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Rangers ready for crucial Game 4 in Tampa; Stronger defense key
Bobby Bevilacqua
The Rangers and Lightning are back at it tonight in a crucial game for New York in what feels like a must win for Vigneault’s squad. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Forget about the last two games, start fresh on Friday, and earn a split in Tampa to bring the series back to MSG for Game 5.
That’s the mentality that all of the Rangers’ skaters must have when heading into Game 4 tonight at Amalie Arena, a crucial, almost must win for New York. After a disastrous past two games, full of undisciplined play and defensive breakdowns, the team needs to move past that and be much better tonight.
While it’s not technically a must-win elimination game, it surely feels like that. The Rangers still only trail the Lightning by a two games to one series lead, and a win tonight would send the series back to Madison Square Garden with the series even, and home ice advantage back in favor of New York.
That will be no easy task, as the Lightning have built up a ton of momentum after scoring a dozen goals in the last two games. Their offense has been electric, generating a ton of high quality chances and converting on a lot of their opportunities. They have confidence, posing a challenge to the Rangers. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers fall 6-5 in overtime despite late comeback; Defense = disaster
Bobby Bevilacqua
It was a chippy, fast, high scoring game at the Amalie Arena. And the Lightning came away with a 6-5 win in overtime. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
In a wild back and forth game between at Amalie Arena, it was Tampa Bay that came out on top, scoring a shocking goal in overtime to ward off a Rangers comeback, and come out on top with a 6-5 overtime victory. Prior to this loss, the Rangers were 60-0-0 since the 2010-11 season when scoring five goals, in both the regular season and playoffs, yet they could not get the win tonight.
For the second consecutive game, the Rangers’ defense was atrocious. Tampa Bay’s forwards and defensemen just walked through the Rangers at the blue line, out shot and out chanced New York, and had more shot attempts. The defense did nothing at all to help out Lundqvist or the rest of the team, missing defensive assignments, giving up bad turnovers and allowing too many high scoring chances.
The problem in this game is that the Rangers are getting into a track meet. The game is way too wide open for them to keep up with the Tampa Bay Lightning forwards, especially with all of the speed and skill that they have. The Rangers would be better off controlling the pace of play, limiting the speed of the Lightning forwards, and using their quickness when the ice opens up for them. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers need a more disciplined effort in Game 3 on the road
Bobby Bevilacqua
Game 2 got very chippy and aggressive towards the end. That will likely carry over into Game 3 in Tampa Bay tonight. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals was an anomaly. The Rangers were completely off their game for the first 34 minutes. They took too many penalties, made way too many errors, and didn’t give themselves much of a chance to win from the initial puck drop.
I don’t think that will be the case in Game 3, which is down in Tampa Bay at Amalie Arena. Ryan McDonagh and Alain Vigneault were two of the most vocal people following the loss, and they were not happy. McDonagh criticized the team’s “embarrassing, stupid, selfish penalties,” and head coach Alain Vigneault criticized the miscues and lack of scoring.
Now the series shifts to Tampa Bay with both teams having secured one win out of the first two games at Madison Square Garden. Now the Lightning, the best home team in the NHL (32-8-1), get a crack at capitalizing on their home ice idvantage against the Rangers, the best road team in the NHL (28-11-2). Read the rest of this entry
The Ranger Zone Podcast: Takeaways from Game 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals
The Rangers have played the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals, and head to Amalie Arena to take on the Lightning in their home building. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
This is the second episode of The Ranger Zone podcast! In this episode I discuss my observations from the first two games in the series against the Lightning. Everything from the Game 1 domination to the Game 2 debacle on Monday night. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers blown out at MSG in Game 2; Stepan keeps on surging
Bobby Bevilacqua
The Lightning got the better of the Rangers on Monday night, putting six goals on the board and dominating at Madison Square Garden. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
The Rangers had an ugly performance tonight at Madison Square Garden, playing very sloppily and undisciplined, giftwrapping the Tampa Bay Lightning a 6-2 win, and snapping their consecutive playoff games steak decided by one goal at 15 games. The series is tied at one game apiece
For a team that talked about needing to play with desperation and how huge it would be to get a 2-0 series lead, the team as a whole didn’t play with that mentality apart from maybe six minutes in the second period. They took six penalties, allowed a shorthanded goal, and made some crucial mistakes that all led to goals.
Everyone knew that the key to this game would be staying out of the box for the Rangers. But the referees were calling everything from the start, and the Rangers were still extremely undisciplined, taking six minor penalties in the game. Tampa Bay scored three power play goals, and one seven seconds after a penalty had expired. Captain Ryan McDonagh discussed the “embarrassing, stupid, selfish penalties,” after the game, finishing with this quote. “Our guys better figure it out quickly here and realize that stupid selfish penalties are going to cost us against this team.” Read the rest of this entry
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