Rangers – Page 35 – Keefe To The City

May 16, 2014

Podcast: Kevin DeLury

Kevin DeLury of The New York Rangers Blog joins me to talk about how the Henrik Lundqvist critics have now been quieted forever and why the Rangers have a more favorable matchup against the Canadiens in the conference finals.

After Game 4 against the Penguins, the finality of the 2013-14 Rangers season started to set in and by the time Game 5 started, I had come to terms with the idea that there might be only one game left. Then after the Rangers’ dominant performance in Pittsburgh in Game 5, I thought the Rangers could do the impossible. I didn’t expect them to pull it off, but here we are on the eve of the Eastern Conference finals with the Rangers playing the Canadiens for a chance to play for the Cup.

Kevin DeLury of The New York Rangers Blog joined me to talk about the Rangers’ improbable comeback against the Penguins, how the Henrik Lundqvist critics have now been quieted forever and why the Rangers have a more favorable matchup against the Canadiens in the conference finals.

Podcasts • Rangers • Rangers Playoffs

May 9, 2014

Podcast: Brian Monzo

Brian Monzo of WFAN joins me to talk about if the Rangers have a chance to come back against the Penguins and why Rangers fans shouldn’t be blaming individual players for the last three games.

It’s simple: the Rangers have to win three games before they lose or their season is over. After getting shut out in Games 2 and 3, the Rangers put themselves in a bad place in what was basically a must-win Game 4 and now there is no more “basically a must-win game” for the Rangers in this series. Win Game 5 or the season is over. Then win Game 6 or the season is over. Then win Game 7 or the season is over.

WFAN Mike’s On: Francesa on the FAN producer Brian Monzo joined me to talk about if the Rangers have a chance to come back against the Penguins, why Rangers fans shouldn’t be blaming individual players for the last three games and what has happened to the MSG crowd that could once be relied on for a noisy postseason atmosphere.

May 6, 2014

Rangers-Penguins Game 3 Thoughts: 120-Minute Shutout

The Rangers lost Game 3 to the Penguins and were shut out for the second consecutive game thanks to another embarrassing offensive performance.

The only good thing to come from Game 3 was when the MSG big screen showed the “I am Queens Boulevard” scene from Entourage and then cut to Adrian Grenier at the Garden while the series’ theme played and Grenier mouthed the signature line from the show.

The last time the Rangers scored a goal was when I paused Game 1 on Friday night in overtime because I had broken the seal earlier in the game and on the way back from the bathroom my friend Nunz ruined the game’s ending for me with a text message. Since Derick Brassard ended Game 1 with a shot that Pierre McGuire was convinced never went in, the Rangers have been shut out for two games, six periods and 120 minutes by Marc-Andre Fleury. And even though Fleury had the best regular season of his career this year, in the playoffs he is supposed to be what Nick Swisher has been in the playoffs for his entire career. But if you’re a Penguins fan right now, it’s Fleury who has saved the Penguins in this series and their season even if Rangers fans know it’s their team’s offense that’s responsible for those things.

Once upon a time in the playoffs, the Rangers were 3-for-12 on the power play. That time was after Game 2 against the Flyers. Since then, the Rangers are 0-for-34 and 0-for-13 in this series alone. If Fleury is supposed to be Nick Swisher then the Rangers’ power play is Robinson Cano in the 2012 playoffs. In Game 3, the Rangers went 0-for-5 on the power play, including a scoreless four-minute power play, and it was their power play that led to Sidney Crosby’s first goal of the playoffs when he scored on a breakaway 19 seconds after a Pittsburgh penalty in the second period. And then later in the second, Jussi Jokinen jumped out of the box, picked up a loose puck, turned it into a breakaway, turned the breakaway into his fifth goal of the playoffs and ended the game. Two Penguins goals on two breakaways, both at the end of Rangers power plays.

The Rangers dominated the play in the game, outshooting the Penguins 35-15, but even the 13 Penguins shots that weren’t their breakaway goals were higher-quality scoring chances than all of the Rangers’ 35. Outside, low-percentage shots is what the Rangers’ offense has become over the last two games and because of it, they are now staring at the daunting task of going at least 3-1 against in order to advance against a team that won the division and finished second in the Eastern Conference despite losing the most man games in the league this year.

There’s not much to say about a 2-0 loss that’s following a 3-0 loss. But something needs to be said, so I will focus on the two players most important to the Rangers’ success and the two players who I have said all along would have to carry them if they were to make an extended run. One is doing his job and one isn’t.

– Rick Nash is now pointless in the last seven games and has still yet to score in these playoffs. He has played 22 playoff games for the Rangers over the last two years and has one goal. One. I’m not ready to light a match and throw it on the “Rick Nash is the Rangers’ A-Rod” fire yet and I’m not sure I ever will be, but it’s getting harder and harder to support the guy I wanted the Rangers to trade the entire system for at the 2012 deadline. The hardest part about his extended slump is that he is creating chances and is playing well aside from not actually putting the puck in the net. It’s gotten to the point where it’s laughable that he can’t seem to get one bounce to go his way while so many lesser players in the entire playoffs have found a way to score. It will happen. I just hope there’s enough time left in the season for it to happen.

– I couldn’t believe the Penguins only finished with 15 shots in the game since it felt like much more and once again Henrik Lundqvist did everything outside of stopping two breakaways to give his team a chance to win. But really, giving up two goals against the Penguins and their defense/goaltending situation should be enough to win, even in the playoffs, considering the Blue Jackets didn’t have a problem scoring against them in the first round. It’s scary to think there could be back-to-back shutouts in this series and they didn’t come from Lundqvist since goaltending is the one area where the Rangers have a considerable advantage over the Penguins. Lundqvist has done his job, the way he always done his job in the playoffs, and has held the Penguins to two goals in each of the first three games of the series and has held the best player in the world and possibly the second-best player in the world to a combined one goal and he has a 2-1 series deficit to show for it thanks to the offense. If the Rangers are eliminated by the Penguins, it won’t be Henrik Lundqvist’s fault. It never is.

May 5, 2014

Rangers-Penguins Game 2 Thoughts: Make It a Baker’s Dozen

The Rangers had a chance to put the Penguins and Pittsburgh in panic mode with a Game 2 win, but the Rangers lost a game with the series lead for the 13th time in a row.

Here’s what you need to know about Game 2: Henrik Lundqvist finished as the third star of the game as the goalie of a team that lost a playoff game 3-0.

Lundqvist played his best game of this postseason and the offense couldn’t score against Marc-Andre Fleury, who only a year ago was forced to bench in the playoffs by the Islanders in favor of 36-year-old Tomas Vokoun. The only offense the Rangers could provide in Game 3 was for the Penguins as Dan Girardi scored against Lundqvist for what now seems like the 11th or 12th time since the beginning of the 2012-13 playoffs.

Game 2 was such a “Rangers’ Game 2 performance” that I don’t know why I chose to watch it over watching Game of Thrones and Veep live. The Rangers have now lost eight consecutive Game 2s going back to their Game 2 loss in Washington in the 2008-09 playoffs

– Let’s start with Dan Girardi since he started the scoring in the game by deflecting a Kris Letang pass intended for Chris Kunitz right past Lundqvist in the second period. As soon as Lundqvist realized the puck had gone in, he turned to his left and looked behind the net where Girardi was sliding into the boards, and you could tell by Lundqvist’s body language he said, “Are you effing kidding me?” And if he didn’t say it, which I’m almost 100 percent sure he did, he was at least thinking it. After Girardi gave the Bruins a lead in the conference semis series last year by scoring against Lundqvist a handful of times, here he was again giving the desperate Penguins a 1-0 lead and easing their nerves and the nerves of the crowd who were potentially looking at heading to New York down 2-0 if the Rangers could win Game 2. It would be one thing if Girardi had deflected a puck in by trying to move someone from in front of the net or if some fluky shot or pass had gone off him and into the net, but this goal happened because Girardi thought sliding on the ice with his stick extended was a better defensive decision than picking up Kunitz in front and defending him. If Girardi had just played defense on Kunitz through the slot then he’s not sliding on the ice and his stick is never extended to block a pass or shot and the puck never touches his stick and deflects it in and the Penguins don’t score and it’s still 0-0. And after Girardi’s sloppy defense and his brain fart interference penalty, I only wish he had said in the postgame that he was either drunk or hungover during the game because then his performance would have made sense and I could forgive him.

– I’m not mad at Derek Dorsett for taking an untimely and undisciplined penalty with 4:52 left to play in a 1-0 game. That’s what Derek Dorsett does and that’s what should be expected of him when’s he in the lineup or on the ice. I blame Alain Vigneault for Dorsett’s penalty because he is the one who had Dorsett on the ice with 4:52 left in a 1-0 game. What is Dorsett going to do for you at the point in the game? Is he out there to give your top forwards a rest? I hope you’re not giving your top forwards a rest at that point. Do you think you’re going to catch lightning in a bottle and he’s going to score for you? I hope you’re not thinking that since he had four goals in 51 games this year, has 31 goals in 331 career regular-season games and no goals in 23 playoff games. So why was Dorsett on the ice there? The best-case scenario is that the score remains the same, but time, which is the only thing that mattered then, would have come off the clock while he was out there wasting it. And the worst-case scenario is that he would take a stupid penalty.

– It’s too bad James Neal still has four years to go after this season on his six-year deal with the Penguins because he would make a great Flyer. He has the perfect amount of “scum” about him and in his game to fit in Philadelphia.

– If Henrik Lundqvist doesn’t stand on his head for the entire game, there’s a chance this game could have been 19-0. I don’t think that’s an exaggeration. It probably could have been worse than 19-0.

– Even though Lundqvist kept the Rangers in the game, the Rangers were never really in the game. They were dominated up and down the ice, the power play had another solid 0-for-4 showing and the Penguins outshot and outhit and won more draws than them. The Penguins played like a team that knew they had to win Game 2 and this game could have gone on for 20 more minutes or 200 more minutes of hockey and the Rangers were never going to score.

Thirteen consecutive losses with a series lead now for the Rangers. I’m not sure if that’s better or worse than 29 consecutive power plays without a goal.

Podcasts • Rangers • Rangers Playoffs

May 2, 2014

Podcast: Kevin DeLury

Kevin DeLury of The New York Rangers Blog joins me to talk about the Rangers’ matchup with the Penguins and what will happen to Rick Nash if he continues to go scoreless in the playoffs.

It’s never easy when it comes to the Rangers and once again they needed seven games to get by their first-round opponent, but at least they got by the Flyers. Now things get a little harder with the Rangers going to Pittsburgh to start their conference semifinals series with the Penguins after just one day off with the two teams set to play three games over the next four days.

Kevin DeLury of The New York Rangers Blog joined me to talk about the Rangers’ matchup with the Penguins, what will happen to Rick Nash if he continues to go scoreless in the playoffs and how Daniel Carcillo should be in the lineup for the entire postseason.