If they beat them it will be for the 3rd time in 4 years. I think Rangers can win in 6. With Zucc out it might go 7 though Caps are deep so hopefully McD and Girardi can shut down Ovechkin again
Rangers in 7 is my call. I like OV and Backstrom on the same line. And I'm very curious to see what the Caps 2nd line with Kuznetsov does. Their 1st line scored 6 goals against the Isles, and the rest of the team scored 10. Looking forward to see what kind of balance they get against us. Holtby played really well against the Isles, outside of game 1 when he was clearly sick. And their D is big and honestly goes a strong 6. For the last few months I thought this was going to be the main matchup for us. I think this could be tougher than the ECF if we were able to get past the Caps. The Caps are a good big team, with OV, a very solid D, and a solid goalie. We are going to have to play our best hockey to beat them.
Rangers in 7. This is going to be a bruising series for us with us losing at least one more player to an injury. Hopefully we can dispatch of them quickly and the MTL series goes 7 so we can rest and recover, but I don't think we will. Interested to see who steps up for Zuccarello. He's a playmaker that's very tough to replace. Thankfully Klein is back, so that will help us a bunch, but losing a guy like Zuccarello is a tough thing to replace. Here's to a quick and healthy series win!!!!!
What I do like is the way the Caps won last night. A lot of people are going to be on their bandwagon now, especially with no Zucc for us. That could give us just an extra little jump in this series. The Caps were great in game 5, at best average in game 6, and really good last night, but when a team gets 11 shots overall and only 3 from their forwards, no doubt credit the D, but the O is clearly an issue as well. The Isles didn't show up last night IMO, and that is surprising. I think you will see a good deal of people back the Caps off last night, and I am okay with that. Either way I do think this is a long series. I see no way it isn't 6 at least, and game 7 is very likely IMO. When you are the home team you want to set a tone from the start, so win game 1 and get some good vibes going.
Or maybe they will win 4-0...who knows right. What's your prediction Prod...Rangers in 5? The Rangers may actually lose this series. I know it is crazy for anyone to say that in here, and means you are not a true fan, but it may happen. I don't think it will, as I said Rangers in 7, but I would be flatout shocked if this is a quick series. That is a good Caps team. The Caps are also due to win a series over the Rangers, and yes I do believe in that stuff on some level when the series are within a 3 year span, which means many of the same players are involved. Hopefully we can be heading back to NY up 3-1 for game 5. It certainly is possible considering we played really well against the Caps this season, but gun to my head I will say 2-2 back to NY for game 5.
Of course they may lose this series, they may lose any series. It's the playoffs. Pens were due to beat us too, no? Islanders were due to for a win. Blues were due for a win. Will be a tough series, will be a physical series. Having Shepp in the lineup is not a bad thing for these games, although you dont want that at Zucc's expense. Rangers in 6, lock it up rub it down.
While I believe that anything can happen in the playoffs I certainly don't believe in the team is due theory. I mean christ what do you say to Chicago Cubs fans?
Actually no...I picked the Rangers in 5. I never said the Pens would beat us in the series Prod, but good effort on your part buddy. I did think it would come back here 2-2 and then we'd go from there and win the series (and yeah we really were all over that and beat them down in Pitt right...LOL). So no I actually had that series called in exact games at the start. Also, when did I say the Isles were due to beat us? I never said that, and said that was a 6 game series IMO. I think the Caps are real good. I think that will be a very tough series. I do expect us to win, but I don't see 5 at all. MAYBE 6, but believe it will take 7. As for them being due, I think it comes down to this. When one team beats another team in the playoffs 2 straight years (and in this case we are going for 3 of 4 years against the Caps) I do think that is a factor. We can all agree to diagree on that. I can 100% promise you this, the guys on that team who have played in the previous two series, and there are a lot of them, will be saying we do not want to get beat by the Rangers again...we need to get over that hump. Now that may not mean a damn thing once the puck drops for game 1, but I do think that is a small factor here. It is not easy to beat the same team year after year in the playoffs, and that is what we are trying to do to the Caps. That is totally different than your Cubs reference Mess. I am not saying the Caps are due because they haven't won in years, I am saying they may be due because it is not easy to beat the same team in the playoffs year after year as we are trying to do against the Caps.
What? When did I say you picked the Pens? I know you didnt pick them, I'm saying they were due to beat us too and didnt. I also never said you said those other teams were due. I was using them as an example to show that being "due" doesnt really mean that much in the long run in my opinion. All those teams were due and lost. Christ you're defensive.
I agree with you that being due doesn't mean much in the long run. That is very fair on your part. I do think this is a little different situation though simply because it is not easy to beat a team year after year in the playoffs (this would be 3 of 4 years). Like I said, do I think it means a ton once the puck is dropped in game 1, nope, but I do think it plays a little role in the Caps minds. Not enough to sway a series overall, but I do think it is something else we need to deal with on some level. But overall bigger picture, I do 100% agree with you that being due doesn't mean much (if anything at all) in sports. We agree there.
Schedule is out: The NHL has announced the schedule for the second round matchup between the Rangers and Capitals: Game 1: Thursday April 30 at 7:30PM (Home) NBCSN Game 2: Saturday May 2 at 12:30PM (Home) NBC Game 3: Monday May 4 at 7:30PM (Away) NBCSN Game 4: Wednesday May 6 at 7:30PM (Away) NBCSN *Game 5: Friday May 8 at 7PM (Home) NBCSN *Game 6: Sunday May 10 TBD (Away) *Game 7: (If Tampa Bay Advances) Wednesday May 13th TBD (Home) *Game 7: (If Detroit Bay Advances) Tuesday May 12th TBD (Home)
I hate those early afternoon home games like game 2, but game 6 in DC I am sure will be an afternoon NBC game if needed.
Bummer I was hoping it would be Fri/Sun instead of Thurs/Sat for the first 2 games......Traveling for almost 2 weeks straight going to be hard to watch the games I will say this, we need Nash in this series to win it.
