After a dissappointing effort on saturday night, the Rangers find themselves on the brink of elimination in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Since the top seeded rangers gained a 2-1 series lead last monday, they have fallen apart and have been unable to score against Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson. Anderson, who is an average goaltender at best, made 41 saves saturday night to defeat the Rangers. Though Anderson shutout the blueshirts, he was never tested throughout the game. The Rangers get their rookie winger Carl Hagelin back in the lineup monday night, after serving his questionable three game suspension. Coach John Tortorella has also said that rookie Chris Kreider will also recieve more minutes. The big question is who will replace Brian Boyle, who apparently suffered a concussion saturday night, and will probably miss the game 6 tilt. The Rangers lost more than 2 consecutive games only twice this season, one of which was the first three games of the season. They have arguably been the best team in the league when responding to adversity, and tomorrow provides no greater chance. It will certaintly be a do or die matchup, but I expect the Rangers to follow in the Boston Bruins footsteps, as the Bruins won sunday on the road to force a game 7. With Richards and Gaborik reunited with Carl Hagelin, the top line will spark and the Rangers will rally around their teammates to force Game 7 back at MSG on thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment