Anisimov's best game this season. Amazing what happens when you play involved.
2 great "plays" that need to be mentioned:
1) Boyle taking Karlsson off the ice on matching minors
2) Rupp taking Neil off the ice for 10 mins in the 3rd
Agreed, both of those plays were huge for us.
The time out was key. They completely took over the game at that point. I just don't like the way they let off the pedal in the latter half of the 3rd.
I just don't like the way they let off the pedal in the latter half of the 3rd.
In the end I think that might be a good thing. Instead of patting themselves on the back until Saturday about how they shut out the Sens, they got a reminder of how quickly the Sens can strike and how they need to stay on top of them no matter what.
They're not that good. Advanced stats say the Rangers are just lucky.
Let everyone keeps saying were not that good, I love it, just like when they thought we would barely make the playoffs again this year! They all say the Blues and Canucks are supposed to be great an look what happened to them in game 1.
-MSG was loud as usual during the playoffs, I'm impressed. But when nothing's going on you can hear a pin drop. I think we need to do a better job to keep encouraging the players in game 2.
-Ottawa outplayed us in the first 30 minutes, but the next 15 showed why the Rangers will win this series. Puck possession needs to be better, in general though
-McDonagh's penalty was a terrible call
-Ottawa played a strong game. I'm impressed
-Boyle, Hank, Callahan, Anisimov...fantastic. Del Zotto can be better. Stepan looked atrocious
-Stralman looked composed, let's see more of that.
Overall a well played game, onto game 2 where we'll hopefully play better than last night. If we do, we'll be heading to Ottawa with a nice 2-0 lead.
I wish Boyle would learn how to check someone the proper way. The man does not take the body well at all. He throews these soft arkward hits that do nothing.
Really? Not really sure what game you were watching but the past 6 games or so Boyle has been laying everyone out and finishing his checks whether its "proper" in your mind or not. It's not as easy to knock a guy on his ass everytime as it may seem.
Anyone else think Bickel looked really bad in limited minutes? I've never been huge on Bickel, but would not mind seeing Eminger soon, as he was a horse last playoffs.
- Does anyone else ever notice that Feds is ALWAYS on the ground? The guy works hard but can never stay on his feet lol
I wish Boyle would learn how to check someone the proper way. The man does not take the body well at all. He throews these soft arkward hits that do nothing.
Boyle has arguably been our best overall player the last handful of games.
Really? Not really sure what game you were watching but the past 6 games or so Boyle has been laying everyone out and finishing his checks whether its "proper" in your mind or not. It's not as easy to knock a guy on his ass everytime as it may seem.
Anyone else think Bickel looked really bad in limited minutes? I've never been huge on Bickel, but would not mind seeing Eminger soon, as he was a horse last playoffs.
- Does anyone else ever notice that Feds is ALWAYS on the ground? The guy works hard but can never stay on his feet lol
Feds made one of the plays of the game when he dove to break up that pass in the defensive zone, and played very well overall last night
Feds made one of the plays of the game when he dove to break up that pass in the defensive zone, and played very well overall last night
Wasn't knocking the guy by any means, I love his effort but he is legit always on the ground (usually from being knocked over), or taking a stick to the face, guy is a warrior.
Really heating up; Anisimov played his best game I've seen in a while.
This.
Watched the game with a few of my roomates last night and they kept saying "that #42 guy is fkin awesome", which was great to hear for Anisimov. Always been a big believer in Ani and if he can keep it going at that pace then that will only help us make this run a little longer.
just to address the comments by sens fans and the hockey community in general about how close this game was, and how we're not that good...
This NYR team is truely a team product. Even though we have star forwards in Gaborik and Richards, you rarely see the rangers "dominate" opponents, (outside of lundqvist of course)
even when we win.
The only team we've really "handled" this year were the Flyers, and even then, there were times that we looked pinned down for long stretches. I think this is why that when we beat other teams, their fans are left feeling like their team still "could've won". they feel cheated somehow.
In the end I think that might be a good thing. Instead of patting themselves on the back until Saturday about how they shut out the Sens, they got a reminder of how quickly the Sens can strike and how they need to stay on top of them no matter what.
I think it helps prepare them for the next game
I think it's a good general reminder that you have to keep playing hard for all 60 minutes.
I respect the Sens for how they handled us in the regular season, but all this talk about how they are a quick-strike scoring team should be tempered by how they also are a quick-strike goal allowing team.
I also think that this "moral victory" for scoring two late goals is kind of a joke. It won't mean a thing come Saturday.
As far as the Sens giving the game away, well, they were 24th in goals against. That's what they do and often. Didn't they finish the season by going 4-7 in April, too?
Anyway, there are no easy games in the playoffs. I'm confident as long as we continue to play our game like we have for most of the season. The key is getting secondary scoring.
I can understand how someone might look at this game and think the Rangers didn't play all that well. However, what people don't realize is that this is how this Rangers team wins games when they're at their best. Give the opposition some chances, but not very many spectacular ones. Bend, don't break. Then capitalize when the opponent inevitably gives you a chance. This game seemed very much to me like the games we played in December. We do a little bit of a rope-a-dope with teams early and are good enough defensively and have good enough goaltending that it doesn't usually hurt us.
Rangers had a 8-9/10 time of game... nearly perfect. Trust me, if we weren't leading by 4 goals we wouldn't have fallen asleep there at the end a little and allow Ottawa those opportunities. It's only natural to fall back a little when you have such a huge lead
I don't care what Ottawa fans say... it was pretty damn clear who the better team was. Not saying Ottawa is out of it, but it's going to be damn tough for them to beat this team.
Let everyone keeps saying were not that good, I love it, just like when they thought we would barely make the playoffs again this year! They all say the Blues and Canucks are supposed to be great an look what happened to them in game 1.
I love us being taken lightly. People refuse to believe that we're actually good. Fine with me. Let them underestimate us. They won't know what hit them.
just to address the comments by sens fans and the hockey community in general about how close this game was, and how we're not that good...
This NYR team is truely a team product. Even though we have star forwards in Gaborik and Richards, you rarely see the rangers "dominate" opponents, (outside of lundqvist of course)
even when we win.
The only team we've really "handled" this year were the Flyers, and even then, there were times that we looked pinned down for long stretches. I think this is why that when we beat other teams, their fans are left feeling like their team still "could've won". they feel cheated somehow.
The Rangers play a style that makes the game seem closer than it actually is. The opponent gets lots of shots off, but hardly any of them get through. They spend a lot of time in our zone, but they're kept to the perimeter and low scoring areas.
