The Rangers have their second, and hopefully what will be a successful, attempt to close out their Eastern Conference Finals series against the Canadians. Tuesday, the Rangers blew a golden opportunity to end the series in five. Tonight at Madison Square Garden, in front of a crowd that hopefully is as loud as it was in Chicago yesterday, the hope is that New York will close out the series and advance to the next round.
The mistakes NY made in game five have been well-documented. They were in the offensive zone. The neutral zone. The defensive zone. Forward. Defense. Goalie. No one was immune to the errors that contributed to the game five loss to Montreal. But it's a new day, a new page, a chance for redemption, and opportunity to move forward. The mantra for tonight is "get it done by any means possible."
Whether that's scoring up by going Top Shelf. Five hole. Short side. Wide-side. Glove side. Blocker side. Whether it's an ugly or a beautiful goal, who cares. On defense, it means blocking a shot with your stick. Your pads. Your body. If it takes a glove save or a blocker save or stick save. By any means necessary, find a way to get it done.
Montreal gets public enemy number #1, Brandon Prust back. I would expect emotions to be riding high but I also believe that he will try to stay on the straight and narrow, given the focus that he is likely to receive. For New York, John Moore is out tonight following his two-game suspension resulting from his stupid hit on Dale Weise. In his stead, I expect Raphael Diaz, who played games 3 and 4 against Pittsburgh, to slide into the lineup. He gets an opportunity to face his old teammates, so there should be somewhat of a revenge factor coupled with a chance to advance to the next round. His puck moving and offensive skills should be a nice addition to the lineup, replacing Moore, as he is paired with Kevin Klein.
Henrik Lundqvist should have a monster game tonight. He is shown in the past the ability to rebound from what everyone would call a stinker of a performance and post stellar numbers in the following game. He did it in game seven against Philadelphia and game five against Pittsburgh. We all know he is a proud athlete, one who thrives on the competition and the opportunity to excel. Tonight, I expect him to excel and have one of those games that we talk about for years to come, enabling New York to move forward.
For all those who took advantage opportunity to watch the Chicago – Los Angeles game last night, they were treated to Hockey at its best. Up-and-down action including eight minutes without a whistle in the first overtime and phenomenal competition on both ends of the ice. If you are a Kings fan, while you are bemoaning the fact that your team was unable to advance to the Stanley Cup finals, you have to be impressed by the way they played. On the flipside, Chicago up there compete level, at home, and were able to force a game six. For all the talk about Jonathan Toews, it's Patrick Kane who has shown himself to be the true leader of this team lately. What a phenomenal game he had yesterday. I hope is that the Rangers took note of his performance and someone, anyone can replicate that type of game tonight.
Following Chicago's win yesterday, the four teams left in the conference finals are now 14–0 facing elimination. That streak is eventually going to have to end either in this series or out West. So why not make it tonight. Make Montreal be the first team of the four to lose these playoffs when facing elimination. We have seen in these playoffs, those teams facing elimination up their compete level. The Canadians did that on Tuesday to force a game six. Tonight, it's up to New York, in front of what I expect to be a raucous MSG crowd, to up there compete level and send our neighbors to the north packing.
I can wax poetic about the keys to the game, but if you look at what I wrote the first five game previews and recaps, it really hasn’t changed. Get a lead, especially to get the Garden crowd involved. Stay out of the box, maybe once they will get this right. Limit space through the neutral zone, as Montreal was excellent in going from D to O in Game 5. Close the slot, where the Canadiens scored four of their goal Tuesday. Get shots on net and stop waiting for the perfect pass. When a shot is made, get traffic in front to take advantage of rebounds left.
Line Combinations (to be adjusted as we get closer to game time):
Rangers:
Forwards: 20 Chris Kreider - 21 Derek Stepan - 61 Rick Nash 67 Benoit Pouliot - 16 Derick Brassard - 36 Mats Zuccarello 62 Carl Hagelin - 19 Brad Richards - 26 Martin St. Louis 22 Brian Boyle - 28 Dominic Moore - 15 Derek Dorsett
Extras: Daniel Carcillo (suspended 10 games under Rule 40.3, appealing, hearing Friday, no guarantee it's reduced and if so, played by AV. Played Game 2-3 in place of Brassard, who was out with the upper-body injury he suffered in Game 1), JT Miller (played Game 4, out with right arm injury suffered in game) and Jesper Fast (played first two games against Philly and has been on pine since then).
Defense 27 Ryan McDonagh - 5 Dan Girardi 18 Marc Staal - 6 Anton Stralman 4 Raphael Diaz - 8 Kevin Klein
Extras: John Moore (suspended for two games for hit on Weise) and Justin Falk (could get in over Diaz).
Goaltending 30 Henrik Lundqvist 33 Cam Talbot
Canadiens
Forwards Max Pacioretty-David Desharnais-Brendan Gallagher Alex Galchenyuk-Tomas Plekanec- Brian Gionta Rene Bourque-Lars Eller-Thomas Vanek Dale Weise Michael Bournival-Daniel Briere-Brandon Prust
Scratches - Dale Weise (concussion on hit by J. Moore) or Michael Bournival (likely returns to the bench, now that Prust, suspended two games for hit on Stepan, is eligible to return. It's possible Thomas Vanek is scratched, in which case, Bounival would play, though more likely Weise is out and Bournival replaces him) Travis Moen and Ryan White
Defense Josh Gorges-PK Subban Andrei Markov- Mike Weaver Francis Bouillon- Nathan Beaulieu
Scratches - Alexei Emelin (played Games 1-4, scratched Game 5 for Nathan Beaulieu, could play Game 6) and Douglas Murray (healthy)
Goaltenders Duston Tokarski Peter Budaj
Scratches - Carey Price (right knee, out for remainder of the series, though he has been practicing and there are whispers he could get back in for Game 6. If that happens, NY has to test his lateral movement and try and get one early, since it may take him a bit to get comfortable)
Rangers (Metro Division) vs. Canadiens (Atlantic Division) - Eastern Conference Finals Game 1: Rangers 7 Canadiens 2, Sat., May 17 Game 2: Rangers 3 Canadiens 1, Mon., May 19 Game 3: Canadiens 3 Rangers 2, OT, Thu. May 22 Game 4: Rangers 3 Canadiens 2, OT, Sun., May 25 Game 5*: Canadiens 7 Rangers 4, Tue., May 27 Game 6*: Canadiens at Rangers, Thu., May 29 at 8PM (NBC, CBC) Game 7*: Rangers at Canadiens, Sat., May 31 at 8PM (NBC, CBC)*
For tonight, as I said in the lead, the mantra is get it done by any means necessary. Find a way to get a win and move forward.
Let’s Go Rangers!!! The Drive to the Stanley Cup continues tonight at Madison Square Garden.
(More important, happy 20th anniversary to my beautiful wife, Rachel, I love you much)