Rangers @ Penguins Post Game Thoughts

This game was fairly frustrating don't you think...it was a very fun game to watch during 5 on 5 play with both teams playing very spirited hockey, but this game was there for the taking...

The main reason this game was lost was because of penalties and special teams. The Rangers took 8!!! penalties in this one. You cannot win against a very good team like the Penguins when taking so many penalties. Just think about it, that is almost an entire period spent killing off penalties. Although the penalty killing was very, very good, only giving up one goal in those eight chances to the very talented Penguins, it was apparent that the Rangers didn't have the legs towards the end of the game to make a final push for the tie because they spent so much time killing penalties. Also, even though the Rangers did score a power play goal in this one, the power play with five minutes remaining in the game was just putrid and effectively ended all hope the Rangers had of trying to come back.

Although I cant stand Mike Milbury who will take any shot at the Rangers as he can, you have to agree with what he said during the second intermission. The Rangers are at times just way too passive. They strike first by attacking the Penguins, taking the play to them, then after the goal it almost seems as if they seem content with the lead then begin playing a defensive and passive game. They need to find a killer instinct they had in the first round playoff match-up against the Thrashers last year when they never let their foot off the gas and took the play right to them for all 60 minutes.

I have no doubt that this Rangers team will make the playoffs, but if you take a look at the standings there are a lot of teams starting to breathe down our back. The 9th place Capitals only trail us by 3 points although we do have a game in hand. But, any small skid can knock us out of the playoffs in the blink of an eye. I also feel like we always hit a little wall at the end of the season. Tomorrows game against the Pens will be very important, I think it almost a must win situation especially since it is on home ice. A loss by the Rangers plus wins by a few other teams can cause things to get interesting real fast.

At 6 tonight the 8th seeded Bruins will take on the Sabres in Buffalo. Boston only trails the Rangers by 1 point in the standings so a win by them can result in a tie for the 7th and 8th spots by the Rangers and Flyers, really leaving the Rangers in a must win situation tomorrow. Lets go Sabres.

Lastly, although we're in the final stretch of an exciting hockey season, one can't avoid the excitement that the opening day of the baseball season brings. I for one can't wait to watch Johan Santana make his Mets debut in Florida tomorrow at 4. Should be a great day of sports with the Yankees at 1, Mets at 4, and the Rangers at 7. Oh and the Phillies play at 3 for one of the writers of this site who will not be named. Lets go Mets and of course the Rangers.

Some Internet Difficulties

Due to some problems with the internet by me I was not able to post during the game or see the whole thing. So I thought I could leave some thoughts now about what this HUGE win means.

First, what a win. This is monumental win. We are in a tie with NewJersey, unfortunately losing that tie because of the first tiebreaker which is wins, for 5th in the conference and a point behind Ottawa, who lost in a shootout to Buffalo, with a game in hand for 4th place. We are also only 6 points, behind the Pens for 1st in the Atlantic, and we play them two times in our last 5 games. Also we have a game in hand on them. Instead of us having to close a team out, we had to come back and boy did we. The Rangers came storming back to win the game in regulation, which was crucial. I saw the highlights and the stats and it was a complete game. The Rangers didn't get into much trouble with penatlies and Henrik came up huge. He was stopping shots left and right and was a huge part of this win. All in all, it was a great game on all sides of the puck and by every player on the ice.

I think the biggest thing about this game is that it was won in regulation. Its been getting a little annoying having to go to overtime so many times and not get the full 2 points. Tonight we shut down the Devils for a great home win. Oh yea, and we are 7-0-0 against our rivals. An amazing feat that I personally would've never believed would be possible. The Devils are a good team and you imagine that when you play your rival team that is towards the top of the standings 8 times that you would lose more than once. But as of right now the Rangers are undefeated against them and can finish it on April 6th, the last game of the season.

Now we have the biggest home and home of the entire season. If we sweep it with 2 wins in regulation we could be one win away from the Atlantic Division lead with 3 games to go. We have a game in hand, so the next game after the home-and-home against the Islanders will be huge. After that we could be tied with 2 games left each. I think we can do it but it sure as hell won't be easy. Regardless, the Rangers have to make sure they play well because the Pens are playing well and the standings are still tight. We haven't clinched a spot yet so every win will get us even closer and push us up those standings.

Gomez is playing

As the title said, Gomez is in and Prucha is out. Thats great to see. Watch for some ice problems tonight as the circus was in this afternoon. Hopefully it isnt too bad.

Rangers go for lucky #7

I think I have finally gotten over that miserable lose against the Flyers in OT. One last note from that game. I don't remember the exact stat mentioned but I think it was something like 7 out of the Rangers last 11 games have gone to overtime or a shootout. This shows we are having some trouble closing teams out when we need to. And that was obvious against the Flyers Tuesday. We had them in a hole from a minute into the game. Yet we couldn't put that second goal home and finish off the Flyers. We let them hang around and if we continue that for the rest of the season and into the playoffs we could be in trouble. With 7 minutes left we were about to be 4 points up on the Flyers and in 5th place in the Conference. They scored and we ended up still being in 6th and only 1 point ahead of them. It's dangerous, very dangerous.

Now as for the Devils. The fact that we are 6-0 against them is crazy. Now the question is can we continue that dominance and actually finish a team off. We are within 2 point of the Devils and Ottawa, so a win tonight could cover a lot of ground. The team needs to absolutely step it up at home. We need a big win.

Rangers vs Flyers - Post Game Thoughts

Flyers 2 - Rangers 1 OT

That right there is what happens when you don't capitalize on your opportunities during the game and let a good team hang around. Not only should we have won that game but it should have never even went to OT. The Rangers had so many chances to make the game 2-0 and end it. Instead we left the score at 1-0 and the Flyers finally got one in. That was miserable. If we had scored one more goal at anytime during this entire game, I think Henrik would've closed it out for us. Now we go from separating ourselves from the Flyers, to only being 1 point ahead of them. This was our last and best chance to move away from the Flyers and we blew it. We completely blew that entire game.

I really don't know what else to say about this game. I am so pissed off right now that we just lost that. Not to make you feel worse but Ottawa came back and won and the Devils lost. Now our game against the Devils could either leave us tied with them or 4 points behind them. I think that’s enough to call it a HUGE game.

Rangers vs Flyers - Second Period Thoughts

Rangers 1 - Flyers 0

Another high energy period on both sides of the ice. The Rangers once again could not score on the powerplay and also didn't get any second chance opportunities. That’s one reason the score is the same as it was after the first period. The other reason is Henrik. He has made some excellent saves this game, most of them coming in the second period. He has kept us in this game so far.

Not much else to mention in this period. I feel the Rangers really need to win this game in regulation to get a real good separation from the Flyers and move up in the standings. We have to put in another goal early, I think that can help us a lot.

Pens and Devils update: Pens 1 - Devils 0 with 4 minutes left in the 3rd. Guess thats good and bad.

Another update, the Sens are losing 3-1 to the Sabres with 8 minutes left in the 3rd. That one I know is good for us.

Ranges vs Flyers - First Period Thoughts

Rangers 1 - Flyers 0

I still don't get it. The Rangers powerplay is so miserable it's just hard to watch. Yea, they got some decent shots off during the two powerplays of the first period but they still just can't score. That leaves the Rangers now 1 for their last 28 on powerplays. That is a horrible number for the talent that is on this team and the overall play over the last month. We are lucky we can score plenty of even strength goals.

Now that I got that out I can focus on the all the good things so far in this game. Jagr scored a great goal and it was nice to have it come early in the game. Got the crowd into it early on and swung the momentum quickly. You really couldn't ask for a better start. The Rangers as a whole are playing with a lot of energy and playing well on all aspects of the game. We got 11 shots, the defense played well and Henrik did his part. As long as this play continues we should win this game. We just have to get something going on the powerplay so we can really put this game away.

Little update of the Pens and Devils: 1-0 Pens with 5 mins left in the 2nd

Rangers vs Flyers - Pregame Notes

Tonight is the last game against the Flyers for the season and just like all the games this month, it is a big game. Flyers are still holding on to the 7th spot and with a win they could tie us for 6th place. Luckily they have played one more game than us but still. I don't want to be tied for 6th. This is the best chance we have left to distance ourselves from the closest team to us in the standings. Now if we win we can jump ahead of the falling Senators and move into 5th place in the Eastern Conference. Not to mention the Devils and Pens are playing a huge game tonight that could lead a tie atop the Atlantic Division at 93 points. The Pens have played one more game than us and the Devils have the same amount. So as you can see there is a lot at stake tonight.

There are a couple of injuries and changes to the lineup tonight. First, Rozsival will not be playing due to a leg strain. Replacing him will be Paul Mara, who hasn't played in almost a month. If you remember Mara suffered some serious facial injuries against Buffalo on Feb. 23. It will be nice to see him back in the lineup but it is not good to hear that he is replacing our top defensemen because he is injured. Rozsival's injury is said to not be that bad and he should be back for the next game.

Another injury update for tonight's game is that Gomez will be out for tonight’s game because he is still hurting from his bruised ribs. No real surprise here. There is a mention that he could be back for the upcoming game against the Devils on the 27th. We can only hope he can be back by then because that game could leave us 1 point out of the division title with a win, not to get too far ahead of ourselves here.

Win It In 60

If you've had enough of watching college basketball for the past 72 hours then tonight you might want to tune into some good hockey. No, the Rangers aren't playing but the Penguins and Devils will drop the puck at 7:30. The two teams are tied for first in the Atlantic with 91 points, 3 points ahead of the Rangers with a game in hand. Although the winner of the game doesn't matter since both have identical records and the Rangers play both teams twice more, the only thing Rangers fans should be rooting for is no overtime. A win in regulation by either team is huge so only 2 points is a result instead of 3.

Also, some good news on the Rangers front is that Scotty Gomez seems to be OK after taking the hard hit into the boards last night. There are no broken bones so he is listed as day-to-day, not ruling out the possibility he will play Tuesday against the Flyers.

Happy Easter from all the writers at New York Rangers Blog.

Rangers @ Flyers - Second Period Thoughts

Flyers 1 Rangers 0

Not much better than the first. The play wasn't as bad and there were some more opportunities but the Rangers are still playing an overall bad game. Vally is the only thing keeping us in this game right now. The game is still very much in reach score wise, but if we continue to play like this we have no chance.