512 thoughts on “Rangers vs. Canadiens…It’s Go Time!”

  12. NEW YORK RANGERS!!!!!!
    NEW YORK RAAAAAANGERS!!!!

    ARE

    IN

    DA HOUWSEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! Lets go boys , Lets end this series with a BANG!!!

    LEts go gog ogog og gogogogogogo!!!

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  40. Good evening all! Headzo!!!! broke major speed records and made it just in time but why the HARTNELL cant I not get this on TV?????????? thank lord stanley for the link, but come on!

    LGR!!! End this tonight!

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  56. The reffing bias in this series is getting blatant. Gallagher just skated into zucc and I betcha nothing gets called there either. This is ridiculous. If I was AV I’d complain after the series is over.

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  65. Knew rangers where in trouble as soon as the puck was dropped, another lack luster performance at MSG, ridiculous and if the canadiens are going to get away with the bull crap the rangers have no shot.

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  121. vesey being in the box killed the rangers flow that period. worked into the habs favor for sure. Can the rangers get back to it fast enough to give themselves a real chance tonight (sans Hank standing on his head and keeping it 1-0 all game)

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  124. Well they missed a 4 minute penalty on Kreider so you know in first couple of mins Montreal is getting another PP.

    Question is if we’ll get one at all

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  126. Rangers look like they’re going for the “Rocky Balboa” strategy? Let your opponent pummel the crap out of you until they run out of energy and then attempt to finally fight back at the very end…

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  128. Wait, the refs missed one against the Rangers so they’re favoring the Canadiens? Wonder what Montreal fans make of the refs after that missed hatchet job?

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  136. Tough to win games when you have a lot of “passengers”. IMO Stephan, Kreider, Hayes, Miller have not given an honest effort. It’s one thing to be snake bitten and unable to score, it’s quite another to be gliding around the ice and not be fully engaged.

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  150. I don’t agree. It’s playoff hockey, they can’t call anything close to all the infractions, so whenever they call anything, it’s hypocritical to one side or the other. Babcock gets it–he saw no penalty on the low hip to Ovechkin, said if he were Trotz, he’d have wanted a major. The refs get most of it right, I think, which is pretty amazing.

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  164. boy, I tell ya, Staal is definitely the rangers worst defensemen, he never was a great skater or puck handler but he has gotten worse at those two things which makes him not good IMO….

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  170. Looks like montreal is starting to come down to earth, not hitting or skating as hard like in the 1st period, rangers need to keep playing up tempo which i think will wear the canadiens out and rangers will take over the 3rd period.

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  172. Olga, if only that were true. And the refs get it that it’s an entertainment and that it’s hockey. The players decide the game far more often than not. And any team that says the ref cost them the game is not winning the CuZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK!!!!!!

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  354. I’m happy to say I was wrong about the rangers, look right for a while but rangers found there game and Lundqvist was good. If Lundqvist stays playing well, you never know. I like our chances against the bruins or senators.

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  365. oh man. listening to Jones and Milbury talk about the atlantic bracket and the rangers clearly being the better team. Im friggin thinking to myself, ‘right, and they played themselves into a 1st rd matchup against pittsburgh last year.’

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  368. Small, slightly enjoyable break from business. Back to discussing which Ranger sucks the most tomorrow. Gotta fix this <2GA defense for starters.

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  371. I’m hoping I can give Hank a star tonight without resorting to any “authority” on the subject! Zuuc and Hayes round out my 3. Wow. What a game and what fortitude. LGR!

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  388. anyone see Brendan Gallagher in the 2nd half of that game? I think he’s still stuck in the boards where Marc Staal squashed him. Didnt see or hear a peep from him afterwards. So how much did he get paid for playing 5 and a half games this season? Heard he mailed in the regular season.

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  404. Love seeing the Rangers win. Especially love seeing the big, heavy game aced out by speed and skill. GIve Montreal and Julien credit, they did the only thing they could do, pound away and funnel pucks to the net, bodies in front. But they could only commit two guys forward and rarely could the D join in (as did Yemelin tonight), as terrified as they were of the odd-man counter. LGR!

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  410. Very odd series. Julien must have believed from beginning to end that his boys could intimidate us, had to intimidate us. Faulty coaching in that neither of these 2 teams’ real strengths are in physicality. Game yes, both sides, but sort of like the Welterweight Division.

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  414. Yup, that’s what it was, Rangers pounding the Canadiens into the ice, throwing pucks at the net, bodies in front, accidentally falling on Price, screening, clobbering, winning all the board battles. Basically outslugged them, especially Smith with his [zero recorded] hits tonight. I keed, I keed, Smith was great, but let’s not get carried away!

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  419. CCCP, no, I don’t feel stupid, I feel relieved. Biggest thing was Lundqvist. There was nothing from his entire regular season that suggested he would play as well as he did in this series.

    In the end, only two goals separated the two teams.

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  424. Doodie

    Don’t you know hockey? Reg season and postseason are completely two different things.

    Yes. two goals separated two teams. It coulda been even one goal and would still be enough 😉

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  431. I don’t disagree Carp. Maybe I’ll stop pulling for the Leaves and hope the Caps can give the Pens a grueling series and wear them out.

    The Penguins don’t have Letang which should count for something.

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  432. I was skeptical they could turn it back on after essentially taking the last month of the season off. I’m very happy to be proved wrong. Good to see Step and Purple Haze joining the party. Did not expect Hank to outplay price. That’s why they play the games and why we all watch.

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  433. My favorite stat so far, though it’s not the most reliable, is the team hits count, which thanks to the Canadiens obsession with it the Rangers are running away with. Will likely go down once other teams notice its futility, but should keep all the hit-happy fans happy! Holden, Jesper and Skjei leading the Rangers hit-pack, Glass the HPG leader.

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  436. ORF- I’m in your boat. I honestly didn’t think they could do it either. I thought they’d be one and done. Like you, I’m thrilled to be proven wrong. I also stated previously that the Rangers always do things the hard way and I was POSITIVE they’d lose game six even if they went on to win game seven. Wrong there, too. They have changed my attitude about the rest of the playoffs. I’m starting to think maybe they can go a lot farther. Keep proving me wrong, boys!

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  437. Did not get a chance to watch the game last night after our date night. But I couldn’t myself so I checked the score. I love being right I knew they would win I knew it. Just like I said 4-2 NYR win series. Will watch it later GO Rangers!

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  439. Good morning, boneheads!
    Congratulations, everyone!
    Better team won this series. More skilled, faster, deeper, with a better goaltender. And they met the physicality challenge, which was the only possible “advantage” Julien had, with aplomb. He kept sending his “heavy” lines on the ice over and over again, and it ended up spelling their demise. Skill wins!

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  443. MZA, by the way, has been one of their most dangerous forwards from game 1. He took a few unnecessary penalties, but he was creating a lot of something out of nothing scenarios. You could see Montreal was worried about him as they often deployed Weber when he was on the ice. Finally, when others started to produce, they had to rearrange their match ups. Just from the top of my head, Benn was around the scorer at least for 4 goals against. And he wasn’t their worst defenseman. MZA finally broke through last night.

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  444. I get a kick out of all the hockey announcers who have different yardsticks and tell us that Zook is either 5’6, 5’7, or 5’8 and 179 lbs. They can’t agree on his height, but he’s always 179. LOL. If he were looking for a college scholarship, he’d list himself as 6’1, 210 and the erudite TV hockey gurus would say that he ‘doesn’t appear that big, but plays bigger.’

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  445. Many of us agreed that the best lineup for NY would have Vesey ( monster!) and Buchnevich ( a keeper) in top 9, and Fast-Lindberg-Grabner as their 4th line. It’s finally happening!
    But at the end of the day, their best payer was the reason they moved on. He was better than Montreal’s best player.

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  447. Has “trade Pacioretty” talk started in Montreal yet?
    Bergevin might be in trouble there as he opted for more snarl and size instead of addressing the scoring. If Emelin scores your only goal, you know something isn’t right with your forwards

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  448. It seemed WWWeber was mostly against Kreider/Zika all series but given his many minutes logged, definitely overlapped against other lines. IMHO the most effective forward was Nash all series particularly given he was playing with an ineffective Step. AV’s 3 line strategy requirs the line playing against the D’s 2nd or even 3rd pair to create and score.
    .
    The series was all about D redemption with Girardi playing steadier and Mr Smith just becoming a force for good. Holden and Staal had trouble all series moving the puck which is nothing new to those who have been watching. Henk regained his $8M form, ironically his best game coming in the loss in Game 2.
    .
    As someone who sat through Game 3 at MSG and watched that uninspired effort, the following games gives some hope. One must remember the Habs are not that good but TANKS you very much anyway!!!

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  449. The GWG was scored after a herculean effort by JT Miller when his line cycled the puck for over 40 seconds below the goal line eventually getting to puck Haze at the FO dot who made a nice feed to Zuc at the goal mouth.
    .
    Gave credence for awarding secondary assists with that effort; he was the Chairman of the Boards all night.
    .
    Boston or Ottawa? Game 7 please…

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  461. Habs may have taken their best shot by trying to pound the Rangers. Whenever they backed off of it the Rangers stared to dominate. Didn’t work because of Rangers’ depth and Hank being the better goalie. Both of Zucc’s shots were stoppable. Price just didn’t stop them. Hopefully Hank can stay in the zone for a few more weeks.

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  462. Guys like Ott are always THE NICEST and gracious guys in the handshake line. I remember Chris Neil a few years back being super congratulatory. But not sure how I feel about that. Does it show that you leave it all on the ice? Or does it make guys like that even more insufferable?

    Was in NY this weekend and caught period 2 in the car. It was pretty much the best thing ever when Maloney actually called Ott a jerkoff.

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  463. ILb – studio guys on NBC seemed to think that if Columbus dropped to 4th and drew the Habs in round 1, they would’ve rolled over them. The unconditional Pittsburgh love is strong @ 30 Rock.

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  464. Agree on game 7 ILB. Let them take their time and wear each other a bit.
    I think they’re going to be in for another physical series and another battle of goaltending no matter which foe they lock up with

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  465. Speed and skill certainly did win it BDL. I’m thrilled but have to admit I had the Habs taking this series.
    There were three big occurrences- our goaltending obviously was a big one, the defensive effort and play of our boys is another and of course putting the kabash on the “can’t win at Bell Center and can’t win on home ice”. Hard fought series and I’m sure the next round will be as well. Whether it’s Rask or Anderson they’ll have another great goalie to face.

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  466. Yes, I picked Montreal to win the series. After all, I read here that Zucc holds onto the puck too much and overstays his shifts, Hayes doesn’t hustle, Stepan is slow and just about worthless, Nash doesn’t produce in the playoffs, Zibanejad is invisible, Fast is worthless, Lundqvist is over-the-hill and, except for McDonagh, all the defensemen are terrible.

    I’m glad I was wrong.

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  471. I like to gloat by reading the press from the other side. As my French is quite stale I rely upon online translator. This one was quite interesting: “The Rangers attempted to complete the beast bruised before the end of the engagement, but Miller was fined a beast punishment for high-sticking, which allowed the Canadian to regain some rhythm.”

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  472. I was never more happy as I was when Stepan scored the ENG. It allowed me to pause the game as I went to “take a pause for the cause” (yeah, I went pee-aire). Also gave me a chance to grab a brewski and join in the celebration!

    Agree with the choir that speed and skill win out, but the Rangers showed they had some grease and jam to play with the big boys when needed. They have to remember mot to go overboard and get caught running around to throw hits.

    NBC’s love for the “rottweilers” had me laughing because I was just waiting for our speed to kick in. Besides, size does you no good when the skill level behind it doesn’t match.

    Habs fans bought into Julien’s style as long as they were winning. Now that they are out curling for the summer, let’s see how happy they are with his defensive system. Agree with those who wonder how big the target will be on Pacioretty’s back in the Montreal press. How long will it take for their press to call for a new captain – a Canadian captain (French-Canadian preferred).

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  473. As much as I want a Game 7 between Boston and Ottawa… if it’ll be on Wednesday then Game 1 will be next Friday at the earliest. Maybe Saturday. Dont want to wait that long

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  475. Ran into various and sundry persons over the years, especially in hotels and restaurants in Montreal who pretend to not speak English. Bit of a chip on their shoulder and it’s rude and unbecoming.

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  476. Pens looked pretty good. Scoring depth, Malkin was a monster, Sidney was there and the Flower played well enough to win. I expect Murray to get back in at some point. Hate to say it, but, they will be tough to beat.

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  477. Thank you for all the well wishes in the other thread. I’m so happy and excited. I told the kid our sexy boys always win and never lose. He doesn’t know any better yet, so I think he believes me.

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  478. LMAO @

    “Price is and will never be a Roy or Halak. His first goal against him was as weak as they come. The best goalie in the world couldn’t steal 1 game????
    Suban Weber trade was a crap move. Crap.
    Time for a new GM. MB’s time has expired. Lack of vision.
    Time to purge the passengers for some draft picks like Patches.
    Adios. 1/3 of this team is trash.”

    How in the world did they win their division?

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  483. I didn’t think the Pens would be so good minus Letang. Actually had Columbus winning that series in 6. That’s a CRAP defense, but much like the Mario years, it doesn’t matter because they spend 75% of the game in the offensive zone.

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  484. Charlie – TSN ran a story about how Montreal had ZERO players they could count on for a goal in game 6. They’re trashing Pacioretty up there. Trashing the centers. And suddenly the Radulov and Lekkonen Love Fest seems like ancient history. (though the article WAS, to be fair, very complimentary of Radulov still…calling him big-hearted and wondering if he’ll even want to stick around with that team).

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  486. OH I would take either on my team as well. Shaw too, while we’re at it.
    But on Radulov…I don’t see him as a star. He’s VERY comparable to Zuccarello, when you think about it. Really solid, brilliant at times, and a guy who gives you 100%. But the hockey world really built him up last week to an almost ridiculous degree. The fact that they were talking 8-year deal for him (supposedly)…

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  488. Radulov will become a headcase and headache 3 months into signing a huge contract. Guys been on audition all year, and 100% seems the type to be able present the right things in order to secure a payday. His agent was probably coaching him on his NHL return the entire time he was in europe. sign one year deal, show you are a team player, no problems or headaches and youll get a 50million dollar contract. he had all the incentive in the world to put his best foot forward.

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  489. Radulov had a good series, but in last night’s game it appeared to me that he was more intent on delivering a hit than in scoring a goal.

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  491. As for Pacioretti, it happens. Good players get shut down in the playoffs. Are the people in Chicago saying that Kane and Toews aren’t any good after the Nashville series?

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  492. You guys crack me up! We are back to a certain narrative that is just not correct.
    –
    We pretty much established a couple days ago that physicality is as important as speed and skill.
    –
    I posted the link for team “hits” in that convo and it clearly showed (if you cared enough about facts to read it….yes, admittingly subjective stat, this series is a good example) physicality is as important.
    –
    I keep seeing big bad canadiens posted…news flash folks the rangers are taller and weight is damn near identical of the teams so if anyone is “big bad blah blah blah” it was actually the rangers who break the big bad so and so tie on weight by being taller. 10 of the top 15 “big bad” teams are in the playoffs.
    –
    So please stop with that crap, you guys are all smarter than that

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  493. Rangers showed alot of poise in not retaliating in Game 6. The captain had to hold back from punching Radulov out a bunch of times.
    Montreal wanted to interupt the rangers flow, pairings, forward combos.
    It was Julien’s tactic to try to turn the series into a series of starts and stops, needing to juggle lines bc guys were in the box. He wanted it choppy and without flow.
    He coached the habs attempting to force the rangers to play a different game, even though montreals game is the rangers game.
    Shows how much he (didnt) believes in his team and how scared he was of the rangers when they play with pace.

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  495. Wicky, I think most people are saying that NY found a good balance between physicality and skills. And it surprised a lot of people. Montreal couldn’t, they don’t have enough skill depth, they had to resort to whatever they had.

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  496. Take it a little further…let’s take a non physical, highly skilled team with speed like Chicago (who has gotten less physical over the past seasons since their last cup) and see how they’re doing vs a team that is highly skilled with speed that is physical…the pens, how’s that working out? (Sorry Olga).

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  497. Ilb
    Respectfully sir, I disagree. Look at some posts on this thread, it is ridiculous and just sadly makes some posters I have a lot of respect for look clueless…like they don’t even watch NHL hockey.
    –
    The rangers have upped their physicality substantially in the post season to a level they were capable of all the regular season but never seemed to achieve. If they stop playing with physicality and play the way they did in the majority of the regular season, they will be bounced from the playoffs regardless of who they play next.
    –
    Let’s be clear, rangers DO NOT need to (nor should they) throw 100 hits a game. But if they are throwing 15 a game and trying to play all star game hockey, they might as well get their tee times ready (again, hits are a very subjective stats).
    –
    It’s not just about hits, it’s about leaning on guys in both zone, it’s about possession time in the o zone, and yes, demonic hitting forecheck.

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  498. That notion that NY is soft and small has to stop. They have big bodies, and they can dish out a lot of punishment. There is no team that’s left in the PO that would intimidate the Rangers. Jimmy Vesey, a college guy who isn’t used to dropping his gloves, just confirmed that last night. Shaw was tgrying to intimidate took a beating. Gallagher who is a rat, and a good player, has been hit hard many times. Weber received a few hard hits. Girardi’s hit on Pacioretty may be one of the reason he became invisible. Heck, even Buchnevich, who most of us thought would be knocked around easily ( I’m raising my hand), didn’t back down. Dwight King was non-factor, he couldn’t catch up with anyone. And on and on. But it came down to two skillful play and a bad goaltending on one of them to win last night.

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  499. Worst part for me is this team definitely played “soft” during the regular season, more than it should have, but as carp and I stated several times throughout the season it had the players to not be a soft team. A team that could (and should) play a harder, more greasy game…and is showing now a complete a team it actually can be when it does.

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  502. Hazy daze with Dzone draws was surprising. He really got low and fought for it, won some very important draws late in games to provide a viable FO option for AV.
    .
    M Staal on his first few shifts set a tone when he shoved Gallagher into the boards multiple times realizing the refs aren’t going to call that in April.
    .
    On twitter in the 3rd period some still pining for Clendo/Miracle Met/Gerund with 10 minutes to go up 1 goal in a deciding PO game. Too much.
    .
    in a long series, eventually the NYR forward depth will need to score against the 3rd pair at even strength which is exactly what happened on the GWG.

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  507. On to the mtl series….I think this was the best coached series by AV since he’s been here. Reminded me of how he coached in Vancouver, until the Rome hit. He out coached julien imo.
    –
    I thought Nash was great the whole series, along with oscar, skjeL, smith, Girardi, mcdonut, hank, fast, and Vesey.
    –
    Sideshow bob reared his head a lot, but I thought it was his best playoff series with the rangers.
    –
    Z pack and Hayes got better as the series went along.
    –
    Grabner and miller got worse as the series went along (assist not withstanding in game 6)
    –
    Kreider showed in game 6, not sure why he didn’t in the first 5 games.
    –
    Glass and buch both acquitted themselves well in their games. (I still think buch in the line up helped z pack and kreider).
    –
    Klein is either very injured or has just had the bottom fall out. While he wasn’t flat out terrible, he wasn’t very good.
    –
    Holden has been the 5th best ranger D man in this series to me…he’s playing like a former hot button d man on the blog…he’s either hitting someone or making a mistake. Take the good with the bad I suppose.
    –
    Did I forget anyone…? Oh yeah, a couple of team “leaders” staal… he’s not really playing any different than the regular season (some say that’s a good thing, others do not…put me in the “do not” crowd). He hasn’t upped his game, if he’s supposed to be a top “2 or 3” d man on any team, he better make an impact, he doesn’t.
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    Stampon…I mean stepan. Bad. He made a great play on the lob clear that ended up being a no Gatorade special at the end of game six. That is his only highlight in six games….6 games. He can’t win vital draws (and didn’t), showed zero effort and hustle and lack of awareness that directly resulted in 2 mtl goals (in a close series like that one, that’s a lot). Lack of pace in his game along with lack of physical willingness and involvement is troubling. Another team “leader” that has not lead by example in the post season…a non factor in a not good way. (If the rangers are silly enough to not trade him before his clause kicks in, time to seriously consider moving him to wing, he’s a not good centre).
    –
    I think the rangers match up better against Boston. The sens system concerns me a bit. Of the potential eastern conference opponents left, only a hot malkin and the sens system concern me but I think the rangers are the better team top to bottom than any team left in the east as long as they continue to play like they did last series. They can come out of the east!!!

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  510. Wicky,
    The team with more speed, and skill won. I’m not saying they were not physical, or that there physicality was not important, it very obviously was.

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