Hockey

Courtesy of the NYR: RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS Game 5: TD Garden Bruins 3, Rangers 1. BOS wins 4-1 Team Notes: -      The Rangers were defeated by the Boston Bruins, 3-1, today at TD Garden, in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series. The Blueshirts are eliminated from the playoffs after losing the series, 4-1. -      New York has posted a record of 213-233-8 overall in postseason action, including a 93-144-6 mark on the road. -      The Rangers tallied one goal in two power play opportunities (2:54), and were 2-6 (33.3%) with the man advantage in the last two games. -      The Blueshirts won 29-57 faceoffs (51%) in the contest, led by Brian Boyle (11-18, 61%) and Derek Stepan (11-19, 58%). Player Notes: -      Dan Girardi notched a power play goal, was credited with two hits and logged 25:59 of ice time. He recorded a point in each of the last two road games (one goal, one assist over the span). Girardi finished the postseason ranked first among Rangers’ defensemen with two goals, and tied for first in scoring with four points. -      Mats Zuccarello tallied a power play assist and was credited with two blocked shots in 14:57 of ice time. He recorded three points (one goal, two assists) in the last four road games. Zuccarello finished the postseason ranked second on the team with six assists and seven points. -      Brian Boyle registered a power play assist, was credited with four hits, and won 11-18 faceoffs (61%) in 20:07 of ice time. He tallied a point in each of the last two games (one goal, one assist over the span), and finished the playoffs tied for fourth on the team in scoring with five points (three goals, two assists). -      Henrik Lundqvist stopped 29 of 31 shots faced, and is now 30-37 in 67 career playoff contests. He finished the postseason with a 2.14 GAA, ranked fourth in the NHL with a .934 save percentage, and second in the league with two shutouts. -      Chris Kreider tied for the game-high with six hits and logged 16:52 of ice time. -      Ryan Callahan registered a game-high, six shots on goal, and was credited with four hits in 22:55 of ice time. -      Derick Brassard recorded three shots and two hits in 20:33 of ice time, and finished the playoffs leading the team with 10 assists and 12 points. He currently ranks fourth in the league in assists (10) and tied for fifth in points (12). -      Derek Stepan won 11-19 faceoffs (58%) in 17:54 of ice time, and finished the postseason ranked first on the team with four goals. The post Game 5: Bruins 3, Rangers 1 … post-game notes appeared first on Rangers Report Blog.

WCSF Game 5, Blackhawks vs Red Wings : 2nd Period Game

Tickets for Bruins home games in the Eastern Conference finals go on sale Sunday at noon, the team announced Saturday. Games 3 and 4 against the Pittsburgh Penguins will be at TD Garden. Game 6, if necessary, will also be...

Michael Ivins – USA TODAY Sports The Boston Bruins were lifted to a 3-1 win in game five, thus finishing off their series with the New York Rangers, thanks to the timely and extremely useful contributions of rookie defenseman supreme Torey Krug and Gregory Campbell, the son of the man whose name is on the Stanley Cup as an assistant coach for none other than the 1994 Rangers. Well, it’s not feeling like 1994 tonight, not after that game. Sure, the Rangers drew first blood on a power play–a  somewhat questionable one at that–thanks to Dan Girardi, but that was it, their only goal. Questionable officiating tainted the night at times, especially the late instance of Taylor Pyatt basically using Tuukka Rask (winner of the MVP jacket) as his own personal sofa without any sort of goalie interference call coming, but the Bruins were able to overcome this slight setback. When Krug broke through on the power play early in the second, he accomplished something that hadn’t been done by a Bruins blueliner for quite some time. Back in 1991, Ray Bourque was able to score three power play goals in three playoff games in the same season. At the time, Krug, the April 1991 baby, was still in his first weeks of life. The decision to keep him in and sit the frazzled Dougie Hamilton when Dennis Seidenberg felt well enough to return to the lineup was a wise one. Krug does it all despite his small stature–which may have been why he went undrafted, but his play shows that height isn’t everything. It’s also great to see Seidenberg back in the lineup too. That Merlot line, the stuff of legend, the best fourth line in the league right now helped push the Bruins up to a 2-1 lead. Daniel Paille put in some good hard work to keep the puck in the Rangers zone, fending off the ever-annoying Derek Dorsett and handing it off to Shawn Thornton. Thornton then gave it the old college try himself, but it didn’t work, so Campbell came in, cleaned up the rebound and, well, it’s amazing what soup can do. For the most part, the refs swallowed their whistles in the third period and just let the boys play, but the Bruins needed a lot of help to hold on to their lead. Rask, therefore, had to be up to the task and he certainly was. He was determined to live down that embarrassing mess-up from game four and he did so in spades late in this game, occasionally having to make some heart-stopping saves to keep that lead. Campbell later sealed the deal on an empty net, causing Henrik Lundqvist to bash his stick against the crossbar in frustration. Thus, it was over, and the team that almost got bounced in just seven games is now heading to the conference final. The Pittsburgh Penguins, and the concerns that go along with playing them, await. But those are worries and thoughts for another day. Now the Bruins get a little bit of much-needed rest before what lies ahead.

The New York Rangers season came to an abrupt end as the Boston Bruins defeated them 3-1 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Rangers grabbed the early lead in this game, but slowly let it slip away due to undisciplined penalties, and uninspired play. Henrik Lundqvist played like an absolute beast between the pipes, but he can only do so much for his team. As it has been for most of the season, the Rangers had a slow start from the opening faceoff, and were sitting back on their heels for the first few minutes. However, the Rangers were able to get their legs back under them as Rick Nash, Chris Kreider, and Derick Brassard responded with some threatening chances. Things got a little ugly just six minutes into the game, as the Rangers fourth line started to cause some havoc. Shawn Thornton took exception to the Rangers taking liberties, and traded some punches with Derek Dorsett. Dorsett's fight lit a fire under the Rangers as they started to go to work, and eventually sucked David Krejci into taking a cross-checking penalty after the whistle. The Rangers would eventually get their first power play of the game, and had a golden opportunity to take early control of this game. They did just that as Dan Girardi unloaded a rocket from the point, and it snuck under Tuuka Rask's arm, and just like that it was 1-0 Rangers. This goal is a direct result of Brian Boyle giving Rask absolutely no room to think. A majority of the time, a goalie can only stop the pucks that he sees. The Bruins started to amp up their pressure late in the second period, but luckily enough, the Rangers were able to escape the first period with the 1-0 lead. That lead did last very long into the second period, as Mats Zuccarello took an early hooking penalty, and the Bruins had their opportunity to jump back into the game. Torey Krug, who haunted the Rangers all series long, was the recipient of the eventual power play goal. He was set up for a blistering slap shot on the right faceoff dot, and he ripped it through Henrik Lundqvist's arm. With the ice tilting almost fully in the Bruins favor, the Rangers began their downfall. They weren't able to generate the chances that they would liked, and the Bruins started to eat away at the Rangers slowly. Three minutes past the halfway mark of the second period, Gregory Campbell gave the Bruins their first lead of the game, and wound up being the game winning goal. Roman Hamrlik, who likely played the last shift of his long NHL career after the goal, made a terrible mistake to pass the puck right into three Bruin players. After a second swat at the puck, Hamrlik wasn't able to get the puck up the ice, and it was all down hill from that point. Shawn Thornton eventually gained possession of the puck, and drove it to the net. With much chaos in front of Lundqvist, Campbell came in and chipped the loose puck into the top corner of the net. The Rangers would eventually head into the third period down 2-1 with their entire season relying on their third period of play. Although, the only threatening chance the Rangers were able to generate was a late period breakaway from Ryan Callahan. It was a great play by Hagelin in the neutral zone, and he found Callahan breaking out early, and got in behind the Bruins' defenders. With penalty of time to think, Tuuka Rask stood his ground, and shut down Callahan's backhand attempt, and kept the Bruins on top 2-1. With the final minutes clicking off of the clock, and the Rangers starting to run on empty, the Bruins popped in the empty net goal to seal the deal. Gregory Campbell came up with his second goal of the game, and sent the Boston Bruins to the Eastern Conference Finals. With that, the Rangers season came to a quick end, and it's going to be another long off-season. Keep checking back all throughout the off-season, as there will be a ton to talk about regarding upcoming RFA's, UFA's and much more. Is it October yet?

Nobody would have guessed that the Detroit Red Wings would have a 3-1 lead against the Chicago Blackhawks, and just 1 win away from the Western Conference Final. Entering the season, many questions were faced with the Detroit Redwings. Would they be able to keep their streak of 20+ playoff appearances alive? How would they respond without Nicklas Lidstrom, the best defenseman of all time? Would an aging Zetterberg and Datsyuk still be able to perform at an elite level? The Red Wings have beaten all odds, and exceeded everyone’s expectations. Heading into their second round matchup against Chicago, it was tempting to predict a sweep for the Blackhawks. They did it in the regular season, so why not again in the playoffs? Just one problem, Detroit is all of a sudden a different team. All four lines are constantly feeding off the energy of Justin Abdelkader. His physical play and surprising offensive production have been vital for the Wings. Abdelkader was having a career year, and has carried this into the playoffs. For Detroit to have continued success, Abdelkader must bring his abundance of energy and physicality shift after shift. Another factor to Detroit’s success is the strong play of their defenseman. I will be the first to admit, I anticipated Detroit to mightily struggle without Nicklas Lidstrom. However, Brendan Smith and Jakub Kindl have really stepped up in their roles. Both young Dmen contribute on special teams, and their balance of strong defence and an offensive ability have paid dividends for the Red Wings. Arguably the most underrated goalie in the NHL, Jimmy Howard has done wonders for the Red Wings this year. Howard has stolen the show this series, shutting out Chicago’s top stars. If Howard continues his stellar play, Detroit will show no signs of slowing down. With the aging of Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel datsyuk, one would have believed that they may be a step behind the game. This is definitely not the case. Both players have been the driving force for the Red Wings. Zetterberg is an exceptional 2 way player, while Datsyuk is an absolute wizard with the puck. Both of these players have played a crucial role for the Red Wings this year, and will continue doing so. The Detroit Red Wings were the underdogs heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but this doesn’t seem to bother them. In fact, they are thriving in this role. With the continued play of Zetterberg and Datsyuk, along with the dominance of Jimmy Howard, there is not a reason to doubt why the Red Wings won’t be contending for the cup come the end of June.

The Bruins will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2013 Eastern Conference Final, and that means more playoff hockey at the TD Garden. Tickets for Games 3, 4 and 6 of the series will go on sale at 12 p.m. on Sunday, May 26, according to the team. However, the specific dates for the series have not been set yet. The tickets will be available for purchase at the TD Garden Box Office, on BostonBruins.com or by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000.

That game in a nutshell: Krug: four goals in five games. KRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUG. Greegory Campbell: Gimme the fancy stats on this one, Servo. Big sticktap to Mike Murphy, Joe Fortunato, and the folks over at Blueshirt Banter for being great sports this series. More gifs and thoughts on this series to come. For now...

Well, it was fun while it lasted. The Bruins –the better team throughout the series– sent the Rangers home today with a 3-1 win in Game Five. Torey Krug was an absolute killer in this series, and he scored the game tying goal in this game. That’s the season, so here’s the final goal breakdown of the year: Rangers 1, Bruins 0 Lots of things done right on this shift. The Rangers scored on the powerplay for the second game in a row. Ok, now that this has sunk in, the Rangers didn’t really have a strong powerplay shift until this goal. Michael Del Zotto started by fighting off a forechecker and making a one-handed pass to Chris Kreider in the defensive zone. Kreider skated through and dumped the puck in, and more importantly, took a hit on the chase to move the puck to the weak side. Dan Girardi eventually wound up with the puck, and drew Danny Paille to him while flipping a backhanded pass to Mats Zuccarello between the top of the circle and the blue line. At this point, Gregory Campbell cheats down a bit, and Girardi reads this and gets in a position to shoot at the point. His one-timer went through everyone, including a Brian Boyle screen in front, and to the back of the net. Bruins 1, Rangers 1 Eminger out of position, Cally has to cover. Weak side is open. The Rangers special teams giveth, the Rangers special teams taketh. The Blueshirts have had trouble all series killing penalties, specifically whenever Torey Krug shoots. This time was no different. During a routine zone entry and setup, Krug came in late and circled from the blue line to the top of the weak side circle. Steve Eminger is a bit out of position, as he should have Tyler Seguin in front, but he’s over by the boards. This causes Ryan Callahan to cover the slot instead of watching the pass to the weak side. Krug slipped into the open ice, and Cally couldn’t get over in time to deflect the pass or block the shot. With the way Krug has been playing, the goal was a certainty. Bruins 2, Rangers 1 Five Bruins in the picture, three around the pass. Bad idea. This is why Roman Hamrlik never really played as a Ranger. His ill-advised pass (pictured above) gave the Bruins puck possession in the neutral zone. Then his again ill-advised half-attempt to get the loose puck at the blue line caused a rough transition and eventually led to Gregory Campbell going untouched to pick up a rebound in the scrum in front. Bruins 3, Rangers 1 Empty net. That’s all folks. All things considered, the season wasn’t a total loss. Time to regroup and come back strong next year. Tweet

The Bruins had another chance to close out the Rangers on Saturday night in Game 5. They seized it. Torey Krug continued his unlikely run as a playoff hero by scoring the tying goal in the second period, and Gregory Campbell followed up with the game-winner and an empty-net goal to boot. Despite a desperate effort by the Blueshirts, the grit of Boston’s fourth line was too much for Henrik Lundqvist to withstand, and the depth of the Bruins forwards won out over the goalie’s superior effort. Tuukka Rask fended off the Rangers attack from there on out with some help from his teammates, and the Bruins are moving on to face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference finals. Click here to see the best photos from Game 5 >>