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Beasts of the East face off as the Rangers take on the Montreal Canadiens
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After taking down a strong but struggling Nashville Predator’s squad on Monday, the Rangers (16-3-2) take on the Atlantic Division leading Montreal Canadiens (16-4-2), a battle of two teams tied for the league lead in points.
Montreal and Boston has always been a heated rivalry, but the disdain between the Canadiens and Rangers is starting to grow. Following the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals, where Carey Price got injured and the Rangers won in six games to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 20 years, these teams have played some close games with hard hitting, fights and a lot of fun action.
This is the second of three games between these two Original Six teams, and the first at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers were shutout 3-0 at the Bell Centre, and Henrik Lundqvist’s 29 saves were not good enough to fend off a ferocious Canadiens attack. Read the rest of this entry
The Rangers are winning but not playing well, is it reasonable to be worried?
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Watching the Rangers rattle off 16 wins in their first 21 games has been incredible to watch. They’re grinding out tough wins, scoring a lot of goals and not allowing many goals against. They’re the only team in the NHL that is yet to give up 40 goals, and their +28 goal differential is tied with Montreal for the best in the league.
Reading that, you’d probably imagine that this team is cruising along with no problems and nothing to worry about. But apart from the 2-6 start to begin the 2013, the play of the Rangers through the first 21 games has been the most concerning start to a season in recent memory.
Before you say “that’s stupid” or write this off as another blogger being negative about the team, hear me out. I do think the Rangers are still an elite team. I do think they’re in the mix for a Stanley Cup. And I do think this team has room to be much better. But they’ve been downright bad in some situations. Read the rest of this entry
Lundqvist magnificent as Rangers blank Predators in the Big Apple
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
There is nothing more confusing and puzzling in the NHL right now than the Rangers winning formula.
Despite getting outshot 25-7 after 40 minutes, and outshot 31-19 for the whole game, the New York Rangers (16-3-2) managed to survive a barrage of Nashville Predators (11-6-3) shots on net, starting a new win streak of two games.
Chants of “Hen-rik!” “Hen-rik!” were heard throughout the Garden, as the NHL leader in win improved his record to 12-3-2 with his second shutout of the season, a fantastic 31 save performance on home ice. He was the only reason his team was ahead after the second period despite taking five penalties. New York was vastly outplayed for large portions of this game, but Lundqvist gave them the win. Read the rest of this entry
Lundqvist challenges Rangers to be better against Nashville at MSG
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Despite the Rangers (15-3-2) overtime victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday, and a 39 save performance, Henrik Lundqvist was not a happy camper.
In a game that the Rangers led 4-2 with under three minutes remaining, Alain Vigneault’s team squandered the two goal lead, allowing a power play goal, a tying goal from Jaromir Jagr, and then forcing Lundqvist to make a save on Reilly Smith’s penalty shot. It was a disastrous late meltdown that nearly saw the team throw away a second consecutive game.
“I’m still annoyed,” Lundqvist told the team’s official website. “We have to learn our lesson here, especially after last game. We’ve been talking about all the ways we find to win a game, then we found a way to lose a game (Thursday) and almost did it again (Saturday). We need to learn from this and smarten up.” Read the rest of this entry
The backup battle: Antti Raanta vs Magnus Hellberg
Bobby Bevilacqua
Who will backup Henrik Lundqvist for the 2015-16 season? Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After the Rangers traded away Cam Talbot, their backup goalie for the past two seasons, Jeff Gorton was left to search for someone else to sit behind Henrik Lundqvist on the depth chart. Over the past two seasons, the Rangers learned the importance of having a quality backup, and the team did their best to fill that vacancy in the offseason.
Shortly after the NHL draft, the Rangers acquired Finnish netminder Antti Raanta from the Chicago Blackhawks for prospect Ryan Haggerty, a relatively low price to pay for a backup. It seemed as if that role would be his by default, but Gorton traded for another goalie just a few days later.
Jeff Gorton made a great depth trade, snagging 24 year old goalie prospect Magnus Hellberg from the Predators for just a sixth round pick, and signing him to a two year deal shortly after. Nashville had a log jam of goalies in their system and needed to clean house, which the Rangers took advantage of.
So the question that remains is who should backup Henrik Lundqvist when they open the season on October 7th? Read the rest of this entry
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