Monthly Archives: April 2016
Rangers battle the Islanders in important matchup for playoff seeding
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
With two games remaining in the season, the Rangers (45-26-9) face an interesting conundrum in tonight’s matchup against the Islanders (44-26-9); Win and try to catch the Penguins? Or worry more about generating a consistent offensive game plan and be content for a wild card spot?
Obviously, no NHL team is going to intentionally lose, that’s foolish. But the Rangers are in a situation where they may be better off with a loss. Winning would pull them closer to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are arguably the league’s hottest team, but they’re without Marc-Andre Fleury. A loss would drop them closer to the first Wild Card spot, where they might have an easier route against teams like the Penguins and Bruins/Red Wings.
Either way, tonight is a big matchup between two rivals and a big matchup when it comes to playoff seeding. The Rangers have not won a single game against the Islanders, who are currently without Jaroslav Halak. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers rally to beat the Lightning; Lundqvist makes 39 saves
Alexandra Russo
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After a playoff clinching 4-2 victory over the Blue Jackets Monday night, the Rangers faced off for the first time at home against Tampa since Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last season. The Lightning have been playing without former Ranger, Anton Stralman, Victor Hedman, and top forward Steven Stamkos for a while, and the Rangers played without Ryan McDonagh. He is out indefinitely and will miss the rest of the regular season. In his absence, Brady Skjei and Dylan McIlrath saw ice time. Lindberg also replaced Hayes. They helped their team to an amazing come from behind 3-2 victory.
Tampa started out fast, as only 2:42 into the game, Namestnikov fed an open Andrej Sustr. He was wide in front of the net with absolutely no one on him. This is an example of the poor coverage the Rangers had to start out the game.
Shortly after, Tampa went on the power play. They had the worst power play in the League coming into this matchup, but they were able to convert on Brian Boyle’s deflection. Ondrej Palat took a shot that was saved by McIlrath’s skate. However, Palat got his own rebound, and Boyle’s stick deflected the shot past a misplaced Lundqvist for a two goal lead very early into the period. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers aim to end slump and clinch playoff spot on the road against Columbus
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.
The Rangers (43-26-9) have had two straight chances to clinch a playoff spot, and lost in regulation against non-playoff teams in both of those games. Tonight, they have another shot at putting that checkmark next to their names when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets (31-39-8).
Things have been bad for the Rangers lately. They’ve lost three straight games, including two bad losses to teams that they should have beaten. Defensive lapses, some bad goaltending, and poor play with the puck has doomed them. The defensive coverage has been embarrassing at best and the usual culprits have been the main offenders. The offense has been lacking at times, often sitting back and not pressing, or just not being able to transition the puck and create anything. Read the rest of this entry
Know the foe: Pittsburgh Penguins
John Dundon
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Next up in our “know the foe series:” the hottest team in the NHL, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
With just four regular season games remaining for the 2015-2016 New York Rangers, playoff matchups are still a bit cloudy. If there is a team we’d call the frontrunner for the Rangers to face in the first round as things currently stand, the Penguins would be the winner.
This certainly isn’t a blessing, though. Pittsburgh has taken off since they fired Mike Johnston and hired Mike Sullivan, former Rangers assistant under John Tortorella. Sullivan’s Penguins remind me a lot of the ’13-’14 Rangers: plenty of speed on the wing and star players that have been rejuvenated by a new system and a fresh start. The Penguins lead the NHL in just about every offensive category since Sullivan took over on Dec. 12, including an NHL high 3.46 goals per game in that span. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers look to clinch playoff berth tonight against Buffalo
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After failing to clinch a playoff berth on Tursday, the Rangers (43-25-9) will take another crack at it tonight as they enter the home stretch of the season, taking on the Buffalo Sabres (32-35-11) at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers last played on Thursday night, seeing their nine game win streak against the Hurricanes come to an end. They lost in overtime to the Penguins on Monday night as well, and with the Penguins winning again this week, the Rangers now sit in third place in the Metropolitan; one point behind the Pens and two ahead of the Islanders.
Including tonight, there are five games left in the regular season, with four of them coming on home ice for the Rangers. Clinching a playoff berth is obviously a goal, but the team also needs to work on establishing consistent play from the team. They got off to a lousy start in Carolina and then lost in regulation despite leading after two periods. Read the rest of this entry
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