Monthly Archives: April 2015
Series Preview, Round 1: Rangers vs. Penguins
Bobby Bevilacqua
The Rangers and the Penguins will meet again in the postseason for the second consecutive year. This time, the Rangers look to have the advantage, with the Penguins a depleted, and seemingly weaker team than last season. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After a crazy end to the regular season, the season closed with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the final Wild Card spot, meaning that for the second consecutive season, the Rangers and the Penguins will face off in the playoffs, this time in the first round.
Last year’s series against the Penguins was one of the most memorable in the entire postseason run for New York. After starting the series with the “double-goal” from Beniot Pouliot and Derick Brassard in overtime, the Rangers dropped the next three games, finding themselves in a 3-1 hole.
After the passing of newly acquired Martin St. Louis’ mother, France, his teammates rallied around the unfortunate tragedy. The Blueshirts won game five on the road, and came back to Madison Square Garden for Game 6 on Mother’s Day, where St. Louis scored an emotional goal en route to a win. Thanks to goals from Brad Richards and Brian Boyle in Game 7 in Pittsburgh, and a spectacular goaltending performance from Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers completed the comeback to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers finish historic season with 4-2 win in DC; Hayes and Moore impress
Bobby Bevilacqua
The Rangers and the Capitals battled it out in the final game of the season, with the Rangers coming away with their 53rd win of the season, breaking some franchise records along the way. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
The Rangers (53-22-7) closed out their remarkable season on a positive note, taking down the Washington Capitals (45-26-11) on the road, setting new franchise records in the process.
The victory established new franchise records in wins (53) and points (113) in a season, eclipsing the 52 wins and 112 points set by the 1993-94 Rangers team, a team that ultimately went on to win the Stanley Cup. This Rangers team knows that despite the fantastic regular season, they will ultimately be judged on what they do in the playoffs.
This marked the Rangers 28th road win of the season, also a franchise record, and tying an NHL record for most road wins an Eastern Conference team has earned in one season. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers close out season in Washington; Zuccarello a game time decision
Bobby Bevilacqua
The Rangers and the Capitals have always had a bit of bad blood, and they will close out the regular season together this afternoon at the Verizon Center. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
In the final game of the regular season, the Rangers (52-22-7) are in Washington D.C. to take on the Capitals (45-25-11) in what could potentially be a playoff matchup if both teams advance to the second round.
Although this game has no playoff implications for the Rangers, the Capitals could really use the two points here. They’ve already clinched a playoff spot, but a win would clinch home ice in their first round matchup against the New York Islanders. The Islanders are just one point behind them, so there are other scenarios that would give the Capitals home ice in the first round, but they’ll want to win to make it guaranteed, and render the Islanders game at 7 PM meaningless.
This game does have some meaning for the Rangers. One more win would set a new franchise record for wins in a season, and two points would set a new franchise record for points in a season. Henrik Lundqvist, who will be in net for the Rangers today, is just one win shy of 30 for the season. If he gets the win, that means that Henrik Lundqvist would have a 30 win season for every full season that he participated in. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers shutout by Ottawa at the Garden; Ryan Bourque makes NHL Debut
Bobby Bevilacqua
The Rangers fell short in a battle against the Ottawa Senators, snapping their five game win streak. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
In the last regular season home game, the Rangers (52-22-7) were shutout by the desperate Ottawa Senators (42-26-13), dropping just their 22nd regulation loss by a final score of 3-0. Ottawa’s win wound up being huge, propelling them into the first wild card spot with, ahead of the Penguins and Bruins. Boston lost tonight, putting them in a lot of danger of missing the playoffs.
The Rangers really used this as a rest game, giving Rick Nash, Marc Staal, and Mats Zuccarello the night off. Zuccarello missed his second straight game with “general body soreness,” and Nash and Staal are day-to-day with undisclosed injuries.
That meant that Ryan Bourque and Chris Summers were recalled from the Hartford wolf pack, with Bourque making his NHL debut. Both played relatively well tonight in what was an otherwise meaningless game for the Rangers. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers take on desperate Senators team in last regular season game at MSG
Bobby Bevilacqua
The Rangers will salute the crowd for the final time this regular season as they prepare to battle in the playoffs. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After clinching the Presidents’ Trophy on Thursday night, the Rangers (52-21-7) are back at Madison Square Garden for the last regular season home game, where they are set to take on the Ottawa Senators (41-26-13), a team still clinging onto their playoff hopes, and coming into tonight’s game with a must-win attitude.
Tonight will be a special night for both the players and the fans, as they get to cheer for their team, watch a special presentation before the game, and hopefully send them off to the playoffs on a positive note. This is just the third time in franchise history that the Rangers have won the Presidents’ Trophy, and the first time that they have done so since the 1993-94 season.
The Rangers have already tied the franchise record for wins in a season (52) set in the 199-3-94 season, and are just one point shy of tying their record for points in a season (112). Eclipsing both of those records would truly cap off an amazing regular season. Read the rest of this entry
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