Game 42: Rangers face Pyatt and the Penguins!
The second half of the season starts tonight as the Rangers visit the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Rangers are looking for their third win in-a-row while the Penguins are coming off from 2-1 loss against the New Jersey Devils. Henrik Lundqvist has been terrific in his last two starts and believe it or not, the wins against the TBL and FLA were his first back-to-back wins this season. The Rangers are more than happy to have Cam Talbot but the truth is that this team needs healthy Henrik Lundqvist. Taylor Pyatt was placed in waiwers and eventually the Penguins claimed him yesterday. Pyatt, who was simply unable to find his spot in the line-up, will presumably skate against his former team tonight. Ryan Callahan has been skating and he will return to the line-up tonight. After tonight’s contest, the Rangers will head to Toronto where they will face the Maple Leafs tomorrow night.
PIT:
The Penguins are still missing Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin – but for the record they’re still number one team in the East. 59 points and 8-2-0 record in their last 10 sounds good for any team. The Pens will host the Jets on Sunday night but after that they will head to the Western Canada. For the Pens, getting key players back to the line-up is far more important than winning few games on the road. This team will make the playoffs but if they are without Dupuis, Malkin and Letang, they won’t have a long run. Olli Määttä, who is playing his first NHL season, is a big part of the Pens success. Young rookie has really stepped up his game and with Brooks Orpik out, he has played big minutes.
NYR:
20-19-2 record isn’t what the Rangers expected but things are getting better for them. They have won four out of their last five and they will get their Captain back in the line-up tonight. While they give only two points from each win, tonight’s game is “four point” game. If the Rangers win tonight, they will send message to the other teams – we’re ready to battle. Getting Ryan Callahan is obviously a huge thing but he needs to step up his game. Dan Girardi scored for the Rangers in their win against the Panthers and according to beat writers, the Rangers want to sign contract extension with him as soon as possible.
Alain Vigneault will use same defense tonight (Del Zotto and Falk out) and JT Miller will be the healthy-scratch. The Rangers won the first meeting, the Pens won the second. Rangers and Penguins, this one is always a good one.
Congratulation to Derek Stepan, Ryan Callahan and Ryan McDonagh, as they were named to the US Olympic Team for Sochi. As long as they don’t get hurt, that’s a great news for every Rangers fan.
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter; @VilleLampinen
Game 38; Merry Christmas to all Rangers fans!
Toronto Maple Leafs (18-16-4) @ New York Rangers (17-18-2)
The Rangers have one more game ahead of them before the Christmas break – tonight when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers are coming off from big 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild while the Maple Leafs were defeated by the Detroit Red Wings 5-4 after the shootout. The Leafs will bring HBO crew with them as they get ready for the Winter Classic against the Red Wings on January 1st. Cam Talbot got his 7th win of the season and he will continue in the net tonight. After tonight’s game, the Rangers will celebrate Christmas and they’re back in action on Friday night when they visit the Nations Capital and the Washington Capitals.
TOR:
What didn’t you know about the Toronto Maple Leafs? Well, they celebrate their wins with Miley Curys , they play table tennis before the practise and Randy Carlyle likes Black Sabbath. HBO 24/7 crew has made a great job on this year’s show but the Maple Leafs still have a lot to prove. They are currently at the 7th place in the Eastern Conference but December has been a tough month for them. They are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games but they are still in the playoffs – with a wild card place in the Metropolitan Division. Jonathan Bernier will get a start in the net tonight.
NYR:
Finally the Rangers team we all love showed up and got the win. Benoit Pouliot, Carl Hagelin, Derick Brassard and Chris Kreider scored for the Rangers while Jason Pominville got the lonely goal for the Wild. The Wild scored the first one but after that it was all about the Rangers. They skated well, played good both defensively and offensively and used their own chances well. Cam Talbot was sharp in the first period but didn’t have much to do in the 2nd and 3rd period.
Marc Staal has been skating for the past two days but it’s still hard to say when he will be back in the line-up. Taylor Pyatt was once again the healthy-scratch and if the current 4th line continues to play like they did today – he will be the scratch for a long time. The Rangers will close out their 9-game home stand tonight vs. the Leafs. Current 2-5-1 record isn’t what they expected but Alain Vigneault thinks the better things are ahead.
Merry Christmas for every Rangers fan!
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter; @VilleLampinen
Game 32; Asham returns to the line-up as the #NYR host the Preds!
Nashville Predators (13-14-3) @ New York Rangers (15-15-1)
After a horrendous performance against the Capitals, the Rangers are back in the action tonight when they host the Nashville Predators at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers have lost the last two games and they desperately need to win this one. Getting just 1 point out of the 4 in back-to-back wasn’t the Rangers only lost. Marc Staal left the game against the Devils and he sat out the next game due to concussion. Staal, who injured his eye during last year, already has had a serious concussion previously so the Rangers really have to be careful with this one. The home stand continues on Thursday night when the Rangers host the Columbus Blue Jackets.
NSH:
The Predators are playing without their best player and you can see that from the standings. Pekka Rinne, who’s close to return, has been one of the best goaltendersa< in the whole league and with no offense, Marek Mazanec and Carter Hutton aren’t top-5 goalies in the league. They got Shea Weber back in the line-up and they could really use some points from him. The Predators are 4-5-1 in their last 10 and 0-4-1 in their last 5. They have scored only 67 goals this year and Weber is their top-scorer with 7 goals. Barry Trotz really hopes that he will get Rinne back in the net and the team starts to win some games – before it’s too late.
NYR:
Another night of sloppy defense, missed scoring chances and frustration. The Rangers weren’t able to beat Philip Grunbauer until a minute left in the third period when Benoit Pouliot finally scored his first goal in the last 14 games. Henrik Lundqvist’s shutout streak against the Caps came to it’s end when Jason Chimera found the loose puck in front of the net and soon after that Steve Oleksy made it 2-0 from the blue line.
Tonight the Rangers wanna get tougher, they wanna skate hard and create quality scoring chances. They sent JT Miller back to the Hartford and recalled forward Arron Asham. Derek Dorsett is ready to go and Dominic Moore will return to the line-up. Benoit Pouliot and Taylor Pyatt will be the healthy-scratches. Henrik Lundqvist will get his 4th consecutive start tonight.
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter; @VilleLampinen
Game 25; The Rangers visit the Cats, offense trying to break through!
New York Rangers (12-12-0) @ Florida Panthers (7-13-5)
The Rangers are back in the action tonight when they visit the Florida Panthers. The Rangers six game road winning streak came to its end on Monday night in Tampa as they were beaten 5-0 by the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Panthers hosted the Flyers on Monday night and they were awarded with two valuable points in the standings with 3-1 victory. Henrik Lundqvist started against the Tampa but was replaced by Cam Talbot in the 3rd period. Tonight Lundqvist gets a another chance and with that we’ll likely to see Cam Talbot getting a start against the Bruins. Following tonight’s games, the Rangers will travel to Boston where they take on the Bruins on Friday afternoon.
FLA:
The Panthers have been a good home team this year with the record of 4-4-3. Why they are the 15th team in the Eastern Conference? Because they have a hard time winning on the road. Good thing for them is that they started 5-game home streak on Monday night with the win over the Flyers. The Panthers have 19 points from 25 games and they are 10 points out of the playoffs spot. Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau are high quality forwards and Nick Bjugstad and Dmitri Kulikov are good young defensemen but this isn’t the Panthers year. They need a few more pieces in order to be a playoff team and a couple of high quality players to be a contender team.
NYR:
The Rangers players really seemed to have a good time with their dads during the “dads weekend” but it didn’t seemed to be the best preparation to Monday’s game. Nikita Kucherov (in his first NHL shift with his first shot) made it 1-0 early and Marty St.Louis scored soon after that to make it 2-0 Tampa Bay. The Rangers controlled the first period and they got good scoring chances but weren’t able to beat Ben Bishop. As the game went on, the Rangers made some bad defensive mistakes and the Lightning made them pay. After solid road wins against the Stars and the Predators, this game really gave AV something to think about.
The Rangers sent JT Miller to Hartford so that probably means that Taylor Pyatt is ready to return to the line-up. Lundqvist will get a start tonight and probably will go against the Canucks on Saturday afternoon. After the game against the Bruins, the Rangers will play 11 out of their next 12 games at the Garden and their next road game is on December 27th.
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter; @VilleLampinen
Game 24; With their dads on the stands – the Rangers go for 7th consecutive road victory in Tampa!
New York Rangers (12-11-0) @ Tampa Bay Lightning (14-8-1)
The Rangers continue their road trip tonight when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning. One of the streaks will end tonight – the Lightning have won 7 straight at home while the Rangers are looking for their 7th consecutive victory on the road. Cam Talbot continued his shutout streak in the Rangers 2-0 win over the Nashville Predators but the Lightning have had some troubles lately – they have lost 5 out of their last 7. As the hockey world knows, the Tampa Bay is missing their most talented offensive player – Steven Stamkos. After tonight’s game, the Rangers will play the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night before they face the Boston Bruins in afternoon game on Black Friday.
TBL:
The Tampa Bay Lightning have really lived through a nightmare and sadly that nightmare is still on for the next couple of months. Steven Stamkos, who already had 14 goals this year, broke his tibia in the game against the Bruins and underwent a surgery two weeks ago. What’s amazing is that he’s already walking on his own and he still believes on his chance to play in Sochi for Team Canada. The Lightning won the next two games after Stamkos’ injury but after that they have lost four in a row. With Stamkos out of the line-up, they have had tough time with scoring – only 3 goals in the last three games.
What makes this Lightning different from example last year’s team? They finally have a solid goaltender. After Dwayne Roloson’s amazing performance in 2011 playoffs, the team has really had some bad luck with the goalies but Ben Bishop is a different case. 27-year-old Bishop has a really good shot to make the Team USA in Sochi.
NYR:
This team has really turned things up defensively. The same team which gave up 19 goals in just three during the opening week, now has allowed only 8 goals in their last 6 games. Henrik Lundqvist has really stepped up his overall play and he literally stole the game in Dallas but we have been used to that. Cam Talbot has really impressed the Rangers fans and he is now 5-0-0 in his last 5 starts and he has two consecutive shutouts. The fact that the Rangers have maybe the best goaltending duo in the whole league can make a difference this year. Lundqvist and Biron played 60/20 games during the season 11-12 and that turned out pretty well.
Lundqvist starts tonight and the line-up remains the same so Justin Falk and JT Miller are healthy scratches. Taylor Pyatt joined the team in Tampa but it’s still unclear when he if/will return to the line-up. The current fourth line has played really well and without any injuries I would predict that Pyatt needs to sit for a while.
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter; @VilleLampinen
Game 23; Nash and the Rangers ready to rock in Nashville!
New York Rangers (11-11-0) @ Nashville Predators (11-9-2)
The Rangers are back in the action tonight when they visit the Nashville Predators. Both teams are coming off from big wins, the Rangers beat the Stars 3-2 and the Predators got the win over from Toronto. Henrik Lundqvist was absolutely amazing against the Stars but tonight it’s Cam Talbot time! Talbot, who’s 4-0-0 in his last four starts, will probably face Marek Mazanec in the other end of the ice. Rick Nash scored his first goal of the season in Dallas and he’s ready to score more tonight – in NASHville.After tonight’s game, the Rangers will head to the Sunshine State where they will play against the Lightning on Monday night.
NSH:
This Predators team is good mix of youth and experience. Their leading scorer, 33-year-old David Legwand, has 4 goals and 14 assists but they also have maybe one of the best young defenseman in the league, Seth Jones. 19-year-old Jones was believed to be a number one pick in the 2013’s NHL Draft but the Predators got lucky – and they got him with the fourth overall pick. The Predators start to the season wasn’t the best one but they have really improved their game lately. They are missing their number one goaltender, Pekka Rinne, who underwent a hip surgery during the off season but he played in only 9 games before he needed another surgery. 22-year-old Marek Mazanec has really stepped up and he’s now their starting goaltender.
NYR:
The Rangers played a good road game on Thursday night in Dallas and this time they were awarded with two valuable points to the standings. Henrik Lundqvist literally stole this one and gave the Rangers a chance to win – and this time their offense stepped up too. Rick Nash scored his first of the season on breakaway, Chris Kreider gave the Rangers a lead with his wicked wristshot and John Moore got the eventual GWG. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin had a lot of chances but the Rangers defence and Lundqvist really made a difference.
Tonight they face another team from the West but if they can continue playing like they did in Dallas – they’ll be fine. Taylor Pyatt is pretty close to return and it’s interesting to see if he gets a chance to play in the line-up.
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter; @VilleLampinen
Game 17; Some Sunday night hockey as the Rangers host the Panthers at the Garden!
Florida Panthers (3-10-4) @ New York Rangers (8-8-0)
The Rangers are back at the Garden tonight as they host the Florida Panthers for the first time this season. The Rangers have won 4 out of their last 5 games and they’re coming off from great 3-2 road win over the Blue Jackets. For the Panthers, things aren’t looking that great. They have lost eight in-a-row and they are currently the second worst team in the league, only the Sabres have less points than the Panthers. The fact is that over the last year’s, the Panthers have been a tough team for the Rangers. The entire team has been week but they still have players who can score and if Tim Thomas plays well – he’s a hell of the goaltender. Following tonight’s game, the Rangers will host the New Jersey Devils in the Part 2 of the Hudson River Rivalry at the Garden on Tuesday night.
FLA:
Only three wins in the 17 games was too much for the Panthers GM Dale Tallon. Head coach Kevin Dineen and both of his assistant coaches were dismissed after the Panthers fall 4-1 to the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. Tallon told the media that the firing of the coaching staff was only “first of many changes” and “it’s easier to fire a coach than it is to fire 23 players”. Peter Horachek, former head coach of the San Antonio Rampage, is the new head coach and he already coached the team in yesterday’s loss 2-1 against the Ottawa Senators. Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau are great young players but the team is too dependent on them and they don’t have quality depth in their offense.
NYR:
The Rangers are happy to have Ryan Callahan and Carl Hagelin back in the line-up. Since Hagelin returned to the line-up (against the Isles on Oct. 29th) the Rangers are 5-1-o and he has 4 goals and 3 assists in 6 games. Hagelin and Callahan scored for the Rangers as they rolled to 3-2 win over the Blue Jackets on Thursday night. They got little lucky with a few bounces but their overall performation was pretty good. Cam Talbot was again very good in the net and he was one of the key players in that game.
Taylor Pyatt was injured after getting hitted to the head by a former Ranger Fedor Tjuytin and he left the game immediately. The Rangers are now without him (head injury) and Dominic Moore (upper body) so they decided to call-up Danny Kristo from the Wolfpack. Kristo, who has 8 goals and 6 assists in 13 games with the Pack, can make his NHL debut tonight against the Panthers at the Garden.
EDITED: Brandon Mashinter will take Taylor Pyatt’s spot in the line-up.
Rick Nash, who has been out since the game against the Sharks, has skated with the goalies and extras for a couple of days (according to Larry Brooks). Nash told the media that he has now had two days without headache and he’s on the way to return. The fact that he’s skating is a great thing but I think the coaching staff wants to be a 100% sure that Nash is okay before he returns to the line-up.
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter; @VilleLampinen
Game 1; The Blueshirts are back! Hunt for the Cup begins in Glendale, against the Yotes!
New York Rangers (0-0-0) @ Phoenix Coyotes (0-0-0)
131 days ago the Rangers left the TD Garden heart broken when they were beaten 3-1 by the Bruins in the Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. A lot things have happened during these 131 days. The Blackhawks won their second championship in just four years, the Rangers and the Canucks swapped the coaches and new faces have come and the old ones have gone. The most important thing is that after a long wait – hockey is finally back!
The Rangers will open up their 2013-2014 regular season tonight in Glendale, AZ when they visit the Phoenix Coyotes. Tonight’s game is the first of nine road games to start up the season before coming back to the Garden on Oct. 27 for the home opener. Although the Rangers roster will feature many familiar faces, there are a few “rookies” in the mix. Jesper Fast will make his NHL debut tonight while the head coach Alain Vigneault will coach the Rangers for the first time in the regular season game. After tonight’s contest, the Rangers will continue their 9-game roadtrip to LA where they meet the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night, 10:30pm.
PHX:
Many teams had a quiet and peaceful off season but that can’t be said about the Coyotes. After their elimination from the last year’s playoffs, many people asked if that was the Coyotes last season in Glendale. The league already had plans to locate the Coyotes maybe to Seattle or Quebec but businessmen George Gosbee and Anthony LeBlanc disagreed. The only thing that will change in the future is the name of the team, from 2014-2015 the team will be called the Arizona Coyotes.
Dave Tippett, the head coach of the Coyotes, is expecting a lot from his top line featuring their captain Shane Doan, offseason add Mike Ribeiro and Mikkel Boedker. Especially Ribeiro was effective during his time in Dallas – coached by Tippett. One time Ranger Lauri Korpikoski and Antoine Vermette are players that can really make difference on the ice. The Coyotes defense is mixture of youth and experience. Veterans like Zbynek Michalek and Rostislav Klesla (who’s currently injured) will bring much needed experience to their game. In addition they have young core featuring Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Michael Stone and David Rundblad.
Mike Smith will be their starting goaltender again this season although he had a lot of injuries last year. Smith signed a 6-year contract extension with the Yotes past the summer, so the management is having big expectations about him. Thomas Greiss is their backup goaltender.
NYR:
Coyotes, Kings, Sharks, Ducks, Blues, Caps, Flyers, Devils and Red Wings and all those games on the road, that’s what the Rangers have ahead of them.
The Rangers are forced to start the season without their captain but hopefully they don’t need to wait for a long. Ryan Callahan is no-go for tonight’s game but could be back as soon as on Monday against the Kings. With both Callahan and Carl Hagelin out of the line-up, young guys JT Miller and Jesper Fast will get a chance to show what they got. The Rangers top line will be Nash-Stepan-Richards and the second line Pouliot-Brassard-Zuccarello. The bottom lines appear to be Pyatt-Boyle-Fast and Miller-DMoore-Dorsett.
The Rangers defense will be almost the same every night unless there’s injuries. Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi will form the 1st pair, Staal and Del Zotto in the 2nd pair and John Moore with Anton Stralman in the 3rd pair. Good question is how much power play time John Moore will get this season and will he overtake Del Zotto’s place in the 2nd unit. Vigneault is expecting more offense from his defense and we’re gonna see a lot more playes where the defensemen are involved.
Last but not least, Henrik Lundqvist will start his 8th year with the Rangers and once again he’s the teams most important player. Hank will give them a chance to win every night. Lundqvist had some difficulties with his game during the preseason but looked pretty solid in the last game against the Kings. Martin Biron will be the backup as usuall he will start 10-15 games this season.
The Rangers have a new coach, new playing system but they don’t have much time to adapt it. The real games starts tonight and every single game is worth of two points in the standings.
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter; @VilleLampinen
Rangers eliminate Devils with 4-1 win
Henrik Lundqvist: 21-15-3, 2.11, .926 (11th straight start; 26th in last 28 games
Martin Brodeur: 12-8-7. 2.16, .903
A Rangers win on Sunday afternoon would eliminate the 2012 Eastern Conference champion NJ Devils from playoff contention this season. Entering the game, NYR had scored 14 goals in their last 2 games which have begun to eliminate a lot of the worry there once was about a lack of goal scoring.
The Rangers got off to a fast start when after immediately getting the puck down the NJ end, Ryan Callahan would bank one off the skate of Brodeur and in just 34 seconds into the game. A string of penalties by the Devils would give the Rangers ample chances to add to the lead, but they were all killed off.
Later on, forechecking down low led to Asham feeding the point, and a McDonagh shot deflected off the stick of Derek Stepan and by Brodeur to give the Rangers a 2 goal lead. The Rangers took it to the Devils physically in the first too, with huge hits by Ryan Callahan and Dan Girardi among others. The 2-0 lead would hold after the first period, and over the last 7 periods the Rangers are outscoring opponents by a 16-5 margin.
Coming out in the second with their season on the line, the Devils took it to the Rangers. Most of the early play was around Lundqvist, and he had to turn away a few shots by Clarkson, Zajac, and Loktionov before Steve Bernier shanked one over an empty net. Not able to bury any of those to cut into the lead, the Rangers got the opportunity to extend the lead to three. They did just that when Brad Richards found Taylor Pyatt off a bad NJ turnover; Pyatt wristed one high glove side on Brodeur to put the Rangers up three. That’s how the second would end as New Jersey still couldn’t beat Lundqvist even though carrying an 18-17 shots advantage.
Something that I noticed a lot (as well as NBC clearly did) was that the Rangers were having their defensemen jump up into the play a lot. This isn’t something that is new for today however, it seemed that this is how the Rangers jumped out of that offensive slump of a few weeks ago. Numerous times today I’ve seen Del Zotto, McDonagh and Moore jumping up with the forwards to add an extra body to the offense, and it’s clearly helped. This is something that obviously has to keep up if the Rangers want to make a run in the postseason.
The Rangers quickly would bury the Devils in the 3rd, as off an early powerplay chance, Callahan would convert off a feed from Richards to stretch the lead to 4-0.
All that was left to wonder is if Lundqvist would finish off the shutout, but he would be beaten by Loktionov with just over 6 minutes remaining. That would be the only goal of the game for the Devils, who were eliminated with the 4-1 loss on Sunday.
3 Stars:
3rd: Derek Stepan
2nd: Brad Richards
1st: Ryan Callahan
Key Stats:
Henrik Lundqvist: 26 saves on 27 shots
Ryan Callahan: 2 goals
Derek Stepan: 1 goal & 1 assist
Brad Richards: 2 assists
Taylor Pyatt: 1 goal
Hagelin, McDonagh, Stralman & Del Zotto: 1 assist each
Loktionov (NJ): 1 goal
Brodeur (NJ): 18 saves on 22 shots
The Rangers remain in 8th after the win; tied in points with Ottawa, one back of the Islanders, and 3 points up on Winnipeg. They’re back on the ice on Tuesday night in sunny Florida to take on the Panthers as the last week of the season gets started. With only three games remaining, every point is absolutely crucial for playoff positioning.
Don’t forget to follow me on twitter @malber9
Let’s Go Rangers!!
Matt
Game 34; Can the Rangers break “the curse of the Bell Centre”?
(Graham Hughes/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
New York Rangers (16-14-3) @ Montreal Canadiens (21-7-5)
The Rangers continue their 3 game roadtrip tonight when they visit the Canadiens at the Bell Centre. The Canadiens are coming off from great shootout win over their division rival Boston Bruins. The Rangers found their offense in Philly but couldn’t found it in Ottawa. and they were beaten 3-0 by the Senators. Montreal has been the horror house for the Rangers during the last few years and tonight’s game won’t be any easier! The Rangers and the Canadiens!
MON:
The Canadiens have won 8 out of their 13 games in March. With two losses coming against the Penguins, the Canadiens have played great month of March. They are currently at the 2nd place in the conference with 7 points behind the leading Penguins. They are just one point ahead of the Bruins, so the race for the division is still on. Carey Price have been playing well lately and their offense is rolling. The Canadiens will play next 5 out of their next 6 games on their home ice. Jeff Halpern, who was placed in the waiwers by the Rangers and claimed by the Canadiens, will meet his former team tonight.
NYR:
At this stage of the season, your special teams needs to get it done. The Rangers didn’t capitalize on their 4 PP chances and they gave up a powerplay goal for the Senators. After a great win in Philly, the team looked kind of lost again. Andre Benoit started the scoring for the Senators with a PP goal in the 2nd period. The Rangers had a few changes to tie the game but the Senators used their chances better. Guillame Latendresse buried one past Henrik Lundqvist and the game was over. Colin Greening’s empty netter just added more pain for the Rangers.
After a loss, the Rangers head coach John Tortorella made some changes to the line-up. Mats Zuccarello will make his season debut against the Canadiens. He’s the last player to score on Carey Price in Montreal! No word who’s gonna sit but my guess is Pyatt or Newbury. Martin Biron will get his 5th start of the season tonight. Marian Gaborik skated in the 4th line in the practice and it’s apparent that he needs step up his game.
Key players and stats:
Last game was 4th time this season when the opponent held the Rangers out of the scoreboard. That’s not a surprise with the fact that the Rangers have scored the least goals in the whole league (75). Tonight’s opponent, the Canadiens have scored 101 goals this season. Tomas Plekanec has 12 goals while D PK Subban, Brian Gionta and rookie Brendan Gallagher each have 10 goals in the season. For the Rangers, they have two 10-goal scorers; Rick Nash (12) and Derek Stepan (10). This is the last meeting in the regular season and with the win tonight, the Canadiens would sweep the season series.
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter; @VilleLampinen
True Blue I Am a Ranger 