Blog Archives
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 drop second straight against Capitals; Hayes and Brassard both score
Bobby Bevilacqua
The Rangers fell short yet again, losing a handle of things in the third period due to turnovers and sloppy play. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
For the first time since January 29th, the Rangers (47-21-7) dropped their second straight game in regulation, losing by a final score of 5-2 to the Washington Capitals (41-25-10), giving the Rangers losses in three of their last four games.
The day started out with some surprising news, learning that Matt Hunwick was a late scratch due to an upper body injury sustained in yesterday’s game against the Bruins. As a result, Chris Summers was an emergency call up, and played in his first game as a Ranger. Summers was acquired in the trade that sent Keith Yandle to the Rangers.
Despite the score, the Rangers played better than it indicates, at least for the first half of the game, consistently out-chancing the Capitals, but they were undone by a few bad mistakes and sloppy play in their own end. The Capitals capitalized on the few quality chances that they had, and made the Rangers pay. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers looking for better performance against Capitals; Talbot in net
Bobby Bevilacqua
The Rangers will be hoping for a better performance today when they take on the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden, trying to build off of a poor performance in Boston. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After a poor showing yesterday afternoon, the Rangers (47-20-7) will be looking to sharpen and solidify their game when they take on the Washington Capitals (40-25-10) back at Madison Square Garden continuing their march towards a potential President’s trophy and home ice advantage.
Both teams are coming off of losses on Saturday as well. The Rangers gave up four straight goals in Henrik Lundqvist’s debut, playing very poor defensively before tightening up and scoring two goals in the final 25 minutes. The Capitals got off to a similar start, pulling starting goaltender Braden Holtby after three goals in the first period before rallying to a 4-3 defeat.
This is the third of four games between these two teams, with New York coming away with wins in the first two meetings. The Rangers edged a 4-2 victory at MSG on December 23rd, with Rick Nash scoring his first hat trick as a Ranger, and Lundqvist making 30 saves. Just 18 days ago, the Blue Shirts won 3-1 down in D.C., as the Rangers third line got things going, with goals from JT Miller and Carl Hagelin, while Martin St. Louis iced the game late. Cam Talbot picked up a win, finishing with 28 saves on 29 shots. Read the rest of this entry
therangerzone.com 