Hello from over the pond. A bit jet lagged but been rocking my Rangers hat and sweatshirt all over London today to give some additional good karma from the UK to the US. Whether it works, remains to be seen, but at this time of year, superstition reigns supreme.
New York plays Pittsburgh on Sunday with a shot to take a 2-0 series lead. It's been well documented how the Rangers have struggled in attempting to win back-to-back games in general, let alone trying to take a two-game lead in a series. (if you need the gory details, here they are: They have lost seven straight Game 2s, fumbled nine straight chances to take a two-game lead in a series and lost an NHL record 12 games in a row when leading a series). You would love to say that the law of averages might okay out on favor of New York, even though each game is a 50-50 option, or the hockey gods would shine upon them, but to date that has not been the case.
Friday, the Rangers had a phenomenal first period, disappeared and did a 180-degree turn in the second and were mildly better in the third before winning it in overtime. In the first, New York too advantage of some weak Pittsburgh D and shaky goaltending by Marc-Andre Fleury to get a 2-0 lead. Benoit Pouliot showed some surprising speed and made a great move by Olli Maatta before beating Fleury on a shot he should have stopped. The Rangers continued to pressure the Penguins and were the beneficiary of a blown offsides call. The faceoff still remained in the NY end, but Maatta kept the puck in and the blown whistle negated a possible chance. The Rangers won the faceoff, Carl Hagelin used his speed to beat Maatta to the puck and fed Brad Richards, who for some reason was wide open in the slot. He had enough time to go to his forehand and beat Fleury. At 2-0, we felt mildly confident but knew Pitt would come full force in the second, but the two-goal lead was huge at that moment.
In the second, all hell broke loose. Pittsburgh really upped the pressure, out shooting NY 15-4 and the Rangers were fortunate to get out of the period tied. Maatta hit the post early in the frame before Lee Stempniak made it 2-1. On the play, Derick Brassard was late getting back, allowing Stempniak to get a drop pass from Beau Bennett and beat Henrik Lundqvist on a backhander. Later in the stanza, James Neal put a shot on goal that popped up off of Lundqvist's stick, and despite Evgeni Malkin making some contact with the glove it was allowed. The ruling was Malkin did not touch the puck, but interesting that the contact with the glove was not penalized. Pittsburgh spent the period plowing through the neutral zone, crisscrossing to create space, then using drop passes to find open men.
The third was relatively even with both teams having good chances and each goalie on their game. Fleury made eight stops while Lundqvist stopped 12, several of which we difficult saves. Late in the period, New York almost a goal, but Pitt came right back up ice and Lundqvist got a piece of a Stempniak shot that also caught iron and the teams headed to OT. The, we know what happened as Brassard and Pouliot scored, though the first took a while to be counted. What I did like was even after Brassard's goal wasn't registered initially, he stayed with the play and made the pass to Pouliot who scored just to be safe.
So what did I get from Game 1:
- Coach Dan Byslma will pair up Malkin with Sidney Crosby at times, but he prefers to keep them separate - Even though Crosby didn't score, he puts tremendous fear in you every time he is on the ice and/or touches the puck - If NY can end up even with Pitt in special teams, they have a great shot to win. That said, the PP still is a major work-in-progress, but I did see some decent signs. AV is replacing John Moore on the point on one of the PP units with Anton Stralman. While Stralman has a heavier shot, Moore is better at carrying the puck up ice and in the offensive zone. Personally,as I have said, I would take Richards off the point and go with a second d-man, or if need be, start Raphael Diaz. - The Rangers will get a short-handed goal during the series. On one of the penalty kills, St. Louis had two shorthanded chances he put wide. While Pitt is very dangerous when on the man-advantage, a counter-attack can beat them, especially if a player has speed through the neutral zone. - The absence of Brooks Orpik is very big for Pitt, removing a major physical presence and steadying hand. Maatta struggled, Rob Scuderi had a so-so game and the Pitt D showed they are vulnerable down low. - You can't rest for a moment or boom, Pitt is coming back up ice with a shot to score. New York took their foot off the gas pedal a bit in the second and we saw what happened. Full time focus is needed for the whole period. - Marc Staal continues to be the team's best d-man this series. Having he and Stralman plus McDonagh and Girardi to mark the Crosby and then the Malkin line is huge. If they load up, assuming one of the Rangers' pairs can stop them, it tilts the edge further to NY. - Nash needs to stop the turn the back and go spin-o-rama move. Lower the shoulder and drive to the net or pull up and use defenseman as a screen. While the shot he had using that move was okay, I would prefer him get closer to the net - Chris Kreider's power and speed would be a huge in this series, especially in the corners and behind the net. He was reportedly stick handling lightly the past few days. If he could be back later in the series, well you know the rest. - we all need to chill a bit. Every period can't be a high and low. Give the opponent some credit. If Pitt takes it to NY, the Rangers don't suck, it's also because the Penguins are a good team and they will dominate at times. The ups and downs are hard enough to take, let alone with all of us thinking the sky is falling when the latter happens. - Same lines as Friday for both teams....at least to start.
For the Penguins view as to what they need to do in Game 2, check out Ryan Wilson's blog .
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 - 13 Dan Carcillo 22 Brian Boyle - 28 Dominic Moore - 15 Derek Dorsett
Extras: Jesper Fast (played games 1-2 and sat the next five, likely on the bench for the series healthy), JT Miller (played games 3-4 versus Philly, depending on how series goes, play of Carcillo and Kreider's health, he could see action) and Chris Kreider (recovering from left hand injury; see above).
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, could get into series if PP continues to struggle) and Justin Falk.
Goaltending 30 Henrik Lundqvist 33 Cam Talbot
Penguins
Forwards 14 Chris Kunitz- 87 Sidney Crosby - 22 Lee Stempniak 36 Jussi Jokinen- 71 Evgeni Malkin - 18 James Neal 19 Beau Bennett - 16 Brandon Sutter - 46 Joe Vitale 49 Brian Gibbons - 57 Marcel Goc - 27 Craig Adams
Scratches - Tanner Glass (late update, replaced for Game 2 by Brian Gibbons, who was out since Game 4 of the 1st round with an unspecified injury), Jayson Megna and Taylor Pyatt
Defense 7 Paul Martin - 58 Kris Letang 3 Olli Maatta - 2 Matt Niskanen 4 Rob Scuderi - 41 Roberto Bortuzzo
Scratches - Brooks Orpik (injured, the a Penguins really could use him back), Deryk Engelland (healthy)
Goaltenders Marc-Andre Fluery Jeff Zatkoff Tomas Vokoun
No. 2 Rangers vs. No. 1 Penguins (Metro Division) - Eastern Conference Semi-Finals Game 1: Rangers 3 Penguins 2, OT, Fri., May 2 Game 2: Rangers at Penguins Sun., May 4 at 7:30 p.m. (NBCSN, CBC) Game 3: Penguins at Rangers, Mon., May 5 at 8 p.m. (NBCSN, CBC) Game 4: Penguins at Rangers, Wednesday, May 9 at 7 p.m. (NBCSN, CBC) Game 5*: Rangers at Penguins, Fri., May 9 at TBD Game 6*: Penguins at Rangers, Sun., May 11 at TBD Game 7*: Rangers at Penguins, Tue., May 13 at TBD
I will hopefully be watching at 12:30 am from the UK. We all know what's at stake, right now, NY fired the first salvo and gained home-ice advantage. A second win would really add to the pressure on the Pens, but as we saw with St. Louis and Chicago, a 2-0 lead in a series means little. Plus, 11 two-goal comebacks so far in the playoffs and that doesn't even factor what LA did to Anaheim on Friday,
All I can say is, just find a way to get it done as they did Friday. Let’s Go Rangers!!!