BTW...shout out to Stralman. He played really well tonight. Staal was our best dman this series. Those two outplayed McD and Girardi. They were almost our # 1 pair tonight.
Doubtful. They said very light shots today. I bet best case maybe a game 7, but more likely the ECF if we make it.
I could only watch the 3rd period which was very very stressful but proud of the Rangers Survive and advance baby Nash simply must score next round. If you cant score on Fleury you should move to the KHL
Not saying it will happen, but hockey is filled with teams that squeaked by a round and went onto long runs. Look at the Bruins last year as a start.
Anything can happen. Let's play the games. I think I am underrating the Pens a little due to their below average D and awful goalie. Whenever you have two of the top 3 or 4 players in Cindy and Malkin, two other VERY good forwards like Kunitz and Neal, and another solid forward like Jokinen, and home ice, you will be a tough out. With that said I just don't love their forward depth outside of those 5. Their D is mobile but soft. And MAF is bad. Special teams - we must stay out of the box and score some PP goals. Orpik - is he ready game 1. Sutter - is he ready game 1. MAF - will he be terrible playoff MAF OR will he be solid. If he is solid not sure we can win the series. Those are the keys. I stick with us in 6. Will go 6 or 7 though.
I like the schedule, but of course we get a back to back on Sunday night in Pitt and Monday night at MSG. Don't get that, unless the Garden is booked at some point, which is the case I bet. I do like the first 4 games all at night. Don't like those afternoon games. Fri, May 2 @ Pittsburgh 7:00 PM NBCSN Sun, May 4 @ Pittsburgh 7:30 PM NBCSN Mon, May 5 vs Pittsburgh 7:30 PM NBCSN Wed, May 7 vs Pittsburgh 7:30 PM NBCSN Fri, May 9 @ Pittsburgh TBA CBC Sun, May 11 vs Pittsburgh TBA CBC Tue, May 13 @ Pittsburgh TBA
I think the rangers will dominate that series. No disrespect to the blue jackets but if the penguins were taken to the wire by them the rangers have no business having a hard time with the refguins. The rangers are by far a deeper and faster team than the blue jackets. IF the rangers can keep a good forecheck up, harass cindy a bit, they'll be ok, get pucks on fleury and stay in front of him, he will crack. Rangers in 6 with a few blowout wins.
Have to laugh. Not only do we have a back to back in games 2 & 3. Not only do we have 5 in 7 and 6 in 9 through games 3 & 4. No other series has any back to backs. The Kings get an extra day and start Saturday night. AND one step further, each of the other series' have 2 off days in between two games at one point. We play every other night, outside of the back to back for games 2 & 3. And I am sure game 6 at home Sunday the 11th will be a day NBC game. It does truly amaze me.
I tend to agree shrike. We are better than CBJ. Bob wasn't really that great. We clearly have more scoring depth than they do. And our D is better. Where CBJ has us beat is their style is much more physical and banging, and that may be the way you have to play the Pens, but with that said I tend to agree with you. And if MAF is playoff MAF then no doubt we win. He cannot play like he did against the Isles and BJ's against us and Hank or else the Pens get beat for sure. We get easy soft goals I have ZERO doubt we win this series. I also hope they play Cindy and Malkin together against us. I would welcome that. Check that line well and we win. But I doubt they pair those two together every shift against us.
I will make one flat out prediction on this series. We win game 1 we win the series. Flat out. Now we don't need to win game 1 to win the series, just need to win game 1 OR game 2 to have a shot, but I feel if we can come off the quick turnaround and win game 1 in Pitt, we win the series for sure.
Funny stuff from Burnside: Not sure the perceived advantage in goal the Rangers have with Lundqvist is as pronounced as it might seem on first blush. He likes MAF...LOL. He likes the Pens in 6...not unfair. With Brandon Sutter looking like he's recovered from missing time in Game 6 after an injury off a blocked shot, the Pens have lots of options down the middle and, in the end, will prove too much for the Rangers. Penguins in 6
I'm in...game 4 next Wednesday night. Just got tickets. $240 a pop. 200 lower level corner. If we are down 3-0 I will be FURIOUS. I will sell...LOL. Didn't want to go to a Monday night game, so I settled on game 4.
The Rangers need to be physical with Orpik, he tends to take penalties when he gets hit so they need to be relentless. The Rangers defense cannot abandon the front of the goal chasing pucks into the corners or Pitt will bury us, they are a much better team at passing the puck than Philly. Time for Nash and Richards to earn their paycheck.
This series will be very different than the Flyers series. That was a physical bang series. This will be a fast skating, more finesse, more goals type of series. Orpik is big for them. To me he is their only real physical dman. If he isn't healthy big edge for us. If our guys don't score I will be shocked. Pitt allows 3 or 4 every single game. I am sure we will score that many.
It was a great night last night. The Garden was the loudest I've heard since the "Can you hear us" game against the Caps a few years ago. That said, let's not go crazy on MAF. He's been inconsistent and has had some awful games, but he's also had games he's been really tough. I will not under estimate him or the Pens. Went with 6 games against Philly. I'll go with 7 games this time around. Crybaby and the down syndrome look alike are very tough on the same line, and let's not forget about the "officials."
MAF is the key. Good MAF or bad MAF. With their O if he is solid it will be very tough for us. We'll see...
