Game is long over.............and there is no appeal on this board. Well, for Ranger fans there is hope. The Canadiens had a 3-11-0 month of December and that was without the best goalie in the NHL.........Cary Price. They beat their much hated rival, the Bruins 5-1, and move into 1st place ahead of the Rangers next opponent, Florida Panthers. Rangers month of December was 3- 9-1 and are in a battle for 2nd place in their division with the Islanders and the Devils, who were picked to be at the bottom of the division but have proved many wrong. Forget about 1st place. That is out of range as of this new year date. It looks like the Rangers are in the perfect storm with their area rivals. If nothing, the Rangers will be skating on thin ice the rest of the way.
Marchand, Boston forward, apologizes for his on ice antics prior to the Winter Classic. I am amused that this dirty hockey player has an ounce of sincerity with the way he continually falls from grace with NHL rules.
1st place means less than nothing. The Devs will fade as the season progresses. I don't think they'll collapse, but I cannot see them battling for 2nd all season. Figure us, the Isles, and maybe the Pens, if they get it together, will battle for 2nd and 3rd (the automatic playoff spots). I think there is a reasonable chance you will get NYI and NYR in round 1. Pretty much what I expected coming into the season. I never thought we'd finish 1st this season, and that is perfectly fine with me. The much bigger concern is Caps are damn good. IF we get to the 2nd round that is going to be a very difficult series to win. Long way off though, so we'll worry about that in 3 or 4 months.
After last year, I couldn't care less about 1st place. Many things can happen down the road. This game is a battle to survive. In the past we have fallen to injuries. Maybe this year will be different.
I have said it 100 times, I rather start a playoff series on the road anyway. If you notice a VERY high % of NHL series are 1-1 after two games. Yeah you would like game 7 in your building, but even that is losing meaning these days. TB and Chicago both won game 7 on the road in the CF's last season. Just get in and we'll go from there. To me there is only one team in the East that really concerns me, and that is the Caps. But we'll worry about that another day. For now just win games and play well and the chips will fall where they may.
