New York Rangers

Courtesy of the Boston Bruins: NEW YORK RANGERS FORWARD CARL HAGELIN On his team’s performance… This was definitely our best game. It was just tough that the push came too late. We should have been playing like this our first couple of games, which we didn’t. It’s tough to get out of a hole when you’re down 3-0, even though we showed a lot of character. It’s a great group of guys in here, and we almost came back. Again, I think we’re all disappointed we didn’t play this way to start out the series. On why the team played better later in the series and not the start… That’s a good question. I don’t think we were tired from the first series. I mean they played seven; we played seven. I think it’s just a matter of maybe we just didn’t have the aggressiveness we needed to play in their zone. Maybe we gave them a little too much respect. It hurt us. On what problems the Bruins caused for them… They did a good job of breaking out of their own end. I think that was key for them so their D [defense] could join, because we did not sustain enough pressure. We didn’t make their D [defense] work, and that’s why it was easy for them to join the rush. On his team turning over the puck a lot… Yeah. Maybe, maybe not. I don’t think that was our biggest issue. I think it was more our dumps, and we made it easy for them to break it out. On what the feeling is like when you work so hard and it comes to an end… It’s just disappointment and emptiness. You want to keep playing, there’s no doubt about it. But the push came too late. On the biggest difference in this series… Just the way we didn’t’ create enough offense. We got a lot of good scoring chances, just more the fact that we didn’t sustain. NEW YORK RANGERS FORWARD RICK NASH On his feelings after the series… It’s heartbreaking. We have a good team, good season, and we just couldn’t get the job done. On if he was dealing with an injury during the series… No. NEW YORK RANGERS FORWARD DERICK BRASSARD On the momentum of the game… Well, I think when they scored their second goal they got a lot of momentum, I think they really pushed hard after that. I think the more the game goes the level of energy is going to go a bit down because you always try to push and try to get a forecheck. I think after the second goal, you know, they play really tight and they make a big push and we couldn’t find a way. On whether it was more what the Bruins did or what the Rangers didn’t do… Yeah I think they have some good structure, and they have good defensemen. And what I noticed was that every time we tried to get a battle in front of their net, they’re pretty big and they compete hard. I think the Game 1 and Game 2 – we didn’t give those games to those guys, I think they did play well and play a little bit better. I think that’s where the series got going. But all credit to them. You know they found a way. The last playoff series that they played against Toronto they came back to go into the seventh game, and tonight they found a way to close the deal. On what he learned from this playoff experience… Yeah well you know, it was my first playoff experience. And we found a way to win the first playoff matches, and I think just learning how hard it is and all the little details. I’m just looking forward to this summer to work hard, and now I know what to expect. And going into next season I think I am confident I want to be part of this team, and I think we have a good group here and we can do something special. It’s been a lot of fun. NEW YORK RANGERS FORWARD BRIAN BOYLE  On wondering how things could have played out if the effort was there earlier in the series… You wonder a lot of things, you review the whole year. You wonder how many more you got

Sorry for the jackwagon sniffling in my microphone during the Tortorella presser. The post Game 5: Bruins 3, Rangers 1 … post-game interviews: Tortorella, Lundqvist, Girardi, McDonagh, Callahan appeared first on Rangers Report Blog.

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.

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?

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

There will be a lineup change in this game but it’s the Bruins inserting a veteran, not the Rangers. D Dennis Seidenberg, who has missed the first four games of this series with a lower-body injury, will replace rookie Dougie Hamilton, who was burned on Chris Kreider’s OT winner in Game 4, as Zdeno Chara’s partner. For the Rangers, Darroll Powe, out since Game 3 of the first round against the Capitals with a suspected concussion, was on the ice for warmups but did not participate in the line rushes. So coach John Tortorella, with his team facing elimination for the second straight game in this series and for the fourth time so far this postseason, is trusting his players and his Rangers’ lineup from Game 4, including the revamped fourth line of Kris Newbury centering Micheal Haley and Derek Dorsett. “We’ve been fine in the room,” Tortorella said. “We have momentum on our side, we’ll try to keep it.” Tortorella added there was “no update” on D Anton Stralman, who is missing his second straight game but did add that D Ryan McDonagh is going to “play a ton.” Which is not necessarily breaking a lot of news there. He logged 29:43 in Game 4 and was on the ice for 31:59 in Game 1. It’s sort of like saying McDonagh is “going to make a lot of money” in his new contract this summer. Speaking of reliable, Tortorella was asked whether he thought Henrik Lundqvist elevated his game in elimination situations. “I don’t pay attention to Henrik,” Tortorella said. “I know he’s going to be there. He stops the puck. All the time.” “We worked too long and too hard to go out in four straight,” Lundqvist said. “We gave ourselves an opportunity to play one more game. That’s our approach now is just win. We go in that building, we’re playing a good team. I think the last couple of games we’ve had more intensity, at least the second half of (Game 4) was really good and parts of the game before that were really good as well. So focus on the good parts and the stuff we’ve been doing well and feel as good as we can.” Here’s a look at how the Rangers have thrived in elimination games the past two seasons. While Lundqvist and the Rangers are 6-1 over the past two playoffs - five series - it should be noted the Rangers were 1-5 in elimination games from 2006-11, all with Lundqvist in net. And here’s Tom Gulitti’s column on how closing out series has been a tough chore for Bruins goalie Tuukka “I Fell on My” Rask. Before today’s game, Bruins fourth liner Shawn Thornton explained why he and his linemates did not accept challenges from the Rangers’ fourth line to fight in Game 4. Thornton said the Bruins had just scored and added he wasn’t sure if Newbury, who was jawing at him, legitimately wanted to fight or whether Newbury was trying to sucker Thornton into dropping his gloves. Thornton said that when the time was appropriate, his gloves aren’t “sewn on.” At the same time, he said wouldn’t have fought in that situation in any game. Keys to Game 5: 1. Up their game: Yes, the Rangers won Game 4 to avoid a sweep. But they can’t forget they trailed 2-0 in the second period and needed an incredible flub by Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask to kickstart their comeback. The Rangers did not start Game 4 with the requisite sense of desperation. A repeat of that won’t work on the Bruins’ home ice. 2. More from the new guys: Tortorella shook up his Game 4 lineup and the same is expected in Game 5: Brad Richards and Arron Asham out, Newbury and Haley anchoring the fourth line, Kreider starting the game with Derek Stepan and Rick Nash and veteran defenseman Roman Hamrlik in for the injured Anton Stralman. The Rangers need balanced production to have a chance. 3. Special teams: While the focus has remained on

I’m going way out on a limb here and say this is indeed a Must Win for the Rangers. Seriously, though, I think this is a pretty big win for the Bruins, too, because if they lose this one then all that negative stuff from Philly in 2010, and from Toronto two weeks ago starts creeping into their minds again. It may have already begun to creep in after the Game 4 loss. Who knows? But I think tonight’s game might say more about the Bruins than it does about the Rangers. Take Our Poll Game 5. Rangers at Bruins. Every day is a potential last day of the season for ya boys, now. Looks like the same lineup for the Rangers, which means Micheal Haley and Kris Newbury in for Brad Richards and Arron Asham, and Roman Hamrlik in for Anton Stralman. Darroll Powe skated in warmups but is not expected to play. Dennis Seidenberg looks to be re-joining the Boston defense, on a pair with Zdeno Chara, which likely means Dougie Hamilton is prucha’d. Henrik Lundqvist (duh) in goal against the break-dancing Tuukka Rask. By the way, how did I not compare the speed of the Carl Hagelin back-handed goal to the Mookie Wilson grounder to Bill Buckner? ********************************************* Don’t forget to vote for the Three Rangers Stars and to follow me (and Josh Thomson, 26) on Twitter: @RangersReport. The post It’s Go Time! … Game 5: Rangers at Bruins appeared first on Rangers Report Blog.

The post John Tortorella pre-game press conference appeared first on Rangers Report Blog.

Here’s my Game 5 preview from Boston. The post Video: Carp’s Game 5 Rangers-Bruins preview appeared first on Rangers Report Blog.

Scott Levy/NHLI via Getty Images After Thursday night’s dramatic comeback win, the Rangers are now in Boston with hopes of sending the series back to New York. A lot of people looked at this as winning four in a row, but the Rangers just need to win one. You can’t look ahead to more games when your season relies on winning the game at hand. One win at a time. This team has proven they can come from behind, and now they just need to execute. Torts is 6-1 in elimination games. Making it 7-1 will make Boston sweat. Series Previews: Game 4 goal breakdown Game 3 goal breakdown Game 2 goal breakdown Positives/negatives of Game 1 5 keys for success for the Rangers Rangers/Bruins second round preview Five keys for success against the Bruins Scouting Tuukka Rask and his goaltending style Previewing the Bruins and their systems/styles of play Series: Bruins lead 3-1 NYR Playoff Leading Scorer: Derick Brassard (2-10-12) BOS Playoff Leading Scorer: David Krejci (5-12-17) NYR Playoff Goaltender: Henrik Lundqvist (11 GP, 2.15 GAA, .934 SV%) BOS Playoff Goaltender: Tuukka Rask (11 GP, 2.33 GAA, .925 SV%) New York Rangers Tickets RSVP to potentially win tickets to a game Rangers Lines (unconfirmed until Torts releases the lineup): Carl Hagelin-Derek Stepan-Ryan Callahan Chris Kreider-Derick Brassard-Rick Nash Mats Zuccarello-Brian Boyle-Taylor Pyatt Derek Dorsett-Kris Newbury-Micheal Haley Ryan McDonagh-Michael Del Zotto Dan Girardi-John Moore Roman Hamrlik-Steve Eminger Henrik Lundqvist Scratches/Injuries:  Darroll Powe (concussion), Anton Stralman (undisclosed), Ryane Clowe (undisclosed), Brad Richards (healthy), Matt Gilroy (healthy), Arron Asham (healthy) Broadcast Info: NBCSN 5:30pm Tweet