Photo: Jim McIsaac/Newsday
The New York Rangers. That is all.
What a rebound. What a close series. What a response from possibly the worst game we’ve seen all year. After seeing the Rangers roll over and play dead in Game Three, the Blueshirts took it to the Habs, dominating Game Four, then dominating the latter half of Game Five, then dominating the latter 2/3 of Game Six. They won three in a row. They took the series. They move on to face the Senators or the Bruins.
Mats Zuccarello came up strong, with two clutch goals to tie the game and then give the Rangers the lead. Henrik Lundqvist once again outdueled Carey Price, solidifying the series win (and, in my opinion, the discussion on who is better). The defense clamped down. The depth prevailed, and the Rangers’ speed proved to be too much for the Habs. On to the next round. And….
On to the goals:
Habs 1, Rangers 0
Philippe Danault won a race to the chip in over Derek Stepan, and also had support from Alex Radulov. Radulov, while falling, got the puck to the high slot to Alexei Emelin. Danault cut to the net, and Emelin’s shot beat Hank high. It looked like he was screened.
Rangers 1, Habs 1
This was beautiful puck movement on the powerplay. Mats Zuccarello took a hard pass from Mika Zibanejad off his skate. He controlled it and fired it through Price for the goal.
Rangers 2, Habs 1
What a pass by Kevin Hayes here. Zuccarello had the easy goal.
Rangers 3, Habs 1
Derek Stepan with the empty netter. Hank approves.
Score Adjusted Even Strength Corsi
The Habs got a good number of shot attempts, over 60 at even strength. This is a testament to Henrik Lundqvist. He was phenomenal. But look at the second and third periods. While the Habs retained the advantage, the Rangers did a good job rebounding and ensuring they pressured the Habs.
Scoring Chances
To me, this is the more important evaluation of the game. The Rangers were hemorrhaging shots and quality shots. But then the second and third came. The Rangers bounced back, realized their depth and speed is better, and took it to the Habs. The end result was a pair of goals and a win.
The Rangers get a chance to relax for a few days while they wait for a winner of the Sens/Bruins series. The Blueshirts match up well against both teams, but it’s no guarantee. This was a great series, with the absolute highs and lows for both teams. For the Rangers, hopefully it was an eye-opening experience that they need to commit to the speed game to win.
Enjoy this one folks.
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