Blog Archives

Rangers look to start the second half strong in a division battle against the Devils

Bobby Bevilacqua

Rangers vs Devils 10-18

Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

With the All Star Weekend in the rear view mirror, the Rangers (27-17-5) focus shifts to a battle for the playoffs. Thirty-three games spanning the next 68 days. Fifteen of those will come against Metropolitan Division opponents, including tonight’s matchup against the New Jersey Devils (25-20-5).

At this same point last season, there were six teams in the Eastern Conference ahead of the Rangers, but they had a comfortable eight point playoff cushion. This year, only six teams in the NHL have more points than the Rangers. But in a much more competitive Metropolitan Division, and a tight East, the playoff cushion is just four games.

The Rangers have reason to feel confident though. In the last 10 weeks of last regular season, Alain Vigneault’s squad went 25-7-3 and secured the President’s trophy with their play after March. These last 33 games are incredibly important, especially since many of the games come against Division foes looking to take over the Rangers playoff spot. Read the rest of this entry

Thrilling third period leads to a big Rangers win; Brassard tallies five points

Bobby Bevilacqua

Dylan McIlrath and Jesper Fast celebrate 1-25

Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

Well, that was exciting.

After a lackluster performance against the Senators on Sunday afternoon, the Rangers (27-16-5) came back with a much better effort and a fantastic offensive performance, downing the Buffalo Sabres (19-26-4) by a final score of 6-3 in the last game for the Blueshirts before the All-Star Break.

After some tight checking, competitive hockey in the first two periods, everything opened up in the third period, where a combined six goals were scored, four of them coming in a span of less than five minutes. Read the rest of this entry

Rangers need rebound win in matchup against Buffalo; Lunqvist and AV infuriated

Bobby Bevilacqua

rangers vs sabres 3-14

Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Let’s face it, the Rangers (26-16-5) stunk last night.

After two very strong and promising performances by the team against Vancouver and the Hurricanes, Vigneault’s squad came out almost entirely flat, barely pressuring Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson and showing a lack of effort. It’s not often that you can criticize the Rangers’ effort, but it wasn’t there last night.

That led Henrik Lundqvist to question his team’s preparation in his postgame interview when questioned about the topic. Read the rest of this entry

Rangers look to start a win streak against the Hurricanes; Kreider questionable

Bobby Bevilacqua

rangers vs hurricanes faceoff 11-30

Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

After a dominating win over Vancouver on Tuesday, the Rangers (25-16-5) will look to start a win streak for the first time in two months when they take on the Carolina Hurricanes (21-19-8) down in Raleigh for a Metropolitan Division showdown.

What would have normally been an unimportant, throwaway game against the Rangers and a Carolina team that’s usually low in the standings actually has some meaning now. In a weak Eastern Conference, the Canes have managed to bring themselves to within three points of a wild card spot, and they’re only five points behind the Rangers, although New York has two games in hand.

Despite the heavy snow and ice storm in Raleigh, the Hurricanes have announced that the game is still going on as scheduled. Don’t expect a big crowd in the stands though, with many Carolina area fans tweeting out that they wouldn’t be able to make the trip to the game. Read the rest of this entry

Rangers win overtime thriller against Vancouver; Stepan and Zuccarello break goal droughts

Bobby Bevilacqua

Rangers celebrate a goal 1-19

Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

What started out as a very frustrating night turned into elation for the Rangers (25-16-5) when JT Miller gave the Rangers a 3-2 overtime victory over the Vancouver Canucks (19-17-11).

It was truly amazing that the Rangers didn’t score a lot more goals. They finished with 49 shots on goal, hit the goal post or crossbar six times, and faced Ryan Miller, who brought his A-game. But despite the frustrating sequence of events for the first 50 minutes or so, the Rangers battled back and earned the two points.

This was easily the team’s best offensive performance of the season, and you could argue that it was one of their better defensive performances too. The Rangers had 49 shots on goal, even more scoring chances that were blocked or went wide, and they only allowed 20 shots on goal for Lundqvist. They truly deserved the win and got it. Read the rest of this entry