New York Rangers

Courtesy of the NYR: NEW YORK RANGERS vs. BOSTON BRUINS 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Eastern Conference Semifinals – Game 3 Tuesday, May 21 (7:30 p.m.) – Madison Square Garden BOS leads 2-0 TONIGHT’S GAME: The Rangers will face-off against the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m. — TV: NBC Sports Network; Radio: ESPN 98.7), in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series. The Blueshirts trail in the series, 2-0, following a 5-2 loss in Game 2 on Sunday at TD Garden. The Rangers enter the contest with a 212-231-8 record all-time in 451 playoff contests (119-88-2 at home; 93-143-6 on the road). New York has posted a 37-42 record all-time in Game 3s. ALL-TIME PLAYOFF RECORDS —RANGERS vs. BRUINS The Rangers and Bruins are meeting in the playoffs for the 10th time overall, and the first time in 40 years. Their last postseason encounter was in the 1973 Quarterfinals, a series won by New York 4-1. Overall, the Blueshirts have a 3-6 playoff series record vs. the Bruins, posting an 18-24-2 mark in 44 postseason contests. RANGERS vs. BRUINS: All-Time (Regular Season): 249-283-97-2 overall (143-119-55-0 at home; 106-164-42-2 on the road) 2012-13: New York was 2-1-0 overall (1-0-0 at home; 1-1-0 on the road). Two of the three contests were decided by one goal, including one game that required overtime and another decided in the shootout. The Blueshirts’ penalty kill was 15-16 (93.8%). Rick Nash led all skaters with three assists, while Henrik Lundqvist was 2-1-0 with a 2.93 GAA and .913 Sv%. The Rangers have won 11 of their last 15 regular season games against the Bruins, including seven of their last nine meetings, and are 22-7-2 against Boston since 2005-06 The Rangers are 12-3-0 in their last 15 regular season games against the Bruins at MSG, dating back to a 3-2 win on Nov. 20, 2005 The Blueshirts are 5-1-0 in their last six regular season games at TD Garden, having out-scored the Bruins, 15-10, over the span Henrik Lundqvist has started in 27 consecutive regular season games against Boston, dating back to Jan. 13, 2007 The Blueshirts have three players with previous playoff experience against the Bruins – Arron Asham (9 GP, 1-2-3), Roman Hamrlik (25 GP, 1-8-9), and Darroll Powe (11 GP, 0-1-1) New York lists no former Bruins on their roster Boston lists three former Rangers on their roster: Jaromir Jagr (2003-04 – 2007-08); Wade Redden (2008-09 – 2009-10); Marc Savard (1997-98 – 1998-99) INDIVIDUAL CAREER LEADERS vs. BRUINS (Regular Season): Henrik Lundqvist — 30 GP, 21-7-2, 1.67 GAA, 6 SO Martin Biron — 31 GP, 12-12-2-1, 2.66 GAA, 1 SO Brad Richards — 37 GP, 8-23-31 Ryan Callahan — 22 GP, 5-6-11 Michael Del Zotto — 13 GP, 2-5-7 SPECIAL TEAMS: The Blueshirts are 2-0 in games when tallying a power play goal during the playoffs, and are 4-1 when not allowing a power play goal against Power Play: The Rangers did not tally a goal in five power play opportunities (9:12) in Game 2, and are now 2-36 (5.6%) in the playoffs. New York is 0-2 in five-on-three situations (3:17; last – 5/12 vs. WSH), and 0-2 while skating four-on-three (0:23; last – 5/8 vs. WSH). Shorthanded goals allowed (0). Penalty Killing: The Blueshirts held the Bruins scoreless in one shorthanded situation (2:00) in Game 2, and are now 17-21 (81.0%) in the playoffs. Shorthanded goals for (0). Four-on-Four: The Blueshirts surrendered one goal in two four-on-four situations (4:00) in Game 2, and are now -1 in five four-on-four situations (8:25) in the playoffs. Four-on-four goals for (0). Four-on-four goals allowed (1): J. Boychuk (5/19 at BOS). QUICK HITS: The Rangers are 11-12 all-time in Game 3 when trailing 2-0 in the series Prior to Game 1, the last time the Rangers and Bruins played an OT game in the playoffs was Mar. 27, 1958 (L, 3-4) Four of the remaining eight teams in the playoffs are Original Six teams, marking the second time this has happened

Ty Rattie (Portland Winterhawks) If you were lucky enough to be able to watch the London Knights/Portland Winterhawks matchup Monday evening then you got a chance to see not just one top prospect but as many as 30 prospects. Yes that is right 30 NHL prospects who either are signed, drafted or listed by Central Scouting took part in the game between the Knights and Winterhawks (Stick tap to Todd Vrooman and Andy Kemper of the Winterhawks for this). The game didn't disappoint either as the Portland Winterhawks earned their first win of the Memorial Cup 6-3 and for the 2nd straight year, the Memorial Cup has all 4 teams with a 1-1 record. I for one totally disagree with those who think this is bad for the cup as to me what it means is that every game counts. There is none of the easy path's to the Cup finals as all 4 teams playing have a chance to earn their way to the finals. It is good for junior hockey because the CHL is in their own way showing NHL fans what the future of the NHL is going to look like and it sure looks good. There was some great plays made by both teams including a goal from perhaps one of the more underrated prospects player in the Memorial Cup, Ty Rattie of the Portland Winterhawks. Rattie was the 32nd pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the St. Louis Blues and for the most part has been overshadowed by the better known names who have played for the Winterhawks in recent years. More on Rattie later as the game was almost a chess match in the beginning with Portland trying to solve London's trapping defense. Portland got on the board off a nice deflection of a Tyler Wotherspoon shot by teammate Taylor Leier who tipped in the 5 hole past a handcuffed London goalie Anthony Stolarz. Portland with the goal at 16:53 of the first period grabbed a 1-0 lead that they took into the first intermission. In the second period Portland would extend their lead to 2-0 when Oliver Bjorkstrand carried the puck out of the corner and just snapped a shot past Stolarz at 2:17. Portland would make it 3-0 when Ty Rattie would score his 2nd highlight reel goal of the Memorial Cup in as many games. With the teams playing 4 on 4, Rattie took the puck from his defensive zone carried into the offensive zone then cut across the slot moving the puck to his backhand and with a London defender all over him beats Stolarz at 10:23. Have a look for yourselves as courtesy of Sportsnet are the highlights. Rattie's goal starts at the 37 second mark. Portland was up 3-0 but that lead didn't hold as London got on the board 15 seconds after the Rattie goal when Scott Harrington fired a blast past Mac Carruth for London's first goal at 10:38. Less than 2 minutes later with London on a power play, Max Domi of London with a between the legs pass to Bo Horvat who roofed his shot to cut Portland's lead to 3-2. In the 3rd, London would tie the game on a missed call as Ranger prospect Tommy Hughes with either a stick or fist bloodied Ty Rattie leaving him face first on the ice. Play continued while Rattie struggled to make it back to the Portland bench and London took advantage to tie the game up at 3 just 1:48 into the period. The goal by London's Alex Broadhurst had Tommy Hughes (NYR 2013 UFA) credited with a secondary assist for his first point of the Memorial Cup (Portland fans might argue that the assist was for taking Rattie out). Portland would regain the lead for good when Portland's Derrick Pouliot cashed in a Ty Rattie rebound for what proved to be the game winning goal at 6:20. 23 seconds later at 6:43Portland's Chase De Leo would make it 5-3 of a nice pass from Bjorkstrand and then Rattie would get the final word when he scored an empty net goal at 19:05 for the final tally. Rattie finished with a 2-1-3 evening yet only winds up as the game's 3rd star but in many ways that fits with how Rattie has been in the shadows whether it was Seth Jones this season, Nino Niederreiter 2 years ago and Sven Bartschi la

Tonight's Game The Rangers face-off against the Boston Bruins tonight at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m.), in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series. The Blueshirts trail in the series, 2-0, following a 5-2 loss in Game 2 on Sunday ...

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist attempted to put to rest any fear that an injury to his left shoulder is something that potentially could hurt his chances of playing in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN, RDS). "It's under control," Lundqvist said after practice Monday. "I landed on the ice awkwardly and it hurt a little bit. It's under control." Lundqvist appeared to hurt himself after extending his left arm to cover the puck just above the slot with 4:52 remaining in the third period of Game 2 at TD Garden on Sunday. He needed some extra time from the officials to gather himself and flex his arm a bit, but he stayed in the game and was on the ice for the entire practice Monday. He indicated that he didn't even think about sitting out practice. "Everybody is sore," Lundqvist said. "It's the playoffs; you can't just sit out if it's hurting a little bit. It happens and you just have to make sure you maintain and you do the right things to keep it good." http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=671405&print=true

Anybody who watched the New York Rangers game yesterday may have wanted to do one of the following: - Gauge their eyes out. - Scream at the top of their lungs (profanity included). - Throw the closest solid object to them through their TV. - Fly to Boston and re-create Herb Brooks’ dreaded “AGAIN!” practice after the game. Shoot maybe you wanted to do all of the above. May 19, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins goalkeeper Tuukka Rask (40) looks from behind New York Rangers forward Ryan Callahan (24) during a Rangers power play in the second period of game two of the second round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Michael Ivins-USA TODAY Sports Lets look at history. It’s not on the Rangers side. Although they did comeback from an 0-2 series deficit in round 1 against the Washington Capitals, not all teams are the same. As you go deeper in the playoffs the hill gets steeper to climb. The Rangers are 2-19 in series in which they went down 0-2 in the history of the franchise. To make it worse, no team in the history of the NHL has gone on to win round 2 when going down 0-2 in back to back series’. This team has a tough hill to climb, with that being said I am confident they will get a win in game 3. That’s all they should worry about right now, game 3. Not if they win game 3 or if they win game 4. Another little history fact against the Rangers. If this series can go 7 games and the Rangers can again steal another series, they have more problems come the Eastern Conference Finals: - No team has gone 7 games in the first two rounds and made it to the Stanley Cup. Tomorrow night we see what this team is made of and if the home ice trend continues for them in the 2013 Playoffs. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter: @serao_11 Email me if you’d like to discuss any post or just hockey in general: serao011@gmail.com & leave comments with your thoughts if you’d like !

Here’s my story from practice today, for The Journal News and LoHud.com (it’s the unedited version, so please excuse any typos). By Rick Carpiniello GREENBURGH – The last time the Rangers needed to win two in a row at home, Henrik Lundqvist allowed six goals in two victories. The last time they needed to win two in a row anywhere, he pitched two shutouts. Either way, Lundqvist has to be better in Tuesday’s Game 3 of the Rangers’ second-round series with Boston, which they trail 0-2. He allowed eight goals in two games in Boston, including five in Game 2. “You’re never happy or satisfied obviously giving up five goals,” Lundqvist said. “But you have to move on. Take the good parts, bring them with you, and try to learn as much as possible. There’s a few things I have to remember … but also you need to get some good bounces too. Boston earned it by working hard and making really good decisions out there.” Lundqvist surely gave his teammates a scare when he landed on his left shoulder awkwardly late in Game 2. “It’s under control,” he said following a full practice Monday. “Everybody’s sore. It’s the playoffs.” But what isn’t under control unless the Rangers win Game 3 is this series, which heads to the Garden, where the home team was 3-0 in the first round. The comeback from 0-2 against Washington last week was only the second such series win in Rangers history – the other in ’96 against Montreal. But as Rangers coach John Tortorella said, most of this team has now been through a lot of situations where it has had to win playoff games, including the need to win two in a row (Games 6 and 7) against Ottawa last spring, and twice against the Caps (Games 3 and 4, then 6 and 7). “You have to believe in yourself and your teammates that  you can do it,” Lundqvist said. “We’ve been here before. But we’re not looking too far ahead. We’re looking at the first period (Tuesday), get a good start at home, build some confidence there and we’ll see where it takes us. “Every series is different, but your approach doesn’t change. Like I said, you focus on your first period and you move on. Hopefully it can build something – a strong first. If you start looking too far ahead – we need to turn this around … start very small right now.” As Tortorella said, it starts with correcting very correctable, and highly uncharacteristic, defensive breakdowns and blown coverages. “The way they scored their goals – the first one was a trailer and we’ve been pretty good at finding guys late,” said Ryan McDonagh, who was paired with Dan Girardi at practice. “Washington did that a lot and Boston does it a lot. We got hurt by it one time. We know how to defend those kind of plays. For us it’s battles and whatnot, defensive coverage, and things we’ve been doing well. “You can’t think about it too much after it’s all said and done. We’re still going to look at some tape and try and correct some things and make some adjustments here and there maybe. But our gameplan never really changed through the whole season and playoffs. It’s a matter of our compete level and effort level. That’s been there, so it’s a matter of execution, bearing down and defending and scoring goals.” The post Lundqvist knows he has to be better for comeback to be possible appeared first on Rangers Report Blog.

Provided the Rangers win either or both Games 3 and 4 at Madison Square Garden, thus necessitating a Game 5 Saturday at Boston’s TD Garden, we now when that game will start. The NHL announced today the starting time has been set for 5:30 p.m. and the game would be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network. Previously, the NHL announced the Red Wings-Blackhawks Game 5 that day in Chicago would begin at 8 p.m. Television schedules, of course, are driving the bus when it comes to scheduling these games. Five-thirty is actually a fairly odd time to start a hockey game, probably too early in the day to have a morning skate yet late enough that it’s going to feel like an eternity to the players. They’ll have to treat it, in terms of their routine, as a night game without a morning skate. ====================================================== Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/AGrossRecord Follow the Record Sports Staff at twitter.com/TheRecordSports

After the Rangers concluded their practice, D Marc Staal (right eye blurred vision) and RW Darroll Powe (suspected concussion) stepped on the ice with the team’s practice squad, which also saw D Roman Hamrlik, D Matt Gilroy, C Kris Newbury and LW Micheal Haley on the ice along with G Cam Talbot. Among the drills the group did was a battle drill around the center-ice circle, with the player on the inside lowering his shoulder and applying pressure on the player on the outside to prevent him from getting in as the pairs circled the circle. Both Staal and Powe participated in the contact drills. Meanwhile, Henrik Lundqvist addressed his sore left shoulder, suffered at 15:08 of the third period in the Rangers’ 5-2 loss in Sunday’s Game 2 as Lundqvist leapt forward to cover the puck after a Daniel Paille deflection try. “Yeah, it’s under control,” said Lundqvist, who apparently has entertained zero thoughts he’d miss Game 3. “I landed on the ice awkwardly and hurt it a little bit. It’s under control. Everybody’s sore. It’s the playoffs. You can’t sit out (because) it’s hurting a little bit. it happens and you just have to make sure you do the right things to keep it good.” Meanwhile, LW Carl Hagelin spoke in his own defense after coach John Tortorella said Hagelin “stinks” on the power play on Saturday. Hagelin logged 46 seconds of power-play time in Game 2, nearly scoring in the second period on his lone power-play shot. “To be on it, it felt good to be on it,” Hagelin said. “I haven’t been on it much this year so when I get the chance, I want to make the most of it. “(The puck) was a little bit behind me so (Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask) was cheating, too, coming across,” Hagelin added. “it was better to go far side and he made a good save. He’s lucky Cally (captain Ryan Callahan) doesn’t put it in. “For me, I definitely don’t think I stink on the power play. That’s the only comment I have on the PP.” ====================================================== Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/AGrossRecord Follow the Record Sports Staff at twitter.com/TheRecordSports

It is always a sad, sad thing when we see that our superheroes are really human after all. And that's what has been happening with Henrik Lundqvist over the first two games of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The King has sank from royalty to the real world, allowing uncharacteristic goals go by him left and right.While his brother Joel was busy winning a gold medal in Stockholm with Sweden, Hank struggled with the black and gold of the Boston Bruins. Repeatedly exposed by the porous Blueshirts' blueline, Lundqvist let puck after puck get past him in Boston as the Bruins took a 2-0 lead in the series with a 5-2 win.Shots that he sees, shots that he gets a piece of, shots from bad angles ... we've taken his Vezina form for granted for a long, long time and seeing him struggle with those shots is a shock. Even when he wasn't himself at the start of this asterisked season, Lundqvist was still better than the guy who backstopped the Rangers in Games 1 and 2.But it's not over yet, there's time for him to reclaim his crown. The boys rebounded after failing at the Phone Booth to start the last series so perhaps a return to the real Garden will hopefully help. The only problem is that Rask and the Bruins aren't half as horrid as Holtby and the Caps...Late Hits:*At the start of the year Hank was helped out by the boys in front of them, and that hasn't been happening. The cornerstone of the defense, Dan Girardi, has been making mistakes over the last few weeks as all of the mileage has piled up. G was on for all five goals against, and was directly culpable for at least two of them.*It certainly didn't help that G was constantly pulled out of position to cover for his inept partner Del Zaster. The two didn't play together too much over the regular season, so of course Torts felt it best to pair them in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Of course.*Torey Krug, two goals and one assist in the first two games. The entire Ranger blueline, one goal and one assist in the first two games (goal by McD, assist by G).*Nine minutes and 12 seconds of power play time. Forrest.*Nice to see people overreacting because Nash finally scored a goal. Remember when those folks celebrated the long-awaited goals by Boyle and Gaborik? What became of them? Just because he found daylight as Rask sagged off his angle doesn't mean Nash still isn't a factor.*So now Brad Richard$ isn't even taking faceoffs on the fourth line. Too bad there aren't any other real options for the fourth line (Newbury? No.), then Richie could be a healthy scratch.*Speaking of someone who should be scratched, Boyle. Slow, physically outmatched with hands of cement - but he was given over six minutes of power play time. The same Boyle who has no power play goals in his last 180 games (incl. playoffs). Zero. But he doesn't stink with the man advantage, Carl Hagelin does. Right Torts?*Nice of Dorsett to show some pride and start a fight, too bad it came two goals too late.*With him around, what's the point of having Asham? Not that having another man advantage woulda helped anything, but my tw-enemy negated a power play that woulda happened seconds before Boston scored the go-ahead goal in the second period.*Cally had a nice bounce-back game.*PHW Three Stars:3-Torey Krug - one goal and one assist.2-Patrice Bergeron - two assists.1-Tuukka Rask - 35 saves.Scotty Hockey Three Stars:3-Johnny Boychuk - A goal and some good, physical defense.2-Krug - Remember when everyone thought DZ or Hobey were going to be big point-getters from the blueline?1-Bergeron - Must be nice to have a first line center on your team.

The post VIDEO: John Tortorella post-practice press conference 5-20-13 appeared first on Rangers Report Blog.