Rangers vs. Devils Eastern Conference Finals preview

Another series for the Rangers ends in seven games and another series begins with just one day of rest in between. This time around, the six seeded Devils stand between the Rangers and a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Devils are here after beating third seeded Florida in seven games in the first round and fifth seeded Philadelphia in five games in the second round. From the get go, there are comparisons to 1994, but we don’t see it. Sure, it’s easy to say certain things are the same, but only Martin Brodeur remains from that series.

Offense

Surprisingly enough, the Devils are the team that outscored the Rangers (albeit by two goals) during the regular season. The Devils, like the Capitals before them, are a more skilled team up front than the Rangers. Ilya Kovalchuk, Zach Parise, Patrick Elias, Travis Zajac, and Adam Henrique form a very potent set of five forwards that will be difficult to contain.

The Rangers are hoping to get more from Carl Hagelin, who had a great Game Seven against the Caps, in order to really counter the Devils’ attack. Brad Richards has been on fire this postseason and Marian Gaborik isn’t exactly struggling to generate chances. If Hagelin can help get that duo going, and the Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Ryan Callahan line can generate some offense, then the Rangers might be able to match the offensive output.

Advantage: Devils

Defense

While the Devils may have an advantage on offense, the defensive side of the game is all Rangers. The Rangers allowed 22 fewer goals than the Devils during the regular season and have not allowed more than three goals the entire post season (14 games). That is a NHL record. Where the Rangers have a solid top four in Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal, and Michael Del Zotto, the Devils defense has multiple question marks outside of Anton Volchenkov. Marek Zidlicky has been a solid pickup for them, but on paper they don’t match up.

Advantage: Rangers

Goaltending

The battle of the best that has ever played the game versus the current best in the world. Brodeur and Henrik Lundqvist are the past and the present in terms of elite NHL netminders. That said, Brodeur is having a great postseason for the Devils. Lundqvist has just been much better, as expected. The real question about this matchup is whether or not Brodeur will be able to match Lundqvist in this series. For the 40 year old netminder, it may not be as easy as matching up against Jose Theodore and Ilya Bryzgalov.

For more on each goaltender’s style, read Justin’s posts on Brodeur and on Lundqvist.

Advantage: Rangers

Powerplay

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ECSF Game Seven: Capitals at Rangers

Series: Tied 3-3

NYR Leading Scorer: Brad Richards (5-5-10)
WSH Leading Scorer: Alex Ovechkin (5-4-9)

NYR Goaltender: Henrik Lundqvist (13 GS, 1.73 GAA, .940 SV%)
WSH Goaltender: Braden Holtby (13 GS, 1.95 GAA, .930 SV%)

Rangers Lines:

Carl Hagelin-Brad Richards-Marian Gaborik
Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Ryan Callahan
Artem Anisimov-Brian Boyle-Brandon Prust
Mike Rupp-John Mitchell-Ruslan Fedotenko

Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi
Marc Staal-Anton Stralman
Michael Del Zotto-Stu Bickel

Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.

Probable Scratches/Injuries: Mike Sauer (concussion), Mats Zuccarello (wrist), Brandon Dubinsky (lower body), Jeff Woywitka (healthy), John Scott (healthy), Steve Eminger (healthy)

Preview: Game. Seven. Need I say more?

Crazy Thought: Cally with the GWG.

Home ice advantage: Washington can’t match up

For two of the three games in Washington, the Rangers appeared to be outmatched. This isn’t to say that the Caps actually outplayed the Rangers, except for Game Six, but it’s to say that the Caps appeared to match up better against the Rangers –and therefore played better– in those games. One can just look at the games and think that the Rangers just didn’t have it, or were just outplayed.

However, it more likely has to do with matchups. The home team has the final change, and that gave coach Dale Hunter the opportunity to use his shutdown line of Troy Brouwer, Matt Hendricks, and Brooks Laich on the Rangers top line of Carl Hagelin, Brad Richards, and Marian Gaborik. It has worked very well too. Even when that line generated the triple OT winner, it wasn’t due to poor positioning by the Caps.

Now, the Caps don’t have that advantage. John Tortorella has the final matchup of lines. It gives the coach a great opportunity to finally get his top line away from that very effective shutdown line the Caps have. Couple that with reuniting Chris Kreider with Derek Stepan and Ryan Callahan –forming a very good second scoring line– and the Rangers may be in matchup heaven.

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Panik ends Connecticut’s season, Whale fall to Norfolk four games to two

Norfolk Admirals 2, Connecticut Whale 1 (OT)

Norfolk, VA, May 11, 2012 – Richard Panik’s goal at 13:01 of overtime ended the Connecticut Whale’s season Friday night at Scope Arena, giving the Norfolk Admirals a 2-1 win in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Semifinal series between the two teams, and a four-games-to-two triumph in the best-of-seven set.

Panik took a pass from Alex Killorn and got a step on Whale defenseman Brendan Bell, then made a move to the forehand to put the puck past Connecticut goaltender Cam Talbot, who made 44 saves in the game, including a combined 32 in the third period and overtime.

The Whale nearly found themselves behind just 41 seconds into the game, but an apparent goal by Norfolk’s Alexandre Picard was disallowed when it was ruled that he knocked the puck into the net with a high stick.

The Whale controlled play thereafter, but were frustrated by Admiral netminder Jaroslav Janus (30 saves) until the 14:49 mark, when Connecticut got a goal as a result of a fortunate bounce.  Janus stopped a shot by Casey Wellman but could not control the rebound, and Norfolk forward Pierre-Cedric Labrie inadvertently knocked it into the net with his skate.  Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, who got the last touch on the puck, was credited with the goal.

The best chance of a scoreless second period came at 10:10, when Audy-Marchessault was awarded a penalty shot after he was hooked while working his way past the Admiral defense.  Janus, though, came up with a glove save on Audy-Marchessault’s penalty shot bid.

The Admirals dominated the third period, outshooting the Whale 18-2, but Talbot held the fort until the 10:52 mark, when Tyler Johnson tied the score.  The Whale won a defensive-zone draw but were unable to control the puck, and Ondrej Palat was able to work it off the left-wing boards to Johnson in front of the net.  Johnson nearly fanned on his shot, but was able to shove the puck through Talbot’s pads, for the goal that would end up forcing the overtime.

The series win was the first ever in a best-of-seven series for Norfolk, which will now go on to the Eastern Conference Finals to face the winner of a Game Seven Saturday between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and St. John’s in St. John’s.

It’s never too early to think about a Whale ticket package for the 2012-13 season.  For information on season seats, mini plans and group discounts, visit www.ctwhale.com, or call the CT Whale ticket office at (860) 728-3366 to talk with an account executive today. Read more »

Back to the old lines, many rejoice

During yesterday’s practice, Pat Leonard tweeted the lines that coach John Tortorella ran. These lines are likely to be the lines run tonight for Game Seven. Many called for Chris Kreider to move back up to a line with Derek Stepan and Ryan Callahan, and they got their wish:

Carl Hagelin-Brad Richards-Marian Gaborik
Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Ryan Callahan
Artem Anisimov-Brian Boyle-Brandon Prust
Mike Rupp-John Mitchell-Ruslan Fedotenko

The defensive pairings, as always, remained the same.

It’s good to see Kreider back up where many, including myself, think he belongs. That line has some great speed, skill, and tenacity and had great success when used earlier this series. The Rangers will need every weapon they have to win their second Game Seven in as many series.

Is the pressure squarely on Lundqvist?

Sticking with our Henrik Lundqvist theme for today, there was a great discussion on Twitter between Japers Rink and Neil Greenberg of the Washington Post regarding the myth of the playoff goat or playoff underachiever. Fairly or not, Lundqvist (and Alex Ovechkin) have been labeled as playoff losers because both are elite players who have never advanced past the second round. In Lundqvist’s case, this is especially unfair as this is really just the second season he’s really had a team capable of making it past the second round.

Save for the 2006-2007 Rangers that were very capable of making a run (stupid Chris Drury!), Lundqvist has always been the reason why the Rangers made the playoffs. He made a mediocre team a playoff team, and in 2009 carried them to within one win of a major upset of these Washington Capitals. But, the team around him wasn’t a playoff caliber team, and they lost.

Now, this is a Ranger team that is a playoff caliber team. Add Lundqvist to the mix, and he makes them into a team that can make a legitimate run. They are eerily similar to last year’s Boston Bruins, and constructed in the same way as well. But yet in an attempt to sell papers and page views, many ignore the strength (or lack thereof) of these teams, and focus solely on the fact that Lundqvist hasn’t made it past the second round. Color me confused.

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Connecticut gets shutout, trails Norfolk 3-2

Norfolk Admirals 4, Connecticut Whale 0

By Brian Ring

Bridgeport, CT, May 9, 2012 – The Connecticut Whale were defeated by the Norfolk Admirals, 4-0, Wednesday night at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport in Game Five of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semifinals series.

The Admirals now lead the series, three games to two, with the series switching back to Norfolk for Game Six on Friday night at the Norfolk Scope (7:30).

Alexandre Picard had two of Norfolk’s goals to power the Admirals’ attack, tallying his fifth and sixth goals of the postseason, and Ondrej Palat added a goal and an assist in the effort.

Jaroslav Janus notched the shutout for the Admirals in his first appearance of the series, making 22 saves.

After missing on several close calls, the Admirals finally broke through with the first goal of the game with 4:45 remaining in the opening period. Picard beat Whale goaltender Cam Talbot (31 saves) off a wrap-around chance for his fifth goal of the playoffs, assisted by Pierre-Cedric Labrie.

Picard would strike again 2:43 into the second period, stuffing home a rebound of a Scott Jackson shot past Talbot for his second goal of the game and a 2-0 Norfolk advantage. Palat also assisted on the score.

Palat would extend the lead to 3-0 with 5:54 left in the third period, his second point of the night and third goal of the playoffs. Tyler Johnson and Jean-Philippe Cote each assisted on the goal.

Labrie capped the night’s scoring with his second goal of the series, coming with just over five seconds to play in the final frame.

The series now switches back to Norfolk for Game Six, as the Whale and Admirals face-off again in a must-win for Connecticut on Friday night (7:30 PM, “The Rock” 106.9 WCCC, live video streaming available at www.ahllive.com).

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ECSF Game Six: Rangers at Capitals

Series: Rangers lead 3-2

NYR Leading Scorer: Brad Richards (5-5-10)
WSH Leading Scorer: Alex Ovechkin (4-4-8)

NYR Goaltender: Henrik Lundqvist (12 GS, 1.70 GAA, .940 SV%)
WSH Goaltender: Braden Holtby (12 GS, 2.02 GAA, .930 SV%)

Rangers Lines:

Carl Hagelin-Brad Richards-Marian Gaborik
Artem Anisimov-Brian Boyle-Ryan Callahan
Ruslan Fedotenko-Derek Stepan-Brandon Prust
Mike Rupp-John Mitchell-Chris Kreider

Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi
Marc Staal-Anton Stralman
Michael Del Zotto-Stu Bickel

Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.

Probable Scratches/Injuries: Mike Sauer (concussion), Mats Zuccarello (wrist), Brandon Dubinsky (lower body), Jeff Woywitka (healthy), John Scott (healthy), Steve Eminger (healthy)

Preview: Time to close it out.

Crazy Thought: Mitchell finally scores a goal.

The powerplay: It’s all about timing

How many times have we said that the powerplay was doing all the right things except shoot? It must be dozens of times by this point. For every critic of the powerplay, there was a missed powerplay chance (so there were a lot of critics). It was absolutely frustrating to see the Rangers work the puck so well and still not manage any shots on goal. But there were good things, and it was only a matter of time before they broke through.

Timing is everything.

The Rangers, especially their veteran leaders, knew that they had a tremendous opportunity when Joel Ward took his boneheaded high sticking penalty. Four minutes in the box. If they tie it up, they open overtime with almost a full powerplay. They knew this. We knew this. Ryan Callahan, Marian Gaborik, and Brad Richards knew this. Michael Del Zotto knew the puck needed to get to the net, in any way possible. And look at that, it worked.

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Watch: Staal’s OT winner, Richards’ tying goal

Staal’s OT winner:

Richards’ tying goal: