Rangers – Page 28 – Keefe To The City

Feb 17, 2015

Dreaming of a Rangers-Islanders Playoff Series

I didn’t want the Rangers to face the Islanders in the playoffs, but now I don’t just want a Rangers-Islanders playoff series, I need a Rangers-Islanders playoff series.

“What the f-ck?” That was my first reaction during the Rangers-Islanders game on Monday night. It only took 11 seconds for Nassau Coliseum to be given a reason to explode at the expense of the Rangers thanks to a Cam Tablot errant pass/brain fart that gave Jonathan Tavares an open net to put the Islanders ahead as early as possible.

I sat through the Rangers’ third-period collapse against the Islanders on Oct. 14. I watched the Rangers shut out at home by the Islanders on Jan. 13 after the Rangers had just swept California. And I somehow kept watching on Jan. 27 when the Rangers lost to the Islanders again and couldn’t solve Jaroslav Halak until 19:50 of the third period. Here I was again, getting overly excited about a regular-season game thanks to the New York hockey hype, only to be deflated before Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti could even get settled in.

I spent the last three weeks since the most recent Rangers-Islanders game wondering how the Islanders had become such a bad matchup for the Rangers. Why couldn’t the Rangers beat a team they had beaten up for so long and why couldn’t they solve Jaroslav Halak? Jaroslav Halk! JAR-O-SLAV HA-LAK! What was happening to the Rangers when they played the Islanders? Why were they 0-3-0 with a minus-9 goal differential against the Islanders and 33-13-5 with a plus-46 goal differential against the rest of the league?

Eleven minutes and 35 seconds later, Frans Nielsen scored, the Coliseum sounded like it was late April, May or June and I sunk even further into an angry depression. The happiness provided by Ryan McDonagh’s goal at 14:35 of the first did hold me over through the first intermission, but then Johnny Boychuk dropped the hammer at the start of the second with an absolute bomb from the blue (literally on the blue). The Islanders led 3-1 and I tried to look into the future at what a possible Rangers-Islander playoff series would be like.

I have said all along that I don’t want a Rangers-Islanders playoff series because from a Rangers fan standpoint, nothing good can come from it. If the Rangers win, they’re the Rangers and they’re supposed to win. And if the Islanders win, it’s basically the worst thing imaginable. It’s the same feeling I have about Yankees-Red Sox playoff series. If the Yankees win, they’re the Yankees and they’re supposed to win. And if they lose, well, I lived through 2004 while actually living in Boston, and I have done everything to erase that week and the weeks that followed from my mind. The aftermath of a series loss far outweighs the satisfaction of a series win, unless that series win eventually leads to a championship. There’s nothing for the Rangers and Rangers fans to gain by playing the Islanders in the playoffs. Sure, it would be great for New York hockey and for the mainstream media around here to pretend like they care about hockey and it would be good fuel to rekindling the fire of a once-strong rivalry. But if the Rangers don’t win, it’s a disaster.

Even after Chris Kreider and Ryan McDonagh scored 23 seconds apart to tie the game and quiet Islanders fans in their own building and incite raucous “Let’s Go Rangers!” chants, I felt the same way about a potential playoff series. Ryan Strome helped me remember why I had been against an April or May meeting with a pair of goals to give the Islanders their third two-goal lead of the game. But then everything changed.

Derek Stepan scored 2:42 after Strome’s second goal to cut the Islanders’ lead to 5-4 and just 1:37 later, Martin St. Louis scored for the first time since Jan. 10 to tie the game at 5. The Rangers had come all the way from a two-goal deficit for the second time in as many periods and 7:26 later, Kevin Klein scored the eventual game-winner to give the Rangers a 6-5 lead and their first lead over the Islanders since Derick Brassard scored 3:50 into the second period to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead on Oct. 14. And that’s when I decided I’m all in on a Rangers-Islanders playoff series.

I was wrong to not want the teams to meet in April or May before the same way the officials were wrong on Monday to take Tanner Glass and Matt Martin to the box for unsportsmanlike conduct before they could give the Coliseum the only thing that had been missing from the game. The Rangers had just scored twice in 23 seconds to tie the game forcing Jack Capuano to use his timeout and the Islanders’ portion of the Coliseum had been stifled by “Let’s Go Rangers!” chants. In that moment with that textbook chain of events leading to a fight and to Glass and Martin lining up next to each other, the officials have to recognize the situation and let it happen. The stage was set for two willing participants to drop the gloves, but they were stopped by the 2015 version of the NHL.

Well, I’m no longer going to be on the side of the argument that doesn’t want to see Rangers-Islanders this spring. New York City needs this, Long Island needs this, the Rangers want this, the Islanders want this and hockey deserves this. One last time before the Islanders close out the Coliseum and move to Brooklyn for obstructed viewpoints and a non-centered overhead scoreboard, the Rangers and Islanders need a two-week war like the old days when “Rock and Roll Part 2” and “Machinehead” were used the way that Macklemore and Avicii are now. Five regular-season meetings to determine the “Best Team in New York” isn’t a real barometer for measuring success (even though Islanders fans desperately want it to be), only a seven-game series is.

So give me Rangers-Islanders this April or May. Give the Rangers a chance to be the team that closes the Coliseum and the team that sends the Islanders off the Island and to Brooklyn after an emotional handshake line. Give the Rangers a chance to silence the “Yes! Yes! Yes!” chants for the summer and the opportunity to return the Islanders fans that have come out of the woodwork to chirp about four-plus months of good hockey after 20 years of bad hockey. Give the Rangers a chance to end the Islanders’ season.

Before Monday night, I didn’t want a Rangers-Islanders playoff series. Now I don’t just want it, I need it.

Podcasts • Rangers

Feb 17, 2015

Podcast: Mike Carver

The Rangers finally beat the Islanders in a regular-season classic and it’s time to start wishing the rivals meet in the postseason this year.

It took four games and for most of Monday night it looked like it might not happen, but the Rangers finally beat the rival Islanders this season. After trailing by two goals three different times, the Rangers’ third-period comeback at Nassau Coliseum got them a much-needed win against the Islanders and hopefully for at least a little while it will silence Islanders fans.

Mike Carver of The Butch Goring Show on Hockey This Week Radio Network and WFAN joined me to talk about the Rangers finally being able to beat the Islanders this season, desperately wanting a Rangers-Islanders playoff series and what would be considered a successful season for the two teams.

Blogs • Rangers

Feb 9, 2015

Life without Henrik Lundqvist

Rangers fans will get a glimpse at what it’s like to not have Henrik Lundqvist in net, but fortunately, it’s just a glimpse and nothing something that will ruin the season.

Henrik Lundqvist has always had to prove himself. He had to prove himself when he was selected in the seventh round, 205th overall in the 2000 draft by the Rangers (62 picks behind goaltender Brandon Snee, who the Rangers picked two rounds ahead of Lundqvist). He had to prove himself when he was splitting time with Kevin Weekes in the 2005-06 season. He had to prove himself when he let up six goals against the Devils in Game 1 of the 2005-06 Eastern Conference quarterfinals and was benched for Weekes in Game 2. Even after winning the 2011-12 Vezina, leading the league in shutouts twice, becoming the Rangers’ all-time wins leader and being the sole reason for any of their success since the 2004-05 lockout, he somehow needed to more to shut people up.

Last spring when Lundqvist single-handedly carried the Rangers back against the Penguins to save the season by allowing just three goals total in Games 5, 6 and 7 and then led them to a series win over the Canadiens and then did everything he could but score goals to try to beat the Kings in the Final, he finally silenced most of the critics. That’s “most” not “all”. There’s still this idea that Lundqvist needs to put his name on the Cup to solidify what he has accomplished or that it won’t mean anything. But the people that believe that notion are people like Michael Kay (and most likely his listeners too, if there are any) and not people that live in real life. Because under that theory, Corey Crawford, Antti Niemi, Marc-Andre Fleury, Chris Osgood and every lesser goalie that has gotten their name on the Cup is better than Lundqvist.

For nearly his entire career, Henrik Lundqvist has been the Rangers. He has stood on his head in the regular season and done it again in the playoffs, doing everything humanly possible someone who can’t score goals can do. He has been surrounded by horrific offensive teams for most of his career and watched the organization decide to build a defensive core from scratch while he entered his prime. Despite this, the Rangers have been in the playoffs in eight of the nine seasons since the 2004-05 lockout, thanks to Lundqvist.

In the last six seasons, the Rangers have reached the postseason in five of those six years. In that time, they are 32-37, which means Lundqvist is 32-37 in the playoffs over that time (the go-to argument point for any Lundqvist critic is always his playoff record). In those 37 playoff losses, the Rangers have scored 57 goals or 1.54 goals per game. Here is the breakdown by goals scored in the losses and how many times they scored each amount of goals:

0 goals: 8
1 goal: 10
2 goals: 14
3 goals: 3
4 or more goals: 2

That’s 18 playoff losses when the Rangers couldn’t score more than one goal and 32 when they couldn’t score more than two.

I was always worried that Glen Sather would waste Lundqvist’s prime and career by building mediocre teams around him and wasting the chance at having a Vezina-winning franchise goalie. I figured Lundqvist’s career would come and go and we would be stuck watching another Mike Dunham-esque era eventually, always waiting for another Lundqvist to come around. But over the last few years, as that young defensive core grew into reliable and stable veterans, Sather has turned over the forwards on the team to build a consistent source of offense. And magically, the Rangers made it to the Stanley Cup Final last year and have appeared in two of the last three Eastern Conference finals.

When I heard that Lundqvist was missing Wednesday night’s game against the Bruins because he was hit in the throat two games prior on Saturday, I was nervous, but thought it was for precautionary reasons. (Then again, if the Rangers were going to be cautious, wouldn’t he have been removed from Saturday’s game or not have played on Monday?) When I heard that he could miss a few weeks, I was a little more than nervous. When I heard he could miss four to six weeks, I was depressed. When I heard he could have had a stroke as a result of the injury, I was in shock. How could the face of the franchise, who is signed up to be the Rangers goalie through 2020-21, not be looked at more carefully than he was after withering around in pain on Saturday? How could he have been not checked enough with a potentially life-threatening risk in play?

It sounds like Lundqvist is getting better and will be better with time. The problem is the whole “time” thing. Fortunately, the Rangers’ 18-5-0 run from Dec. 8 through the announcement that Lundqvist would miss Wednesday’s game has them with 65 points in 51 games and even if they were to go say 16-15-0 and play one-game-over-.500 hockey for the rest of the season, they would finish with 97 points, which would be one more than total from last season. And let’s say the Rangers did play .516 hockey for their last 31 games, the Panthers, who are in the ninth spot in the East would have to win 20 of their 31 remaining games or find a way to get 40 points in those games just to tie the Rangers. The Rangers are going to the playoffs. They just need Lundqvist to be 100 percent healthy and 100 percent ready when they get there.

If the Rangers hadn’t gone on that two-month run and built up enough of a cushion to be in the thick of the playoff picture rather than on the bubble of it where they usually are, we would have gotten to see what life is like without Lundqvist. We would have gotten to see what life is like not knowing what it’s like to know you have an all-world goalie in your net every night and someone who can steal games and build winning streaks. We would have gotten to see what would have happened if some insane fans had gotten their way last season and Sather didn’t give Lundqvist a contract extension. It’s not a life any Rangers fan should want to live. Thankfully four wins and eight points separate the Rangers from the closest non-playoff team and hopefully that lead never gets to the point of worrying about.

The Rangers are now 1-1-1 without Henrik Lundqvist and with Cam Tablot as their starter. On Wednesday, Talbot became the first Rangers goalie not named Henrik Lundqvist to beat the Bruins since April 8, 2006. On Saturday, he allowed three goals in a tough loss to the league-best Predators. On Sunday, he gave up three goals in an overtime loss to the Stars. It’s as exactly .500 as you can get from a backup goalie with the good, bad and so-so results that come with a win, loss and a tie. But it’s exactly what the Rangers need. It would be nice if Talbot could become Lundqvist 2.0, which he has looked like at times, but it’s unnecessary. They just need him to keep the team afloat, which is what they didn’t have in 2010-11 when Lundqvist was asked to start the last 25 games of the season after Martin Biron broke his collarbone. (And luckily Lundqvist did as the Rangers made the playoffs on the last day of the season.)

The Rangers are going to the playoffs unless a Mets-like collapse happens and all Tablot has to do is make sure that doesn’t happen while Lundqvist is out. It doesn’t matter what seed the Rangers are or who they play once they get in. The other seven Eastern Conference playoff teams are all capable of making a run to the Stanley Cup Final this season and the path to get there could be the hardest ever. They’re going to have to get by three of the seven teams to get back to where they were last June and all of them present a difficult challenge.

This team can survive for now without Henrik Lundqvist. But that’s for now. Eventually they will need their king back if they want to get to where they were last year and where they haven’t been in 21 years.

Blogs • Email Exchanges • Rangers

Feb 6, 2015

Rangers-Bruins Sets Up Rubber Match

The Rangers finally beat the Bruins and the win sets up a decisive third and final game in March in Boston for the season series.

For a while now when the Rangers and Bruins play, we usually get a 1-0 or 2-1 games featuring Henrik Lundqvist and Tuukka Rask. But thanks to an odd Alain Vigneault lineup decision and an unfortunate injury, Lundqvist hasn’t played the Bruins either time this year and instead we’ve seen Cam Talbot. But Talbot did something on Wednesday night at MSG against that no Rangers goalie aside from Lundqvist has done since Kevin Weekes on April 8, 2006: beat the Bruins.

Mike Miccoli, who covers the Bruins for The Hockey Writers and was also my freshman year of college roommate, joined me for an email exchange to talk about the Rangers’ win over the Bruins, what changes both teams could make at the trade deadline and Rick Nash’s incredible season.

Keefe: I can’t believe Pete Carroll did what he did and I can’t believe there was a parade down Boylston and Tremont Street right past where we watched one 10 years ago to celebrate a Patriots Super Bowl win. Ten years ago! I’m going to go cry now.

If you’re not still drunk from Sunday night or if you’re not still hungover from then, maybe you watched the Rangers-Bruins game last night? The Rangers won 3-2 and it was the first time they beat the Bruins since Game 4 of the 2012-13 Eastern Conference semifinals (May 23, 2013) and the first time they beat them in the regular season since Feb. 12, 2013. And they did it without Henrik Lundqvist.

I’m sure you probably could care less about what happened on Wednesday night at MSG since a regular-season hockey game in the beginning of February isn’t as meaningful as the ecstasy that comes with winning the Super Bowl, but I know a little part of you isn’t happy about the loss.

Miccoli: Going from watching the Super Bowl to the Bruins vs Rangers game on Wednesday was like going from riding a roller coaster that stops running at the last second (heh) to a merry-go-round. Total snoozefest and remotely stressfree. Did you know that the last time the Rangers beat the Bruins in regulation was on March 4, 2012? That’s almost three years ago!

So as you can imagine I was thinking, much like the Bruins apparently, that this would be a bit of an easy game. The Bruins had only one regulation loss in their last 14 games and would be playing a team they had dominated recently without their best player in net. See? Easy.

It wasn’t, as I’m sure you saw. The Rangers speed was too much for the Bruins to handle. You mentioned me still being hungover from Sunday night – no way. The Bruins sure as hell looked it, though. And while you’re right that it’s just a Wednesday night hockey game at Madison Square Garden in February, it’s still a big deal to the Bruins who are now the second wild card team, yet only seven points out of first place in the Eastern Conference. This is a weird season.

Keefe: Being the second wild card sounds bad, but unlike MLB where it is bad, it doesn’t matter in the NHL since home-ice advantage barely exists anymore. I remember going on a tour of the Boston Garden before it closed and there was beat-up wooden planks, which served as the walkway from the visitors’ locker room to the ice. I’m surprised players didn’t elect to walk in their socks to the bench and then put their skates on there. But now? Every rink pretty much looks and sounds the same and aside from oldies like Joe Louis and Nassau Coliseum, which are both on their last legs, they all feel the same. We need more small visitors’ locker room. We need to take away the glass behind the benches the way it used to be in the Montreal Forum. We need to teams to stop being so accommodating toward their opponent.

The Eastern Conference playoff picture is pretty much set. The eight teams in right now are going to be there in two months, barring a wild run from the Panthers and a disastrous collapse from one of the other eight. The only team the Panthers really have in their sight right now with games played and points is the Bruins. Imagine the Bruins missing out on the playoffs a year after being the favorite in the Eastern Conference and two years removed from a Stanley Cup appearance? I think that would make you quickly forget about Pete Carroll handing Bill Belichick the Lombardi Trophy.

Miccoli: I’ll take it a step further: there is still chicken wire, rather than plexiglass, surrounding the ice at one of the old rinks I used to play hockey at in Rhode Island. Forget walking on planks, good luck ever play a road game there.

The Bruins will make the playoffs. In fact, the Bruins might not even be one of the wildcards and could make it in as one of the top three teams in the Atlantic Division. I think I may have mentioned this before, but the one team that the Bruins should be concerned about is Montreal. If the Bruins were to somehow be the wildcard and play a team like the New York Islanders, they’d win in six games at the very most. Of course, it all depends on what happens at the trade deadline.

Due to their cap restrictions, the Bruins won’t make a big add, but as you saw last night, the defense has to improve. A second pairing of Dennis Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid is going to get lit up when facing other teams’ top two lines. Before, the need was more prevalent for a forward but as time goes on, it’s becoming obvious that a weakness of the Bruins’ is something that used to be a strength. Ironically enough, the Bruins could use a guy like Johnny Boychuk, but we don’t talk about that anymore.

Keefe: I would talk about Johnny Boychuk and take some shots at the Bruins trading away a key piece of their defense because of the genius of Peter Chiarelli putting the team in a cap debacle, but Boychuk is now an Islander, and we don’t talk about the Islanders here.

I never cared about the Islanders. They were just sort of there. They hadn’t been really relevant since the early- and mid-90s and have sucked for pretty much the last 20 years. Now that they have have been good for four-plus months, the last 20 years have been forgotten by their fans who have proclaimed the Islanders as the “Best Team in New York.” They have earned it to some degree by beating the Rangers handily in all three of their meetings this year and by leading the Metro for a good part of the year. But they will learn that title is made after Game 82.

The problem is if the Rangers and Islanders meet in the playoffs, the Rangers are effed At least I think they are. They aren’t a good matchup for the Islanders. The only thing working in my favor is that I hope the Islanders go 5-0 against the Rangers in the regular season and then they meet in the playoffs. As the 2007 Yankees taught me (when I begged for them to play the Indians in the 2007 ALDS rather than the Angels because they owned the Indians) is that the playoffs are different animal and eventually things will likely even out. The Yankees were done in four games, the Red Sox swept the Angels and then came back down 3-1 to the Indians and won the World Series. That Yankees team was the only team that had the Red Sox’ number and they never got to play them because of the Indians. The effing Indians.

You say that the Bruins could beat the Islanders and I don’t doubt it. I hope they play each other. Let the Rangers play the Penguins or the Capitals. I just don’t want to see the Islanders, Lightning or Canadiens early.

Who else do you fear besides Montreal?

Miccoli: To be fair, and even though I think they won’t beat the Bruins, I’m rooting for the New York Islanders to do well. I think they deserve to have a strong season after so many years of just being utterly awful. I think Boychuk is a big part of that culture change, though it was slowly getting better in year’s past as their core grew. But if I’m a Rangers fan, I’m nervous about the Islanders overtaking the title of best hockey team in New York, similar to how the Clippers finally eclipsed the Lakers in Los Angeles.

Aside from Montreal, I think the Tampa Bay Lightning pose the greatest threat to the Bruins. Of course, the two teams who would actually give the Bruins issues in the postseason are two teams they could likely face as early as the second round. Realignment is awesome! The other playoff teams in the Eastern Conference don’t present a problematic matchup to the Bruins as currently put together. What it is about the Lightning, anyway? I think the Rangers could beat the Canadiens again but even when I was talking with my old roommate about it, he said he feared Tampa most of all. Is it because of all of the old Ranger players on the Lightning roster? Callahan, Boyle, Stralman, am I forgetting any? In a seven game series, I’d pick Bruins over the Lightning just because old habits die hard, but I don’t know if I’d pick the Rangers.

Keefe: I don’t know why the Rangers can’t beat the Lightning or why they didn’t this season. They played all three games against each other in 18 days from Nov. 13 to Dec. 1 and the Rangers lost by a combined 15-7. But since their Dec. 1 loss to the Lightning and then their 3-2 loss to the Red Wings on Dec. 6 (the Rangers blew a 2-0 lead), the Rangers have gone 19-5-0. They have put themselves in a position that if they were to go 16-17-0 over their last 33 games, they would still finish with 96 points this season, which is what they finished with last season. Maybe it’s the Lightning that “lit” a fire in the Rangers? If they are to meet in the playoffs, I don’t think I could handle losing a playoff series to Callahan and Boyle. I would rather get swept by any other team in the first round than lose to them at any point.

Something I noticed about the Bruins on Wednesday night was how easy the Rangers were able to get in the offensive zone, and once in there, how easy it was for them to do whatever they wanted. Sure, they only won 3-2, but Rask made a few remarkable saves that kept the game from getting out of reach. Is it possible that the Bruins’ defense, their strength for the last five or six years, isn’t what it used to be? Am I right to not be scared of the Bruins the way I was in 2012-13 and 2013-14?

Miccoli: Absolutely. I think the Bruins are suffering from a bit of a transition this season. Zdeno Chara is no longer the most feared defenseman in the league. He’s still in the top 10, no question, but it’s very evident that he’s slowing down due to his age. Dougie Hamilton is in this weird phase where he’s in between being good and great at times. He’s the guy the Bruins will build their blue-line around going forward, and while Torey Krug is a strong puck-moving defenseman, there are still lapses in his game in his own end. And that’s it. Seidenberg isn’t a top guy anymore and neither is McQuaid (he never was, really). The Bruins have a top-pairing and then a bunch of No. 4 through No. 6 guys.

So I wouldn’t say you shouldn’t be scared of the Bruins anymore because who knows which team will show up for the rest of the season and in the playoffs. The team’s defense has been really vulnerable in their own end and that has caused opponents to really take advantage of them. You can look at the numbers and see that this isn’t the Bruins of recent years. Still, I think if they can add some depth come the trade deadline, things might seem more stable.

I asked my buddy what he thought the Rangers needed at the deadline and he said centers and talked about how bad New York was on the face-off. After watching the game last night, I’m pretty sure I could win a face-off against them. What do you think?

Keefe: The Rangers are miserable at face-offs and it’s clearly the weakest part of their game, and that’s obviously a big problem for any team, especially one expected to get back to the Stanley Cup Final and even win it. I say expected to win it since they lost it last year and now the only thing for them to do is win it. And the Rangers with expectations are a lot like the New York Football Giants with expectations and that’s not a good thing.

It seems weird that the trade deadline is nearly here because it feels like 15 minutes ago I was writing thousands upon thousands of words on why the Rangers need to trade Ryan Callahan. But here we are again with the deadline approaching. We are still a few days or so away from real rumors being generated and finding out exactly who is available, but the Rangers really do need to target someone who can win a face-off in a big spot, or at least give them a better chance at competing in the circle than what they have now. Who that is right now? I’m not sure, but I hope it’s someone.

I was wondering if you saw who scored the first Rangers goals last night? It was someone wearing number 61. He leads the league in goals with 33. I only ask you this because I remember you saying … let me find it … oh, yeah, this:

Here’s the thing with Nash: I think he’s one of the most overrated players in the NHL.

I didn’t just write that. You said that back in an email exchange on Jan. 23, 2013 at the start of the shortened season:

What do you have to say for yourself now? Rick and I would like an apology.

Miccoli: It took you five emails to address the NHL’s leading goal scorer. I’m almost surprised.

Yes, I did say that Rick Nash was overrated because, well … he was. Before the Rangers traded for him, he had only 30 goals and 29 assists in 2011-12 with Columbus. For comparison, Loui Eriksson had 26 goals and 45 assists in that same period of time. Loui Eriksson. Eriksson is a third-line player on the Bruins, but I digress. After that, he became a point per game player in the shortened 2013 season before putting up 39 points (!!!) in 65 games in the 2013-14 season. Lest we forget how invisible he was in the playoffs.

Now, he’s having a great season and should rightfully be in consideration for the Hart Trophy at the end of the year. My question is if he’ll be able to carry this over next season. If this habit continues, looks like he’s due for a bit of a drop off. Come back to me next year at this time when Nash should be the Rangers best player but isn’t.

Keefe: I was expecting a better apology than that. But I guess I will accept that for now. However, if Nash scores 50-plus goals this year with two other 40-goal seasons on his resume, I’m going to need a longer and more heart-felt apology to Ranger Rick and me.

There’s only one game left between these two teams now this season and it’s not until March 28. So I guess I will let you have your time to celebrate the Super Bowl win that was more of a Super Bowl gift and we can reconvene in seven weeks when hopefully the snow is gone, it’s 60 degrees in the Northeast and the Rangers and Bruins are playing for playoff seeding.

Miccoli: If Nash scores 50 goals, I’ll be sure to publish something about what a legend he is. At the very least, he’s more of a Hart candidate than that guy in Dallas who used to play for Boston whose name escapes me.

I’m happy the Rangers won last night. This third game really feels like an actual rubber match and that means something. Even though it took the Rangers three years to win in regulation against the Bruins, let’s hope Lundqvist is finally in net on March 28. The rosters might look different so if anything, this will be a better way to gauge just who the better team is this season. Plus, it’ll be a segue to the other Boston/New York games coming up this year.

Podcasts • Rangers

Feb 5, 2015

Podcast: Brian McGonagle

The Rangers beat the Bruins. It doesn’t happen often and hasn’t happened in almost two years, so when it does it’s important to talk about it.

The Rangers beat the Bruins. Writing that sentence doesn’t happen often, so let me write it again: The Rangers beat the Bruins. The Rangers blew a 1-0 lead, but overcame a 2-1 deficit to beat the Bruins 3-2 on Wednesday night at MSG for their first win over the Bruins since Game 4 of the 2012-13 Eastern Conference semifinals on May 23, 2013 and their first regular-season win over them since Feb. 12, 2013. It was their first regulation win over the Bruins since March 4, 2012.

Brian McGonagle, who is also known as Rear Admiral, of Barstool Sports Boston joined me to talk about the Rangers and Bruins, the worst matchups for the Eastern Conference playoffs, what Boston used to be like and the emotions of the final minute of Super Bowl XLIX.