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Game 3: NYR-BOS, Rangers Head Home with Lots of Distractions...

May 21, 2013, 4:06 PM ET [886 Comments]
Jan Levine
New York Rangers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Similar to Game 3 against the Capitals, the Rangers come home smarting from a 2-0 series deficit. However, that's where many of the similarities end as the two series have been extremely different in style of play and how New York has lost each contest.

Game 2 Lowlights:



Against Washington, the main focus was to try and shut down Alexander Ovechkin, which is what happened after the first two games. While the Capitals did a solid job of capturing the neutral zone and pressuring the Rangers' defense, Boston has been eons ahead of Washington in both respects of the game. Coming into Game 3, there seemed to be more of a quiet sense of confidence last series, while in my view, that confidence has been shaken based on Boston's play the first two games.

Like I have done during the playoffs, I will touch on a few topics:

Tortorella: I will make this brief as we could spend hours - and already have - discussing him and will only touch on Dreger's comments from today and get to Carl Hagelin below. As I said in the blog, what Dreger said is pure speculation, though I believe he clearly has some sources in the organization.

To recap, here is what Dreger said: So to answer your question, if the Rangers are to be eliminated in short order by the Boston Bruins, is there a chance John Tortorella could be replaced? Yes there is a chance, absolutely. No question about it. Glen Sather made the big trade, he moved Gaborik out, prior to that they acquired Rick Nash, they aren’t done yet building this team into a true Stanley Cup contender but is John Tortorella the right coach, that management group for sure will have that discussion at the end of the Rangers season, whenever that is.

The key word in that paragraph is chance. Of course there is a chance he could be fired. But again, my question here is why bring this up now and is now any different than when the Rangers were down 2-0 to Washington? So he would get fired with a second round and not a first round defeat? We all know Torts is a polarizing individual and there really is no middle ground with him, as you either love or hate him. Very few people just tolerate him, save for some Rangers fans who do so as long as they win but jump ship when they lose. Has he done anything so drastically different recently, other than the Hagelin comments, than in the past? Should his status now be any different than a week ago? If no, then fine, but if now there are calls to fire him, where have you been throughout?

Carl Hagelin: No one likes to be told they stink, let alone a professional athlete in general but especially in the playoffs. But let me ask you a question, knowing Torts as we do and his at times Machiavellian style of coaching, do you believe that Hagelin did not have a heads up this was coming? In addition, do you not believe that Tortorella did this to marshal the troops to come to Hagelin's aid and deflect the focus off the team on him? If your answer is no to any and all of the above, you have just not been following all along. There clearly was an ulterior motive to the comments. Plus, due to the comments, it enables Tortorella to put Hagelin on the PP to try and spark the team without anyone focusing on the prior failures, again deflecting the focus. This is not the way most of us would handle but it's right out of the Tortorella book of tricks and management style.

Defense: Prior to the series, the prevailing view - or at least I felt - that Boston had the edge up front but the Rangers had the edge on defense and in goal. That edge on defense was exacerbated by Andrew Ference, Dennis Seidenberg and Wade Redden sitting out, forcing the Bruins to use Mark Bartkowski, Torey Krug and Dougie Hamilton. Shows how much we know. To date, the Bruins have received 10 of the 24 points, including four of their eight goals, from the blue line. Krug has shown tremendous skill, kicking the puck from between his skates to his stick to score twice.

We all expected Zdeno Chara to be dominant, but if the Bruins continues to play like this, the Rangers needless to say are in huge trouble. So what to do? First, they have to attack Krug physically. He has said that he struggled with that style in the AHL, so dump the puck slowly to his side and cleanly hit him every time to can. Second, forecheck like crazy, especially with the Callahan line. The Rangers have the last change, use it wisely to pressure the Bruins D into turnovers, which has not happened often enough the first two games. Last, get traffic in front. Make it hard for Boston to break out by making them mark a forward down low to prevent the quick transition game.

Power Play: Think we all have written War and Peace numerous times over on this point. Here is my view: I though Hagelin gave some spark the other night, use him again. Have Boyle in front to create traffic. At times, use a 2-1-2 set up to force Boston to mark a player in the middle creating space. Sit Richards as he is giving them nothing on the PP. Put Moore on the top grouping with Stepan or Brassard, Zucc, Nash and Boyle. Use Callahan on the second pairing with the other of Stepan/Brassard, Hagelin, MDZ and Stralman or swap Pyatt for Kreider to get a different look. Let Girardi focus on D along with McDonagh. Traffic in front, pucks to the net, the mantras we have said all along, now execute.

Henrik Lundqvist/Dan Girardi: Each are coming off disappointing games. Lundqvist for allowing five goals, many of which he never saw, plus injuring his shoulder in Game 2. Girardi for being on ice for all five goals against, many of which he had a direct impact in allowing. So what do I expect? I expect Boston to shoot high early to test Lundqvist. The Rangers will try and push the forwards further out and be more physical to try and minimize the traffic in front and deflection opportunities. Girardi gets reunited with McDonagh and I expect him to have a bounceback contest. Look for Hank to be amazingly focused and if he gives up more than two goals I will be shocked.

History: No team has rallied from back-to-back 2-0 deficits to win consecutive series in the same year. As I said in the past, history is made to be broken, so why not now? The Rangers have shown resiliency in the past; it is being tested again. I expect a solid effort tonight, just like I did last week in Game 3.

MSG: The crowd was phenomenal in Game 3 last week and I expect much of the same tonight. As pointed out by many, the Rangers are 3-0 at home this playoffs and riding a 9-0 streak. The home team this round is 10-1 and 40-18 overall this playoffs after going 39-47 last year. Home ice advantage is alive and well and I expect the Rangers to take advantage of that tonight.

Only the Blueshirt Faithful and those in the team's locker room believe the Rangers have a shot in the series. That shot starts tonight, and I believe even with a win, they have to win Thursday as well to have a realistic chance. Shift by shift, Minute by minute. Game by game. The time is now.

Let's Go Rangers!!!
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