New York Rangers

Per Dan Rosen, injured winger Ryane Clowe is on the ice for practice today. Clowe has been out since Game Five of the Washington series with a likely concussion. While this is always promising news, let’s remember that Marc Staal has been practicing for a while, and he’s only played in one playoff game. This is a hopeful sign, but until we hear confirmation he is playing, it is still just a hopeful sign. Andrew Gross is reporting that Darroll Powe is on the ice at practice as well. Anton Stralman and Chris Kreider were not at the optional. Tweet

If the New York Rangers want to return to the Eastern Conference Finals, they have one more hill to climb – and it is Mount Boston. Given the way the Blueshirts have been playing it might as well be Mount Everest. After winning Game 7 on the road to eliminate the Washington Capitals, the Rangers will look to become only the fourth team to overcome a 3-0 deficit. The only potential saving grace is that one of the three teams to blow a 3-0 lead was the 2010 Boston Bruins, who were beaten by the Philadelphia Flyers. In addition to the memory of 2010, Boston only has to think back a couple of weeks to realize they were about 10 minutes away from wasting a 3-1 series lead against the Toronto Maple Leafs. It is a point the Bruins are cognizant of. “That fourth game is going to be the toughest one and out of any team in the NHL we should probably know that the best,” Johnny Boychuk said to Dan Rosen of NHL.com. Bruins coach Claude Julien is well aware of his team’s problems closing out a series, but he believes his team is stronger now because of its struggles in the past. ‘‘We can talk about it all we want, but that’s in the past. We had to live with that and we still have to live with that,’’ Julien said to Ira Podell of the AP. ‘‘The Toronto series, I didn’t think our team was in the zone the way it is right now. I anticipate — knowing my team — that we’re going to come out the same next game and certainly not be the Jekyll and Hyde team that we were in the first round.’’ The Rangers have no one to blame but themselves for the predicament they find themselves in. They have not been able to build on any momentum they have gained in the series. The biggest condemnation has been their inability to score goals on any consistent basis – and more importantly – their inability to extend the two one-goal leads they have had in the series. In Game 1, the Rangers took a 2-1 lead on Derek Stepan’s goal 14 seconds into the third period. However, that lead didn’t even last three minutes before Torey Krug’s power play goal tied the game. Last night, the Rangers seemed content with Taylor Pyatt’s goal early in the second period as they took their skates off the throttle. That goal pretty much sums what the Rangers need to be doing more of in this series: winning faceoffs, getting shots on goal with traffic at the top of the crease in front of Tuukka Rask. Sadly, for Rangers fans, their team has not been doing that enough while the Bruins have been winning games doing it – just look at Dan Paille’s game-winner in Game 3. For years it has been my contention that to win in the playoffs you have to have offense and score goals because, for the most part, the very nature of the playoffs lends itself to tighter defensive play. That is why special teams play is so important because power plays give teams a better chance to score goals – unless of course you are the New York Rangers. Rather than look to take the play to the Bruins, the Rangers sat back and turned the game over to Henrik Lundqvist. While he played like The King last night, save for the giveaway on the Bruins tying goal, it is too much to ask any goaltender to make a one-goal lead stand up for 36 minutes – especially when the team in front of him doesn’t have much of a clue defensively (more on that later). Just how one-sided did the game become? The Bruins outshot the Rangers 25-10 following Pyatt’s goal. Ryan Callahan summed up the team’s play during the second half of the game. “They grabbed the momentum in the middle of the second and we never got it back,” the Captain admitted to Larry Brooks of the NY Post. “I don’t think we handled their surge correctly.” One of the earliest notes I made in the game was that the Rangers “ice balance” was off. Again they were getting caught watching the puck in their own zone which, in turn, leaves them vulnerable to plays from the weak side – a problem throughout the series. The Rangers ice balance is taking a real bea

The Rangers powerplay in the 2013 NHL Playoffs is 2 for 38, which is just a hair above 5%. I shouldn't have to tell you that scoring once out of every twenty powerplays opportunities is really, really not good. It's awful. It's spontaneously catching fire in the middle of the desert whilst being hunted down by ravenous cyborg-coyotes bad. Where did the man-hungry roboyotes come from you ask? From the same place your nightmares come from. There are a lot of things to blame and point at to explain how the Rangers find themselves down 3-0 in their series against the Bruins but for most people the powerplay, or lack thereof, is one of the more obvious scapegoats. Sure, there is also the lack of any kind of offense when the team is at even strength to talk about, as well as a certain former Conn Smythe winner who has played himself onto the fourth line, and a coach who's antics are getting as unimpressive as the effort put forth by his team... but for now let's take a look at a brief list of things that are more effective than the powerplay of our New York Rangers. Hammerskates (patent-pending). Jubilee's mutant powers. According to the never-wrong Wikipedia: A mutant, Jubilee had the superhuman power to generate "sparkles" out of her hands, consisting of explosive plasma." ... sparkles? Really? Sparkles. There's a dude with metal skin, a guy who shoots the fury of the sun out of his eyes, and a girl who shoots sparkles at things. Still, it came in handy a lot more than I thought it would. Rick Nash's spin-around power move thing where he skates backwards into the defenseman and then quickly and wildly turns around and shoots it in the general vicinity of the net. Ryan Callahan's shootout move. Hey, he scored with it once or twice in about half a dozen attempts... what I wouldn't give for the powerplay to be half that effective. Cups with holes in the bottom. Me at quickly drawing human hands. Fun noodles being used as baseball bats. Remember fun noodles? Sure ya do. Wet matches. Shoes being used as pillows (not so bad if you're in a pinch). Tim Tebow at quarterba-... eh, nevermind. It isn't that bad. Kristen Stewart's acting. The moderation at Blueshirt Banter (Oh snap!). The "War on Drugs". Wile E. Coyote's roadrunner-capturing and assassination attempts (let's not kid ourselves- he was trying to kill him and eat him). The New York Islanders powerplay in the 2013 Playoffs (that one stings, doesn't it?). M. Night Shyamalan's storytelling in everything that isn't either The Sixth Sense or Signs. Sporks. Pierre McGuire's criticism of the Rangers powerplay. That is all I have for now. You know what? That's a dirty, horrible lie. My list could go on and on but I am a considerate person and I know you all probably have better things to do than read my silly list... but if you don't have better things to do perhaps you can add a few of your own things that are more effective than the Rangers powerplay in the comments section. Who knows, maybe we can have a few laughs and forget about how awful last night went but I don't think that's very likely. Brace yourselves my friends, the Rangers are trailing 3-0 to the Boston Bruins... Summer is coming. Let's go Rangers.

Any analysis of why the Rangers are in danger of being swept in a playoff series for the first time since the Devils ousted them in the first round in 2006 begins and ends here: they are being beaten by a deeper, more talented team that is wearing them down with their depth. Coach John Tortorella as much as admitted that after the game when he said he felt he was in a “Catch-22” because of the Bruins’ four-line attack. While Tortorella feels he must shorten his bench in the third period because of which players are and are not playing well, the Bruins keep rolling 12 quality forwards. Per the NHL, it snapped a 99-game streak for the Rangers of not losing in regulation when carrying a lead into the third period, dating to a 6-5 loss to the Capitals on Feb. 4, 2010. From The Record today: - Here is the game story. - Columnist Tara Sullivan writes as good as G Henrik Lundqvist is, he can’t do it alone. - Tom Gulitti breaks down how the Bruins’ fourth line made the difference. The Rangers practice at noon today so perhaps we’ll get a sense of how serious the injuries/bruises to Anton Stralman, Carl Hagelin, Chris Kreider, Ryan McDonagh, etc. might be. “They are a good team at an important time of the year,” captain Ryan Callahan said. “We knew they were going to push. I thought we had a pretty good third period but we gave up a goal and we don’t get one. It’s tough. Especially at home, going into the third period with the lead. That’s something you want to hold on to at this time of the year, obviously. “They have a good forecheck,” Callahan added. “They have a couple of lines that can come at you pretty hard. They’re pretty effective at getting the puck behind our defensemen. It’s tough but I think the big thing is we need to stay up with them, not turn the puck over. If we do that, we’ll be OK. At times tonight we did that and we were playing good. We have had some good looks that (Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask) has made some good saves on. He’s a good goalie, you have to give him credit. But, at the same time, we need more puck possession and that’s a big part of it.” ====================================================== Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/AGrossRecord Follow the Record Sports Staff at twitter.com/TheRecordSports

If Henrik Lundqvist ever aspires to leave the club of "the greatest Ranger goalies to never win a Cup", he is going to have to improve his game. In the club are guys like Eddie Giacomin, Chuck Rayner and an assortment of lesser stars. Guys who made The Hall of Fame and are Cupless. Henrik has to learn how to somehow score goals. You think I jest? Taylor Pyatt scored a goal at 3:53 of the second

Can the Rangers duplicate what the Flyers did to the Bruins in 2010? Only three teams in Stanley Cup Playoff history have climbed back from a 3-0 deficit to win their series.  That’s the tall task that now faces the Rangers after they fell to the Bruins on home ice in Game Three, the team’s first loss at Madison Square Garden since March 24th.  Things are looking awfully bleak and it certainly seems unlikely that New York will become the fourth team on that list. Boston has been doing a lot of things well and has played much better than many expected.  The Bruins’ defense has given the offensively challenged Rangers no time or room to operate, Torey Krug has added a new dimension to Boston’s attack, and the Bruins’ fourth line has abused New York in all three games. And not much has been going right for the Blueshirts.  The Rangers have had a difficult time generating offense at even strength and have been abominable on the power play (again).  The team’s stars – Rick Nash, Brad Richards and Dan Girardi, specifically – have struggled mightily.  And key injuries to Ryane Clowe and Marc Staal have crippled New York’s ability to get traffic in front and contend with Boston’s depth. So how can the Rangers still save their season? At this point, it will take a miracle, especially with another key defender, Anton Stralman, possibly lost for the series.  But all John Tortorella can do is show his club highlights of the Flyers’ comeback against the Bruins in the 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals and advise them to take Game Four one shift at a time. The Rangers must get bodies in front of Tuukka Rask and get shots from the point and they must find a way to keep Boston from doing the same to Henrik Lundqvist.  They also need their stars to step up and they have to find a way to cash in on some power play opportunities.   The Blueshirts haven’t given us much reason to believe that any of those things are likely, but they’ll need to change that if they hope to play beyond Thursday. Tweet

- It's very difficult to watch your team be beaten by a better team. The Bruins have basically put the Rangers in a choke hold and pulled the life out of them this series. Every game things start off even and then the Bruins slowly take control of the game and win. Doesn't matter which way the bounces go, doesn't matter the luck. The Bruins have won games this series, the Rangers have not. - Not that I'm saying it will happen (because I seriously doubt it), but if John Tortorella is fired if the Rangers lose (as speculated by TSN analyst Darren Dreger) it will be because of his inability to make adjustments and evolve his coaching strategy. You can't have a power play as bad as the Rangers and be successful, you can't keep rolling your top guns and giving the bottom six minimal minutes (Game 3 doesn't count because of the injuries), you can't continue to leave the point open despite the opposing team getting almost all of their offense there and you can't score one or two goals a game and not give more time to the best prospect in the farm. - Not that he can be blamed for anything, but Henrik Lundqvist has been outplayed this series. Sad but true. That first goal was a direct result of his (second) turnover behind the net by trying to play the puck. That can't happen, it just can't. - The power play did a zero again. 0-for-2 with the man advantage. Now 2-for-36 (or maybe 35, I'm too annoyed to look it up) on the playoffs and not one power play goal this series. In a series where two of the three losses are one-goal losses that number is huge. - I honestly think we're seeing the end of Brad Richards. Under six minutes of even strength ice time in a game when the Rangers were down two forwards for some of the third. I truly thought the Rangers would give him one more year, now I doubt it. - The sad part is, and I know all of you will flip out over this, but if the Rangers got any bounces Tuesday they would have won the game. The game-winning goal was about as lucky as they come. Not that the Rangers have really earned any luck the past two games. - Tortorella used the Brian Boyle, Taylor Pyatt and Derek Dorsett line against the Bruins' top line most of the night. From the beginning it was clear they were overmatched and the Bruins took advantage. Boyle winning more faceoffs might have helped that line out, too. - Rick Nash looked good to me, sometimes really good, but couldn't finish. That is a problem when no one else on your team can finish, either. Nash is here to score and he's been good this series but he hasn't scored. Some blame has to fall on his shoulders, it just has to. - Dan Girardi and Michael Del Zotto were paired together again. That shouldn't happen unless they're the only two defenseman on the bench. And even then maybe not. - Another problem (I know this isn't a very positive recap)? No forecheck. The Bruins get the puck deep and keep it there for long stretches. The Rangers rarely do that. Yes, not having Ryane Clowe here hurts a whole hell of a lot more than you think, but someone has to step up. - Boy do the Rangers miss Marc Staal. - Another thing? Every Ranger can be better in this series. Every single player and coach. When that's the case you're generally not winning a series. To this point the Rangers haven't even won a game. - So I don't care how unlikely it is, I'm going to be screaming my head off at Game 4. What's the point of being a fan if you can't be irrational when it comes to rooting for them, right? Thoughts.

If there ever was a need for a mercy rule in hockey then boy did the London Knights need to be put out of their misery. The Halifax Mooseheads just beat on the London Knights 9-2 at the Memorial Cup on Tuesday night earning at the very least a spot in the semifinals. This one was over very quickly as Halifax scored 5 first period goals on just 11 shots as the QMJHL champions could do no wrong against the OHL champs. The lead stretched to 7-0 before London scored 2 late second period goals to get on the board. Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin both had 3 assist nights and to be honest they could have had many more if they really wanted. The Mooseheads had 9 power play chances and the harder London tried the worse the Mooseheads made it for them. As talented as Max Domi and Bo Horvat are and they deserve to be picked in the first round, they just weren't even level as Drouin and MacKinnon were. Ranger prospect Tommy Hughes (2013 UFA) was only a -2 (others were worse) but also took 2 third period penalties including one that led to a power play goal for Halifax. Not sold on Hughes developing into a NHL Top 4 but at least his play is a physical, in your face kind of defensive play. He hurts when he hits and other than the one hit against Ty Rattie on Tuesday, Hughes has been a clean hitter. If there was any question which team of the 3 CHL league champions was the best then there is no question about Halifax being the far superior team having scored 9 on London and 7 on the Portland Winterhawks in the head to head matchups. As much as people were critical about Saskatoon's being in the Memorial Cup at least they have been competitive and I am pretty sure that if Halifax faces the Blades in the finals that there would not be a repeat of the upset. The Mooseheads will be huge Portland Winterhawk fans on Wednesday night as a Portland win over Saskatoon would push the Mooseheads right to the Championship final on Sunday. Nathan MacKinnon has made a pretty strong statement regarding who should be the number one pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft with a 4-4-8 effort in the 3 round robin games. I am a huge fan of Seth Jones but right now I would be lying if I didn't think MacKinnon has been the player who has done the most to live up to his pre-draft hype. Hopefully Jones will rise to the challenge because Portland now knows they need 3 straight wins to earn the Memorial Cup starting Wednesday night against Saskatoon.

Save your breath some of you, and stop praying that Darren Dreger’s speculation on the radio might be true. John Tortorella is not getting fired in a 48-game season when two of his three best skaters played like garbage and the team won a playoff round and sure hasn’t quit; not after what it did the season before. Not happening. Thoughts: 1) So, some 0-3 stats: Only three teams in history have come back from 0-3 to win a series – the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs (against Detroit), the ’75 Islanders (against Pittsburgh), and the 2010 Flyers (against Boston). In 1939, the Rangers trailed the Bruins 0-3 and came back to force a Game 7, which the Rangers lost in triple overtime. 2) If you want something on which you can hang your hat, a lot of these Bruins were on that 2010 team that coughed it up to the Philadelphia team that wasn’t very good, the one that beat the Rangers for the final playoff spot in the Olli Jokinen Memorial Shootout Game 82. I know, that’s like George Costanza hoping for a plane crash to get him out of his engagement. It’s not much, but “it’s something. It’s hope.” 3) The guy you really have to feel for is Henrik Lundqvist, who won the first-round series, and had a great bounce-back game in Game 3 … and probably deserved better. He stopped those two early breakaways and then two open hacks by Jaromir Jagr, or it could have been a Boston runaway. And then he faced Boston’s territorial dominance in the second and third. I thought the Johnny Boychuk goal glanced off John Moore and in. The winning goal was just a firedrill and a lot of bad, or good (depending on your view) luck. 4) Taylor Pyatt went to the front of the net and scored a  goal. It’s not that complicated. 5) Another guy I felt for was Chris Kreider, who deserved to move up off the overmatched fourth line, and was getting second-line minutes when that inadvertent stick caught him around the eye. Hope the kid’s OK. 6) Fortunately for the Rangers no power play resulted from that high stick. Once again, the story of this series, more than the goaltending, the forecheck or lack thereof, the depth or lack thereof, zone time, defensive mistakes or whatever, is ultimately the failure of the Rangers’ power play. And yet, first power play, there was buyout-bound Brad Richards at the point. Second power play, half a minute in, there was Richards out there again. And this time the Garden crowd let him have it. 7) The Anton Stralman injury was really felt as the Rangers, who normally go with four defensemen when things get tight late, had to rotate five and bust up their pairs doing so. That meant more minutes for John Moore, and more for Steve Eminger, who was unlucky on the game-winner, but also didn’t take the man. No idea what the Stralman injury is (he got rubbed out hard by Milan Lucic, didn’t he?), but the Rangers are really in even more trouble without one of their top four. 8) I thought the Derek Stepan, Ryan Callahan, Carl Hagelin line had a pretty good, tough game down low and caused some problems for the Bruins. I thought Rick Nash was mostly good again, and so was Kreider, and at times Derick Brassard. That’s not enough against the Bruins’ four lines. 9) Brian Boyle really beat himself up over his 4 of 21 faceoff night, really took the blame for the team’s inability to keep the puck in Boston’s zone. Say what you want, but there sure could be more guys self-accountable like that some nights. 10) Was there enough blood in that game? Holy shishkebob. 11) The arena looked pretty cool pre-game with all the blue T-shirts draped over the all the seats. Too bad they didn’t put in actual jersey-colored seats throughout the Garden during the renovation.. 12) OK, I get it. Geico is in Washington, so they pick a Capitals player to force-feed to the nation in its commercials. But … why Nick Backstr

You knew that Tuesday night's tilt against Boston was going to be a painful game when the Bruins spend the first minute and a half in the Ranger end. The Blueshirts had no energy or interest at the start, they had no energy or interest in the middle and they had no energy or interest at the end of what was a 2-1 failure. They had few scoring chances, they scrambled around their own end, they had almost no physical edge and - if I didn't see them with my own eyes - I'd think they had no fans.It was a lifeless, gutless, pathetic performance that belied the fact that it was Game 3 of the second round of the playoffs. It was as if the Rangers felt that just stepping onto home ice would have been enough to win. That may have worked against Washington but Boston is a far different side - one that has depth, intelligence, confidence, resolve, leadership and ability.The Blueshirts are clearly lacking many of those qualities as well as they have fallen behind the B's 0-3 in the best-of-seven series. The lone time this year the Rangers won four in a row was end of February, early March when they defeated Tampa, Buffalo, Philly and the Islanders - three non-playoff teams and a team that shouldn't have made the playoffs.There will be plenty of time to analyze the inherent flaws in the Rangers and speculate over the future in a few days time. For now, a few Late Hits on tonight's awfulness:*For long stretches it seemed like it was Hank against the Bruins and he was back to his old outstanding self. If only he could quarterback the power play too.*Hank definitely deserves his share of blame for his idiotic backhanded pass to the Bruins to set up the equalizer but my Tw-enemy Asham had a chance to break up the play and he went for a half-hearted, one-handed jab at the puck that, of course, failed.*Speaking of failures ... Brian Boyle. Brad Richard$. Del Zaster. Nash. Dorsett. Zuke. The power play. Torts. Take your pick ...*Anyone else like totally shocked that it was Del Zaster's man who scored the eventual game-winning goal?*Boyle getting nearly 20 minutes of ice time shows just how delusional Torts is. Hagelin "stinks" but Boyle's soft, clueless, skill-less play is rewarded with more minutes.*Hags did get some power play time but he is hardly the solution. When you have utterly inept men quarterbacking, you have no chance. DZ gets just over two minutes while Moore and Stralman ride the bench during the man advantage.*Thought Dan Girardi had a nice bounce-back game. Amazing what getting away from DZ will do for someone.*Pyatt was credited with the lone Ranger tally after McD's shot ricocheted off of him and into the Boston net. Hmm, a big player can use his size to screen the goaltender? The hell you say.*Now, the guys on the ice didn't give us much to cheer for but even when they did the building was incredibly quiet. Insanely high ticket prices have forced many of the real fans out and replaced them with pastel-shirt-wearing stiffs.*Another playoff game without John Amirante doing the anthem; truly hope he is alright.*Moment of silence for the people in Oklahoma, the state that refused to help post-Hurricane Sandy. And it was a few seconds more respect than the Rangers showed Derek Boogaard, one of their own.*PHW Three Stars:3-Henrik Lundqvist - 32 saves.2-Tuukka Rask - 23 saves.1-Daniel Paille - one goal and one assist.Scotty Hockey Three Stars:3-Patrice Bergeron - No points and yet seemed dynamic, controlling play.2-Shawn Thornton - A pair of assists thanks to solid grinding and great positioning. A veteran tough guy who is utterly invaluable to his team. Basically, everything Asham is not.1-Paille - Never stopped skating and his hustle paid off.