Goal breakdown ECSF Game 7

Well, that was awesome, huh?  The Rangers are going to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1997 with a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals in Game 7 of the Conference Semi-Finals.  Brad Richards and Henrik Lundqvist were the story in this one, as well as tremendous team defense from the Blueshirts.  Let’s break down the goals…

1-0 Rangers

• Michael Del Zotto started this play by getting the puck deep.  Carl Hagelin used his speed on the forecheck to gain possession and began to move the puck around the net.  The forecheck caught 4 Capitals in the slot or below, which opened up the top of the offensive zone.
• Hagelin slipped a pass to a trailing Richards, which caught Niklas Backstrom too low in coverage, and Richie blasted a slapshot under Braden Holtby’s left arm.  It was just the quick strike the Rangers needed.  First goal, got the crowd into it, just 1:32 in.

2-0 Rangers

• The Rangers’ second goal originated in their own zone.  Michael Del Zotto made a great hit on Alex Ovechkin, causing a turnover at the Ranger blue line.  Carl Hagelin quickly picked the puck up and led Marian Gaborik.
• Gabby turned on the jets realizing the Caps were in the midst of a change and carried the puck into the Caps’ zone.  The defenders converged on Gabby’s shot from the high slot, blocking the wrister.  Unfortunately for them, they lost track of the puck in the slot and lined up a perfect screen for Michael Del Zotto.  DZ grabbed the puck in the slot and fired a nice little snap shot to the low stick side of Holtby. Read more »

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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Friday Live Chat

Friday chat reminder

Make sure to stop by today at noon for the BSB weekly live chat!  We’ll obviously be talking Game 7, but anything goes, off-season, Hank’s glove hand, whatever.

Putting a narrative about Lundqvist’s glove to rest

Every internet sports writer (national media or bloggers) at some point or another will try to spice up a headline or article subject to entice readership.  It’s the nature of the beast.  One of the most effective tools utilized is the well-crafted narrative.  Causing derision between multiple groups of people over any minute detail of the team, focusing on a slow boiling “problem” that will inevitably sink the club, etc. are a driving force behind ad revenue and page views.  Most of the time, these stories are harmless enough, the WFAN crowd will read way too much into them and post ignorant garbage all over the comments of multiple national media outlets, and life will move on.

Obviously, here at BSB, we try to cater to the more informed, rational, nuanced fan, so this isn’t an issue here, for the most part.  It’s when a narrative grows legs beyond those of the loud-mouth, know-nothing fan, is when I start to become concerned.  So, with all of that said, I want to put to rest a pesky little narrative that is getting too many people worked up.  There is nothing wrong with Henrik Lundqvist’s glove hand.

Does The King have the quickest glove in all the NHL?  Absolutely not.  With respect to the rest of his game, his glove hand is one of his weakest links.  Which isn’t to say that it’s a weak or ineffective glove hand, at all. In fact, it is an asset.  I can only dream of having advanced metrics that could back this claim up statistically, so I’m going to rely on old-fashioned scouting.

Since I have this bizarre passion for this weird position, when watching highlight shows or other games on the hockey package, I tend to focus on the technical errors in execution when goals are scored.  So, I’ve seen most of the guys in the league at least in highlight form on a regular basis.  From the eye test, Hank’s glove hand is not in the league of elite glove guys like Jonathan Quick, Carey Price or even Braden Holtby (whose glove hand is fantastic), but certainly not as bad as quite a few NHL starters/platoon goalies. (Jonas Gustavsson, Ilya Bryzgalov, and James Reimer come to mind)  Read more »

Musings: Revisiting Nash, Line juggling, and more

Nash revisited?

With many expecting impending doom on Saturday the question is again being asked, could Nash help solve our PP and lead us to the Cup in ‘13?

While it may be premature to start talking about next season and beyond, I think the Rangers are going to make a run at Nash this offseason regardless of what happens over the next few days/weeks. I’m not sure if I agree with that strategy yet, but I’d be surprised if they pass up on the opportunity. Clearly the  power play personnel lacks finish, but will Nash really help? Will our youth grow into that role? There’s many ways to slice this.

Torts asked during press conference why he took a timeout. Really?

I often half jokingly point fingers at the media for their lack of knowledge of the game. If you compare hockey coverage to other sports, it’s amusing how bad the analysis can be. So when I was told someone asked Torts during his postgame press conference why he took his time out during the second period, I wasn’t sure if I should be disappointed or happy to have my point proven. P.S. His troops were tired from an extended shift.

Torts’ reaction was priceless. He just buried his head in his hands. Did anyone bring this incident up in their articles this morning? Of course not. And you wonder why this guy has no patience for these cats…

Media accuses Burke of hiding hockey decisions “behind the gay flag”

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