Avery out for remainder of playoffs with lacerated spleen

Sean Avery was rushed to St. Vincent’s Medical Center after the team’s game 3 loss and was diagnosed with a lacerated spleen. Avery’s spleen was not removed and he isn’t expected to need surgery, but he will most likely remain hospitalized for the next few days.
Avery will be out for the rest of this [...]

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Here’s an interesting tidbit…

Only 2 teams in NHL history have come back to win a best-of-7 series after being down 0-3. It happened in 1942, when the Maple Leafs beat the Red Wings in the finals, and again in 1975, when the New York Islanders came back against the Penguins.
1942 and 1975 are 33 years apart, which [...]

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Throwing in the towel

I have to admit I completely underestimated the Penguins before this series. I look back at my series preview and I can’t believe I gave the edge to the Rangers offense. I let the flashy shot totals from the regular season get to my head. What I didn’t take into account was which team was [...]

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Game 3 tonight at MSG: This is a must-win

This is an obvious statement, but the Rangers have to win this game tonight. If they get the series back to 2-1, they are still alive. 3-0 is a different story.
You won’t see me quote a basketball coach too often in a hockey blog, but Doc Rivers had a great quote last night [...]

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Michel Therrien: “Wah wah wah.”

Ok, so that’s not an exact quote. But in all seriousness, the Penguins coach just won’t stop complaining. Earlier in the series he was complaining about the Rangers raising the issue of Sidney Crosby’s alleged diving. Yesterday, Therrien felt the need to complain about the Rangers getting too close to Pens goalie [...]

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Rangers shuffle the lineup in practice today

On the front lines, Petr Prucha and Brendan Shanahan switched spots, meaning Prucha skated on the 2nd line with Scott Gomez and Sean Avery, while Shanny skated on the 4th line with Blair Betts and Fred Sjostrom.  The Rangers used this lineup in the last game of the regular season against the Devils.
On D, Jason [...]

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Henrik Lundqvist: “We’re going to win.”

Despite being down 2-0 in the series, New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is feeling optimistic.  Here’s the exact quote:
“It feels like the difference between these two teams is not that big. It could be one bounce that’s the difference. . . . We should go back to New York and put more pressure on [...]

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Rangers lose this game on the Power Play

Folks, the Rangers were still in this one until the start of the third period. They looked dead right from the start of the third. They couldn’t get the puck deep and when they actually kept the puck in the Penguins’ zone, they couldn’t get shots through to the net.
Then there’s the Power [...]

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After 1, all tied at 0

Here are some choice notes from the first period:

Penguins are flying out of the gate getting the first 8 shots
Rangers balance it out with a PP
Drury-Betts-Callahan best line half way through
Gomez centering Sjostrom and Prucha for a shift
Drury is still the man; great on the 4-on-3 Penalty Kill
Jagr tells Crosby to stand up and stop [...]

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Prucha in for Game 2

I mentioned it yesterday, and now it has been confirmed. Petr Prucha will see his first game action of the playoffs this season. Here’s what Coach Tom Renney had to say:
“Petr is really, really hungry. . . . I see it in his eyes and he has had some success against Pittsburgh. I [...]

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