Category Archives: In the Crease
Injuries to key defensemen give Marc Staal a chance to save his Rangers legacy
John Dundon
Photo courtesy of Bridget Samuels/Flickr
Six days ago we were preparing the narrative in support of the Rangers’ chances at making a Stanley cup run: they were injury free. It was a potential advantage, especially with just about all of the playoff teams in the Eastern Conference playoff mix dealing with key injuries.
Pittsburgh recently learned Marc-Andre Fleury was going to be sidelined with a concussion. Fleury joins Evgeni Malkin and Olli Maatta as question marks for the high flying Pens with just one game remaining in their regular season. The Islanders’ Travis Hamonic is out with a lower body injury, and could miss the start of the playoffs and beyond. Their goaltending situation is an injury riddled mess, although Thomas Greiss nearly blanked the Rangers last night. The Lightning lost their leading goal scorer and captain Steven Stamkos to a freakish blood clot issue. The Rangers? Just bumps, bruises and fatigue. 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
It’s better to face the Capitals in the playoffs sooner rather than later
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Robert Sabo/New York Daily News
Outside of the Washington Capitals in first place, the Metropolitan Division is up for grabs, and the seeding of the team can still fluctuate and change. A few games ago, it looked like the Rangers would have the second seed locked up. But after two straight losses and late surges from the Penguins and Islanders, that’s not a guarantee anymore.
As it stands, the Rangers have about a 40% chance of finishing second in the division, a 39% chance of finishing third, and a 21% chance of getting the first Wild Card spot. So out of all three of those possibilities, which would be the most advantageous for the Rangers? What would give them the best chance of making another run in the playoffs?
Right off the bat, we can cross off the third place finish in the division. If you’re going to stay in the Metro for the first two rounds of the playoffs, you would like home ice for at least one of those rounds. So a third place finish wouldn’t be preferable. Read the rest of this entry
Mailbag Monday: Playoff matchups, consistency from Zuccarello and Nash and more
Bobby Bevilacqua
Welcome back to the first mailbag Monday in a while. With the playoffs approaching and getting closer, lots of questions are floating around in people’s heads about the Rangers, their chances in the playoffs and more.
If you have a question you’d like answered for the next article, leave it in the comments section below, or click the “Contact Me” tab and send an email with your name and question.
With that out of the way, let’s get started.
Do you thing we have a chance in the playoffs without Nash scoring goals? – Scott Rosenberg
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
When he’s playing at his best, Rick Nash is clearly the Rangers’ best player. We’ve seen it in the past few games, scoring twice in the past four games. And in the last two games, he attacked the net and got some great chances despite not finding the back of the net. Read the rest of this entry
Know the foe: New York Islanders
John Dundon
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
“Know the foe” will be a series of posts in which I examine some of the Rangers likely playoff opponents. Up first, who else but the cross town rival New York Islanders.
Starting this playoff matchup preview series wouldn’t feel quite right if it were about any other team. The Rangers are 0-2-1 against the Islanders so far this year. They play again once more in the regular season: April 7 at MSG, the second to last game of the season. Each of the Blueshirts losses to those pesky Isles has been equally frustrating with the pain coming in different ways each time.
On Dec. 2 the two teams met as NBC’s Wednesday Night Rivalry matchup, a game that saw the Islanders win in a shootout, 2-1. Henrik Lundqvist was outstanding, making 37 saves and letting but one puck squeak by him in the shootout. This was a highly anticipated game–the first visit to the Barclays Center for the Rangers. Read the rest of this entry
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