 |
| POWER
PLAY |
21ST
- 16.5 |
| PENALTY
KILL |
7TH
- 84.6 |
| FORWARDS |
| JAROMIR
JAGR |
25-46-71
(+8) |
| SCOTT
GOMEZ |
16-54-70
(+3) |
| CHRIS
DRURY |
25-33-58
(-3) |
| DEFENSEMEN |
| MICHAL
ROZSIVAL |
13-25-38
(0) |
| DANIEL
GIRARDI |
10-18-28
(0) |
| FEDOR
TYUTIN |
5-15-20
(+5) |
| GOALTENDERS |
| HENRIK
LUNDQVIST |
37-24-10
(10 SO)
2.23 GA
.912 PCT |
|
| STEPHEN
VALIQUETTE |
5-3-3
(2 SO)
GA2.19
.916 PCT |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
NY
Rangers vs New Jersey |
|
|
SCHEDULE |
| 1 |
APR.
9 |
NY
RANGERS 4 - NEW
JERSEY 1 |
SEED
5 |
2 |
APR.
11 |
NY
RANGERS 2 - NEW
JERSEY 1 |
SEED
4 |
42-27-16
(97) |
3 |
APR.
13 |
NEW
JERSEY 4 - NY
RANGERS 3 (OT) |
46-29-7
(99) |
| |
4 |
APR.
16 |
NEW
JERSEY 3 - NY RANGERS 5 |
|
| |
5 |
APR.
18 |
NY
RANGERS 5 - NEW
JERSEY 3 |
|
| |
6 |
APR.
20 |
NEW
JERSEY at NY RANGERS |
|
| |
7 |
APR.
22 |
NY
RANGERS at NEW JERSEY |
|
|
NY
Rangers Win Series 4-1 |
|
SERIES
PREVIEW |
| |
New
York Rangers
Head coach Tom Renney pulled out all of the stops in the
final regular season match against the New Jersey Devils.
With about two minutes left in regulation he pulled goalie
Henrik Lundqvist in favor of the extra attacker. A regulation
loss or the game going to overtime would seal the Rangers’
fifth seed on the coming playoffs and give home-ice advantage
to the Devils.
The move did not pan out and the Devils picked up their
first win of the season over their cross-river rivals,
3-2, in the shootout. With a 7-0-1 record against the
Devils this season, the Rangers enter the first round
of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with confidence they can reach
the second round. Critically, the Blueshirts have shown
they can beat the Devils’ Martin Brodeur.
Goaltending
In the nets, the Rangers have their go-to goalie Henrik
Lundqvist who started 72 games breaking the franchise
records for starts. On the season, Lundqvist posted a
2.23 GAA and a 0.912 save percentage and was 37-24-10
but came on late in the season coincidentally after he
signed a contract extension with the Rangers.
Many of the early season losses can be traced back to
the Rangers’ influx of newcomers and the shift from offensive
focus to the Renney-directed defensive efforts. The learning
curve was steep and only after the All-Star break did
the Rangers seem to protect the crease well and give Lundqvist
help.
Steve Valiquette backs up Lundqvist, especially against
the Flyers. He was 5-3-3 with similar GAA and save percentage
numbers. But he is unlikely to see much action beyond
mop-up this post season.
Defense
The blueline has and seems to be eternally the issue for
the Rangers. Renney’s efforts have improved the defensive
corps this season and the Rangers were among the top teams
for fewest goals allowed.
The blueline is manned by 3rd-year player Fedor Tyutin
who suited up for all 82 games this season and picked
up 20 points on 5 goals and was a plus-5. He is joined
by Michal Rozsival who skated in 80 games this season
and added nicely to the offense with 13 goals and 25 assists
and had 6 power play goals and 2 shorthanded markers.
Pulling his own weight was Marc Staal who, in 80 games,
picked up 2 goals and 10 points on the season and was
a plus-2.
Offense
What an odd year for so many of the Rangers’ talented
scorers. Captain Jaromir Jagr had his first non-30 goal
season with 25 tallies, though five of them came in the
closing games of the campaign suggesting his timing has
returned. Through all 82 games he added 46 assists and
played the role of captain well and supported the efforts
of Renney to make a defensive team out of the club. Everything
Jagr has said and done all season has been along the party-line
and has supported his head coach.
Newcomers Scott Gomez (16-54-70) and Chris Drury (25-33-58)
were solid all season and only Gomez missed a game all
year. Fitting into the new system was something of a shock
but both responded well late in the season.
Veteran Brendan Shanahan (23-23-46) had one of his lowest
offensive outputs in his career and suffered nearly as
greatly as Jagr under Renney’s system. However, as with
Jagr, Shanahan was just as supportive on and off the ice.
Match-Up
The wildcard in this series will be the effectiveness
of the Rangers’ youngsters including Nigel Dawes, Brandon
Dubinsky and the recently returned Blair Betts who is
coming off foot surgery. These three lead the Rangers
in grit and determination and give the Rangers something
the franchise has sorely lacked over the year, heart and
toughness. Those intangibles are a nod to the Rangers
in this series.
In goal, experience goes to the veteran Martin Brodeur
but Lunqvist has been terrific down the stretch and may
have the self-confidence to beat Brodeur.
The blueline, while not an Achilles’ heel, is a sore point.
But the Rangers’ defensive efforts have improved this
season and were solid down the playoff push. Continuing
the defensive improvement will prove a benefit to the
Rangers in the always defense-first NHL postseason.
Rangers win series 4-2.
Contact the author at lou.lafrado@prohockeynews.com.
New Jersey
The New Jersey Devils start their quest for a fourth Stanley
Cup championship when they face off with an all too familiar
foe: The New York Rangers. The first ever playoff series
in the Prudential Center begins Wednesday night at 7 PM.
If the regular season series is any indication, expect
tight defense and low scoring hockey.
Regular Season
The Devils went 1-4-3 against the Rangers during the 2007-08
season, losing the previous seven games before pulling
out a 3-2 shootout win on the season’s final day. Four
of the games went to overtime.
Playoff History
This will be the fifth playoff meeting between the Devils
and Rangers. The Rangers won the first three series (4-3
in 1992, 4-3 in 1994 and 4-1 in 1997) before the Devils
were victorious in 2006 (4-0).
What to look for
Battle of the Goaltenders. Martin Brodeur and Henrik Lundqvist
finished in the top five in goals against (Brodeur 2nd
at 2.17, Lundqvist 4th at 2.23). Both will be in the spotlight
in this series as both teams were not among the higher
scoring teams in the NHL. Brodeur has a career 1.93 postseason
GAA while Lundqvist went 0-3 against the Devils in the
2006 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal.
Scott Gomez. He was a Devil in the previous series with
the Rangers, he’s now a member of the Broadway Blueshirts.
Gomez is the third all time scorer in Devils playoff history,
can he do for New York what he did for New Jersey?
Outlook
The Devils have Brodeur and a solid cast in front of him.
The Rangers have their share of players who’ve been to
the big games (Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan, Gomez).
There is potential for some offense in this series but
look for the defenses to dominate. Be prepared for some
long games.
Prediction
Devils in seven. |
|
| Game
1 |
NY
Rangers 4 - New Jersey 1 |
|
by Lou Lafrado - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
NY
Rangers Lead Series 1-0 |
Newark,
NJ - The 4-5 Eastern Conference series in the opening round of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs featured two teams coming together on philosophy. The Devils have been an exemplar of the defensive style of hockey while the Rangers have been better known as the “spend it like there’s no tomorrow” offensive-minded club.
The series opened with a scoreless first period as both Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Brodeur stopped eight shots and held their respective clubs even going into the second twenty.
Brendan Shanahan got the scoring going early in the middle frame off assists from an amped-up Scott Gomez and Sean Avery. New Jersey knotted the game on the power play when Paul Martin took a feed from Patrick Elias and Zach Parise at the 14:14 mark of the second.
The Rangers held the shot advantage in the second with 13-7 edge. For the game the Rangers held a one shot advantage at 28-27.
The Rangers stepped it up in the third and the effort paid off with Ryan Callahan collecting a weird shorthanded marker with assists from Gomez and Daniel Girardi. The goal was scored when Brodeur failed to corral a loose puck in the crease and Callahan whacked it home. Sean Avery stepped into a slapshot just over ten minutes after Callahan’s marker and beat Brodeur cleanly with Gomez contributing again. Gomez had three assist on the night. Nigel Dawes closed out the scoring on the night with an empty net goal at the 19:55 mark of the third.
Marc Staal was notable in the contest for his hitting all night and delivered several big hits in the second to set a tougher tone for the Rangers than has been seen previously.
Head coach Tom Renney’s defensive style paid off in this first game of the series. The Rangers played solid on the blueline and limited any real scoring chances for the Devils. Lundqvist was supported on a couple of shots in the second as the Devils caught iron off the crossbar.
With the win, the Rangers stole home ice advantage away form New Jersey and can return home with no less than a split.
Contact the author at lou.lafrado@prohockeynews.com. |
|
| Game
2 |
NY
Rangers 2 - New Jersey 1 |
|
by Lou Lafrado - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
NY
Rangers Lead Series 2-0 |
Newark,
NJ - At least through two games of this best of seven series, head coach Tom Renney may be considered the king of New York.
Renney’s stressing of a defensive style of play on Broadway may have rubbed the more offensive minded Rangers the wrong way. Though they never publicly or seemingly even privately complained, the drop in goal scoring must have irked some.
For those, like Rangers’ captain Jaromir Jagr the regular season was marked by the first sub-30 goal season in his career. Five of his 25 markers came in the final 2 weeks of the season and he seemed to gain a stride in preparation for the post season.
On Friday night, Jagr and Sean Avery scored 23 seconds apart in the final stanza to give the Blueshirts a 2-0 lead in the game and the Rangers held off the Devils and preserved a 2-1 win and a 2-0 series lead over the Devils.
The defensive effort by the Rangers has resulted in two goals allowed over two games in New Jersey. Now the Rangers head across the Hudson to Madison Square Garden holding a two-game edge in home ice advantage.
Jagr’s goal was his first of the playoffs and followed a nifty backhand to forehand move before a wrist shot glanced off Martin Brodeur in the Devils’ net for the 1-0 lead.
Dan Girardi and Scott Gomez continued their hot play in their feed to Sean Avery 23 seocnds after Jagr. Gomez won an offensive zone face-off and fed Girardi whose initial shot was blocked with the carom finding Avery who snapped a wrist shot of his own past Brodeur for the 2-0 lead.
Meanwhile Henrik Lundqvist was busy stopping the Devils throughout the game and was only 1:23 from a shutout when John Madden tipped in a shot from Patrik Elias. Paul Martin had started the play with a feed to Elias.
Lundqvist made 26 saves on the night while Brodeur faced 30 Rangers shots.
The second period was a parade to the penalty box for both teams. The Rangers started off the second needing to kill a double minor (high sticking) to Christian Backman. The Devils were 0 for 5 on the power play and the Rangers were scoreless in three chances.
Both teams now head for Manhattan and games 3 and 4 in the series. The Devils need to crack Renney’s defense and the Rangers need to continue to recognize the value of playing solid defense and opportunistic offense.
Contact the author at lou.lafrado@prohockeynews.com.
|
|
| Game
3 |
New
Jersey 4 - NY Rangers 3 (OT) |
|
by Lou Lafrado - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
NY
Rangers Lead Series 2-1 |
New
York, NY - The Rangers were jolted back to reality on Sunday evening as the New Jersey Devils came up with gut check effort and won game three of the series on a John Madden goal at 6:01 of the first overtime.
Brandon Dubinsky picked up his second goal of the game on a power play at the 0:55 mark of the third period and Henrik Lundqvist made that stand up and forced the game into the extra session.
It was the Devils’ power play unit in the second period that forced the Rangers to play from behind as Patrik Elias and Zach Parise scored on the man advantage in the middle frame. Early in the second Sean Avery scored for the third straight game to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.
The Rangers had only a single shot on goal in the overtime while the Devils pressured the Rangers net in a sense of do or die not wanting to go down 0-3 to a defensive oriented Blueshirts club.
The Devils now have the opportunity to even up the series in game four and can already look to returning home to Newark for at least one more contest.
Contact the author at lou.lafrado@prohockeynews.com.
|
|
| Game
4 |
New
Jersey 3 - NY Rangers 5 |
|
by Lou Lafrado - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
NY
Rangers Lead Series 3-1 |
New
York, NY - So many tipping points. Series tied at 2 or a 3-1 series lead.
Devils up 4-3 in the third or the Rangers breaking serve and taking the same lead.
A chorus of boos or a shower of adoration.
Such were the stakes in the third period, the game and the series to this point for the Rangers and Devils. And it certainly might well have gone the other way but for a bounce or two and Marc Staal’s first career postseason goal at 16:47 of the final frame. Jaromir Jagr started the game-winning play by gaining both the blueline and the attention of the Devils’ defense and forcing Martin Brodeur to make a pad save of a slap shot from the left circle.
Off the rebound Martin Straka fed Staal who stepped into the puck with a booming slapshot of his own that cleanly beat Brodeur to the left side.
Scott Gomez picked up his second of the game with 12 seconds left on the clock as he won the faceoff and rifled a shot into the Devils’ empty net.
Both clubs played the game knowing there was too much at stake, an evened up series or a stranglehold on the first round.
Gomez started the scoring as well as finishing it as he tipped in a pass in the low slot from Daniel Girardi off a feed from Chris Drury at 12:37 of the first.
Henrik Lunqvist made 28 saves in earning the victory but was victimized by the Devils’ push to get even. The Rangers held four one-goal leads in the contest and but for the last one the Devils’ were able to come back and tie it up.
Patrik Elias picked up two markers for the Devils including one scored only 31 seconds into the second stanza. Mike Mottau scored early in the third to give the Devils a 3-3 tie and caused consternation of the Rangers’ faithful.
The Rangers now have the opportunity to throw another brick on the scales and move on to the second round with a win in New Jersey on Friday night.
Contact the author at lou.lafrado@prohockeynews.com.
|
|
| Game
5 |
New
Jersey 3 - NY Rangers 5 |
|
by Lou Lafrado - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
NY
Rangers Win Series 4-1 |
Newark,
NJ - For the second straight year, the New York Rangers have advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a convincing series effort. This time they took out the New Jersey Devils four games to one and did it with some timely offense and defense and stellar goaltending in the decisive game 5 of the series.
Ranger captain Jaromir Jagr led the way with a goal and two assists and was named the game’s first star. Since there were only 2-3 weeks left in the regular season Jagr has been on target with his goal scoring and assist efforts. Five of his 25 regular season goals came in last week of the season and in the series with the Devils he collected 6 points on two goals. His resurgence in scoring has added to the offensive threat from New York and given some added balance to an attack that is now fully supported by the defense.
Michal Rozsival, Scott Gomes, Chris Drury, and Brandon Dubinsky added scores to the game and gave some clue as to the depth and breath of the scoring capability of the Rangers as they head to round two in the Eastern Conference.
Goalie Henrik Lundqvist was brilliant in the third period when he stopped all 10 shots on goal including a John Madden penalty shot midway through the final frame.
The goal scoring contributions from Gomez and Drury provide the Ranger brass with validation for their free-agent shopping spree in the off-season last summer. Both forwards have stepped up production in the postseason and given the Rangers a threat down the middle of the ice.
The Rangers now get some rest and wait for either the Flyers, Penguins or Canadiens in the second round. None of the opponents are particularly welcoming.
Contact the author at lou.lafrado@prohockeynews.com.
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| POWER
PLAY |
24TH
- 15.6 |
| PENALTY
KILL |
13TH
- 82.8 |
| FORWARDS |
| ZACH
PARISE |
32-33-65
(+13) |
| PATRIK
ELIAS |
20-30-55
(+10) |
| BRIAN
GIONTA |
22-31-53
(+1) |
| DEFENSEMEN |
| PAUL
MARTIN |
5-27-32
(+20) |
| DJ
ODUYA |
6-20-26
(+27) |
| MIKE
MOTTAU |
4-13-17
(-11) |
| GOALTENDERS |
| MARTIN
BRODEUR |
44-27-6
(4 SO)
2.17 GA
.920 PCT |
|
| KEVIN
WEEKES |
2-2-1
(0 SO)
2.97 GA
.894 PCT |
|
|
|
