The Rangers have an opportunity to close out their series against the Flyers with a win tonight on the road. I will post some of the various surrounding the Rangers with winning series in less than seven games and how they have fared recently while trying to secure a two-game lead. As we know, none of them are good. However, each series and game, in this case, is a separate opportunity, distinct from the others. So while history of late has not been on that side, when the puck drops, those stats are just filers and nice to have. Even before the puck drops, they are fillers and nice to have, giving all of us items to discuss but having little bearing on what transpires on the ice.
Some stats:
First the negative:
The Rangers will try and close a series in fewer than seven games, which they haven't done since 2008.
In fact, they have lost an NHL-record 11 straight games when leading a playoff series, including games 2 and 4 this year.
Now the positive:
Rangers are 13-2 in series when they have a 3-2 lead. #Flyers are 3-14 when trailing, three games to two
According to the Elias Sport Bureau, in NHL history there have been 227 best-of-seven playoff series tied 2-2, with the winner of Game 5 going on to take the series in 180 of those (79.3 percent).
Rangers have shown they can win on the road. With 25 victories in regulation on the road in the regular season, they led the East and were one behind Colorado for the NHL lead.
Those stats above are nice, do they have any bearing on what will happen on the ice? Absolutely none at all.
I can wax poetic about what needs to be done. I think we all know that. Stay out of the box and avoid getting caught up in the response game, since all that does is slow down the action, playing to how the Flyers want the game to go. Limit Philly through the neutral zone. Use their speed to go from offense to defense. Create chances off the rush and ratchet up the forecheck when in the offensive zone, as they have done throughout the first five games. Continue to dominate 5-on-5 play, where they have outscored the Flyers 12-6 this series. Expect changes during the game from Philly in terms of line combinations, so be aware of who is on the ice. Take care of business tonight, don't let it go to a Game 7 when anything can happen, and try and get an extra day or two before the next round. By whatever means necessary, get the win.
Line Combinations
Rangers:
Forwards: 61 Rick Nash - 21 Derek Stepan - 26 Martin St. Louis 67 Benoit Pouliot - 16 Derick Brassard - 36 Mats Zuccarello 62 Carl Hagelin - 19 Brad Richards - 10 JT Miller 22 Brian Boyle - 28 Dominic Moore - 15 Derek Dorsett
Extras: Jesper Fast (healthy, played games 1 and 2 but replaced by Carcillo in Game 3), Daniel Carcillo (replaced Fast for the two games in Philly and then was replaced by Miller for Game 5) and Chris Kreider (recovering from left hand injury; still can't stickhandle with that hand and likely out all of this round and part of the next).
Defense 27 Ryan McDonagh - 5 Dan Girardi 18 Marc Staal - 6 Anton Stralman 17 John Moore - 8 Kevin Klein
Extras: Raphael Diaz (a heck of a lot better than having to dress Roman Hamrlik) and Justin Falk.
Goaltending 30 Henrik Lundqvist 33 Cam Talbot
Flyers
Forwards 19 Scott Hartnell - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek 10 Brayden Schenn - 40 Vincent Lecavalier - 17 Wayne Simmonds 24 Matt Read - 14 Sean Couturier - 42 Jason Akeson 36 Zac Rinaldo - 12 Michael Raffl - 18 Adam Hall
Healthy Scratches - Tye McGinn, Jay Rosehill, Chris VandeVelde
Defense 44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn 75 Hal Gill - 32 Mark Streit 47 Andrew MacDonald - 22 Luke Schenn
Extras - Erik Gustafsson (healthy, though could replace Gill), Nicklas Grossman (injured right knee Friday)
Goaltenders Steve Mason Ray Emery
Healthy Scratch - Cal Heeter
Schedule
No. 3 Flyers vs. No. 2 Rangers (Metro Division) first-round schedule Game 1: Rangers 4 Flyers 1, Thurs., April 17 Game 2: Flyers 4 Rangers 2, Sun., April 20 Game 3: Rangers 4 Flyers 1, Tue., April 22 Game 4: Flyers 2, Rangers 1 Fri., April 25 Game 5: Rangers 4 Flyers 2, Sun., April 27 Game 6: Rangers at Flyers, Tue., April 29 at 7:30PM (NBCSN, CSN) Game 7*: Flyers at Rangers, Wed., April 29 at 7pm
Get a win, period, end of story.
Let's Go Rangers!!!