadiens. For the Rangers, Mats Zuccarello has been around the team but remains out indefinitely after suffering a concussion in the decisive first-round Game 5 against the Penguins. Lightning center Tyler Johnson leads the NHL with eight playoff goals and has added four assists and leads a potent second line with Nikita Kucherov (six goals, five assists). Plus, top-line center Steven Stamkos had goals in each of the last two games against the Canadiens and three goals and four assists in his past five games. The Rangers’ top two centers, Derick Brassard (five goals, three assists) and Derek Stepan (three goals, five assists) lead the team in scoring while left wing Chris Kreider has five goals and Rick Nash has two goals and five assists. Both teams effectively roll four lines. Edge: Lightning Defensemen Ex-Ranger Anton Stralman (one goal, four assists) not only plays on the top pair with physically imposing Victor Hedman (one goal, five assists) but he’s become a regular on the team’s top power-play unit. But the Lightning don’t have the overall depth to their top six that the Rangers have. The Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi pairing can be used against either of the Lightning’s top two lines and Marc Staal likely will be paired with Kevin Klein for the road games to give the team a second shutdown pair. McDonagh has two goals and four assists and Girardi and Keith Yandle have four assists. Dan Boyle was banged up in Game 7 against the Capitals, but should be OK. If not, Matt Hunwick has been a solid alternative. Edge: Rangers Special teams The Rangers’ penalty kill was crucial to the seven-game victory over the Capitals, who had the NHL’s top-ranked power play in the regular season. The Rangers killed off 14 of 15 chances, only allowing Alex Ovechkin’s power-play goal in Game 1. Overall, they are 25-for-28 (89.3 percent), best among the four remaining teams. The Lightning’s penalty kill is 39-for-45 (86.7 percent), though that mainly shows the Lightning’s penchant for taking too many penalties. The Rangers’ power play is 6-for-38 (15.8 percent) in the postseason and 2-for-7 in the last two games against the Capitals. The Lightning are 9-for-50 (18.0 percent) but have surrendered two short-handed goals. Kucherov leads the players still active in the playoffs with three power-play goals. Edge: Even Coaches Alain Vigneault has won five of six playoff series with the Rangers, who are in the Eastern Conference Final for the second straight season after losing to the Kings in a five-game Stanley Cup Final last season. Vigneault also guided the Canucks to the Cup Final in 2011, where they lost to the Bruins in seven games. Jon Cooper, who played lacrosse at Hofstra, is a strong communicator in his third season with the Lightning and he’s kept them righted through two tough series while giving his offensively gifted team an advantageous up-tempo system. Edge: Rangers Prediction The Rangers’ playoff experience and resolve in elimination games count for something: Rangers in 7
In my opinion: Goalies- Edge: Rangers (Hank lights out right now, but Bishop is huge and very good) Forwards -Edge: Lightning (Offensively) Rangers (Defensively) Defensemen- Edge: Rangers (Can't match our top 4) Special teams- Edge: Even (Bolts- PP is better, Rangers- PK is better) Coaches- Edge: Rangers (AV much more experienced and pushing the right buttons now) Prediction- Rangers in 6 (Bolts as a team, new at this level of pressure, Rangers are battle hardened)
