In Game 2, Pittsburgh did everything they needed to do to make sure they came out with a split while the Rangers didn't. The Penguins were a desperate hungry bunch, New York was not. Pittsburgh converted a late man-advantage, NY frittered away three early ones and one of the second. The Penguins' stars played as such, the Rangers' ones did not. Take all four of those reasons just mentioned and the end result, a 3-0 Pittsburgh win and 1-1 tie in the series should be no surprise.
The Rangers had three early power play opportunities. Beyond the end result being no goals, they had one, zero and one shot on net in the three chances. That is flat out unacceptable. It's one thing not to score, it's another to generate little on each chance, enabling Pitt to gain some momentum. In the second period, I thought the PP wasn't bad, the problem was that while Brad Richards had two open looks and shots; on the first, there was no traffic in front and on the second, minimal at best. Because the player movement also hasn't been great, Marc-Andre Fleury was able to remain relatively stationary, making it easier for him to see and stop the puck.
Pittsburgh carried play much of the first but really turned it up in the second, after a brief Rangers flurry. It's no surprise that the Penguins got on the board, as they were coming in waves. A poor Mats Zuccarello pass and then ill-advised attempt to pinch in the neutral zone on the boards gave the Penguins speed and room through the neutral into the offensive zone. Derick Brassard was a bit late getting back and Dan Girardi was a step behind Chris Kunitz, forcing a dive to block the Kris Letang pass, which deflected off his stick and past a brilliant Henrik Lundqvist.
The Rangers generated some pressure in the third and with about five minutes left it still a one-goal game. Derek Dorsett took and stupid and unnecessary. Lundqvist did all he could, even making saves without a goalie stick, but it wasn't enough. Pittsburgh was stopped initially, but a juicy rebound from a bad angle landed on Jussi Jokinen's stick with Marc Staal shaded towards the middle and it was 2-0. It pretty much was all over, other than an Evgeni Malkin empty net goal for the icing on the cake.
My take on a few things:
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Lundqvist was the sole reason this game was even close in the third. As I think back on some of his finest games, this one has to be right up there despite the loss. A brilliant performance and it's shame that most of his teammates were just passengers last night.
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Rick Nash. For all the criticism, rightly in most cases given to Nash, I actually thought he played well last night. Created chances for himself and his linemates while going hard all night. His linemates, Martin St. Louis and Derek Stepan, are two of those in the passenger category from the first point I made. Usually after a bad game, one or both rebound, that better be the case tonight.
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The PP. AV said after the game that basically production is all that matters. He is right. Even though they got some chances it's not enough. You hate to making wholesale tweaks now with no practice afforded them because of the stupid schedule, but they may not have a choice. Play Raphael Diaz, give him a shot on the PP on one point. Leave John Moore, who I thought played well, on the other. Get bodies in front, so maybe try Brian Boyle on the second, non-Zucc, unit to create a screen or traffic in front.
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McDonagh and Girardi. Abominable and you know me, I don't toss around terms like that lightly. McDonagh struggled all night, but especially against the line of Sidney Crosby, who was world class Sunday, dominating play. He was all over the place, and even though his goalless streak is 13 games, his play was at another level. Girardi stunk, plain and simple. Late on the first goal, outmuscled by Malkin for the empty netter and a detriment in the game, back at home, AV has to make sure the Staal-Stralman line is on against the Crosby line.
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Lineup and fatigue. The Rangers can say fatigue isn't an issue and the cynic in me would say, of course it isn't, they took Game 2 off. But it is and has to be, that's why winning Game 1 was so important. I would love to see a sweep at home, but honestly, getting one of two at MSG is critical to have a shot in the series. Game 3 might even be the most important one, as a rebound from a lousy Game 2 would prevent Pitt from just rolling the remainder of the way. In terms of the lineup, AV has had the magic touch this playoffs, inserting Daniel Carcillo in games 3 and 7 and J.T. Miller in Game 5. Hope he has his genie wand working tonight, as i believe, as mentioned above, Diaz should be in. In addition, play Miller on the second line, Carcillo on the fourth and sit Dorsett.
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Update from warmups: Fast in for Dorsett, playing on fourth line. Carcillo still with Richards and Hagelin. Can't say that I get this and would expect Fast and Carcillo to switch spots. No changes on defense).
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MAF. For all the criticism, Fleury has been very good these playoffs. As Ryan Wilson's
blog, which shows what Pitt did right in Game 2, and in fact the series to date, points out, MAF has a EVSV% of .943 but overall, he is at .914. If NY doesn't start getting some traffic in front and making Fleury had to move side to side and deal with bodies, he has shown he will make the first save.
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Two-game lead. The Rangers spit the bit again. The numbers get uglier, they have lost eight straight Game 2s, fumbled 10 straight chances to take a two-game lead in a series and lost an NHL record 13 games in a row when leading a series).
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schedule. The SNYRangersblog did a good job of laying out why the Rangers and Penguins are playing the second half of a back to back tonight. In addition, they are the only series that has a back to back and the only series that does not have at least one two day break between games. I will lay out the facts below and then say why this is ridiculous.
Montreal and Boston have two days off between Saturday's game two in Boston and Tuesday's game three in Montreal.
The LA Kings/Ducks series has two days off between tonight's game two and Thursday's game four.
The Wild/Blackhawks series has two days off between game three on Tuesday and game four on Friday.
It's believed that with MSG booked on Thurs and Fri with a New York Liberty game on Thursday at 11am and a Billy Joel concert on Friday, this was the NHL's only option. However, as it only takes 2.5 hours for the MSG crew to turn a basketball court into a hockey rink, that would appear not to be the case.
The Consol Energy center is booked on Thursday, May 8th for Lady Gaga and on Saturday, May 10th for Chelsea Handler.
Based on what also transpired in the first series, where the Rangers and Flyers had two games off. In addition, looking at what others teams have this round and the unavailable dates for both arenas. The NHL could have had Game 3 Tuesday and Game 4 on Thursday. Then play Game 5 in Pitt on Sunday, followed by Game 6, if necessary, on Tuesday and Game 7, if necessary, on Thursday with the Eastern Conference Finals starting on Saturday or Sunday. No need for New York to get the short-end of the stick or both teams to have to play a back-to-back.
Line Combinations: (subject to change and using what we know right now)
Rangers:
Forwards:
61 Rick Nash - 21 Derek Stepan - 26 Martin St. Louis
67 Benoit Pouliot - 16 Derick Brassard - 36 Mats Zuccarello
62 Carl Hagelin - 19 Brad Richards - 13 Dan Carcillo
22 Brian Boyle - 28 Dominic Moore - 15 Derek Dorsett
Extras: Jesper Fast (played games 1-2 and sat the next five, likely on the bench for the series healthy), JT Miller (played games 3-4 versus Philly, would not be shocked if he plays today) and Chris Kreider (recovering from left hand injury; Rangers could really use him, possible Game 5 option if he continues to progress).
Defense
27 Ryan McDonagh - 5 Dan Girardi
18 Marc Staal - 6 Anton Stralman
17 John Moore - 8 Kevin Klein
Extras: Raphael Diaz (spelled out above why I think he should play tonight with PP continuing to struggle) and Justin Falk.
Goaltending
30 Henrik Lundqvist
33 Cam Talbot
Penguins
Forwards
14 Chris Kunitz- 87 Sidney Crosby - 22 Lee Stempniak
36 Jussi Jokinen- 71 Evgeni Malkin - 18 James Neal
19 Beau Bennett - 16 Brandon Sutter - 46 Joe Vitale
49 Brian Gibbons - 57 Marcel Goc - 27 Craig Adams
Scratches - Tanner Glass (replaced for Game 2 by Gibbons, whose speed game Pitt a big boost), Jayson Megna and Taylor Pyatt
Defense
7 Paul Martin - 58 Kris Letang
3 Olli Maatta - 2 Matt Niskanen
4 Rob Scuderi - 41 Roberto Bortuzzo
Scratches - Brooks Orpik (injured, the Penguins could use him back in place of Bortuzzo), Deryk Engelland (healthy)
Goaltenders
Marc-Andre Fluery
Jeff Zatkoff
Tomas Vokoun
No. 2 Rangers vs. No. 1 Penguins (Metro Division) - Eastern Conference Semi-Finals
Game 1: Rangers 3 Penguins 2, OT, Fri., May 2
Game 2: Penguins 3 Rangers 0, Sun., May 4
Game 3: Penguins at Rangers, Mon., May 5 at 8 p.m. (NBCSN, CBC)
Game 4: Penguins at Rangers, Wednesday, May 9 at 7 p.m. (NBCSN, CBC)
Game 5*: Rangers at Penguins, Fri., May 9 at TBD
Game 6*: Penguins at Rangers, Sun., May 11 at TBD
Game 7*: Rangers at Penguins, Tue., May 13 at TBD
No other way to put it but NY was horrible. We said similar after Game 2 in Philly, but this is a much more talented team they are playing. Fatigue might be a factor with the fifth game in seven nights, which is why lineup chances should occur as I spelled out above. The Garden crowd should give the team a boost and an early marker would be a huge help as well, but if not, they need to keep pushing throughout. No off-shifts or lapses in focus during the game. Hank will need to be Hank while NY has to find a way to generate more even-strength chances, given the 60%-40% CF% and puck domination by the Penguins. If that happens, they can win tonight, if not, Game 4 takes on even more priority. Find a way to get it done.
Let's Go Rangers!!!
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