I've got an afternoon flight out of rainy Pittsburgh, so I'll stop by the Penguins practice and give you the lowdown on the atmosphere and the aftermath of Game 2. My colleagues Arthur Staple and Mark Herrmann will catch up with the Rangers at noon in New York. So we've got you covered from all angles. Hope you read my two pieces and a notebook on Game 2 today, mostly centering on special teams and the Rangers' eyeing Game 3.
In the interim, some thoughts on Game 3:
1. Rangers better have a lead going into the third period at MSG. Pens were 36-1-3 when ahead after two periods in the regular season, and that 1-2-2 trap looked good Sunday.
2. Don't expect an overcompensation on defense, which I believe the Rangers did on Sunday. They will attack and attack on Tuesday.
3. Henrik Lundqvist allowed just five Penguins goals (on 92 shots) in the four regular-season games at the Garden. He will need a stellar performance this week for the Rangers to nail one game and/or even the series and send it back here, which I think will happen.
More later....
Comments (26)
Steve, Don't leave anything behind in Pittsburgh... you won't be back there until next fall.
Easy Rangers fans. The boys are coming home now. I see a different game coming Tuesday. Win that and we are right back in the series. Let's not right them off just yet. Hank almost stole a game yesterday, I think he will steal one coming up.
We need a nice 3-1 win on Tuesday night with one of the goals being a PP goal.
It's been a long season, keep the faith people!!!
Black N Gold, you live in Old Brookville?? Why are you on a Rangers blog? Don't you have to pay your landscaper or pool guy now? Rich sissy!!
This series will be back on Pens ice (oops I mean some form of frozen liquid). What I love is those who tell us what a great organization Pitt is, yes they are the only ones who actually threw Hockey games so they could draft Mario, no other NHL trams felt the need to blatantly lose games. Most recently the Pens lost regularly and were blessed with 1st picks like Crosby and Malkin. SO now the Pens are a solid team by virtue of losing their way to tremendous drafts. How does this make an organization terriffic? The Rangers are a original six and have never seemed to lose enough to get the first pick. So in all the losing you get rewarded with draft picks, sooner ar later if you constantly draft first the team should become pretty strong. Now the Pens have their rewards, unfortunately as soon as Malkin becomes a FA he will be gone. You will get to keep Crosby, but you won't keep both. I have no way of knowing whether the Rangers will come back in this series but I do know they have rebuilt the team without having to rely on finishing last enough to get it done!
Brian,
How do you know I'm not the pool guy? Not all homes in Old Brookville are owned by "Rich Sissy's" although I do have a former ranger for a neighbor so maybe you do have a point!
msg4ever,
Do you know anything about hockey, or has all of your hockey knowledge come from reading Staples crap in Newsday?
Malkin was not a first pick overall. The pens had the worst record but didn't get the first pick that year, the Caps did, and they selected Ovechkin.
Second, every team in the league had a shot at Crosby in the draft, including the Rangers.
You have a big NY mouth and a little NY brain to go with it.
Go back to watching the Knicks.
How could I watch the Knicks if they aren't playing?
That was an incredibly intelligent comment.
I thougth AO went in the same draft as Crosby.. the combined draft after the lockout
I just hope the team can grab there man shorts and play with some of the excitement and effort they did in game one in the offensive zone and still play Renney's defensive style in there own zone. For gods sake tell Perry to make some changes on the PP unit. Yea I know that should have been done a long time ago but maybe this time he will do it,if he is any good. If not cut him loose and find someone who can. Go Rangers Kick ice chickens ass,and cindy!!!! Zip please ban these pitts puke who keep infesting this board.Black and gold did you think of that name all by yourself. brilliant.
this might be the last go around for some players so lets leave it all out there. 22 other teams would love to have the chance we have still. SO LETS DO IT
in a completely unrelated subject... WHAT'S UP WITH JAGR SPORTING A HITLER-ESQUE MOUSTACHE???? NO MATTER THAT A GOATEE IS GROWING BENEATH IT BUT WHAT THE HELL KIND OF PLAYOFF BEARD IS THAT?????????? SOMEONE SHOULD TELL HIM...NOBODY ROCKS THE "HITLER-STACHE".....IM NOT JEWISH BUT I THINK ITS INAPPROPRIATE (STILL) NOT TO MENTION IT LOOKS JUST PLAIN AWFUL & STUPID.
If the ranger forwards grow a collective set of balls, they might have a chance..What a pathetic physical effort from the likes of Dawes, Straka, Shanny,Gomez, Prucha and the worthless Sjostrom we saw yesterday..
The Ranger forwards need to physically challenge the Pen D-men and forwards while still playing smart---just like they did in the Devil series...Otherwise the Penguins will just get cozy and comfortable, fear nothing and rip them apart..
For the life of me, I din't understand not playing Hollweg and/or Orr, especially when Prucha, Dawes, Shanny and Sjostrom have been so impotent in all parts of the game.
I think it's a '68 Chezch war beard.
I has something to do with where Jagr comes from.
What is the difference between...
Tyutin on Crosby - he fell down watching the ref.
Komiserick on Jagr - he took 60 minutes of cross-checking and refused to be knocked down. The ref was watching.
Rangers vs. the Pens - the Refs and the Media tuesday 7pm
Hey NBC/Versus: Why all the negative focus on Avery and his antics. Ruutu is ten times worse. Don't forget he deliberately attempting to maim Jagr in the last Olympics. Let see that again. I'm sure they can put together a package of Ruutu's Greatest Dirty Hits and show that instead of another Cindy or Malkin highlight package. After all, they pass by important replays to advertise Gillette or put up some nonsensical stat.
Ruutu's high sticking penalty in the 1st period was never replayed. It looked dirty, but we'll never know.
BTW, how ticked was Pierre (anti-Ranger) McGuire when the linesman was blocking his camera? He so full of himself.
Waaaaaaaaa....
Slick Wily writes:
"Rangers vs. the Pens - the Refs and the Media tuesday 7pm"
Waaaaaaaaa....
Are you sure you're not a Newsday Rangers beat sportswriter? You sure sound like one.
Waaaaaaaaaa......
Hey Black & Gold:
You must have been beat up a lot as a kid.
Let's hope you don'y run and hide when the Rangers win Game 7 in the Igloo.
My humble Ranger-biased opinion is that Cindy is a smart player. In game 1, when he felt Straka's stick near his midsection he went into his "let me pretend I'm being interfered with" bobble and put his knee down for effect. He's such a great skater that he is one of the few who could do that. Conversely, he's such a strong powerful skater that Straka should never have been able to hold him up. Alas, the young Bettman-influenced ref took the bait. So technically it was one of his patented dives. That said, the Rangers had to kill the penalty. They didn't. Game over.
Game 2, Tyutin had position and shoved (not a hold) Cindy to the ice. No penalty, but the ref who couldn't see the play from his angle gave him the beneift of the doubt. No dive, but a strong skater, like Cindy or Jagr, would have shaken Tyutin off without going down.
B&G: Let me answer you ahead of time. Waaaaaaah!
Bob: You're a disgrace to humaity.I've been reading your crap for too long. I am going to click the report abuse button on all your posts next time you call for Renney's death. You should be arrested. TRs stick together!
I say if Cindy Crosby is going to hit the ice if he's breathed on, we might as well really hit him and plop his a$$. If the Rangers are going to get a penalty anyway, at least make Crosby pay for it.
Hey Black and Gold the point is that Pit has FINISHED last quite enough to get the draft picks they now have playing for them. And you didn't choose to reply to the intentional losing that was mandated to assure they got Mario (which turned this sorry franchise into something) and you are the same lame fans who have the balls to BOO Jagr as if he did nothing for this franchise. Jags himself admits how much Mario was dominant yet Jags was quite important in both your Cup wins. Seems rather classless to me that a so called HOCKEY town would boo a former superstar that carried the Cup for them. You didn't hear any boos in the Garden for Mess, or for Giacomin (in fact the Ranger fans booed the Rangers for letting Giacomin go) or Leetch or any other Ranger star who was instrumental for the organization, that is called class, something you and the Pens fans could learn about. But then again you have an organziation that would intentionally lose games to get a superstar in the draft, so really the fans only emit the same class as the organization.
TR,
I have a suggestion for you... buy an HD TV and get an HD DVR... it'll keep you from writing stupid posts like that.
Frame-by-frame advancing of the Straka interference shows that crosby's right skate gets tangled up with Strakas left skate, Crosby shifts his weight to his left skate and takes another off balanced stride (As does Straka) next step Sid comes down ON TOP OF Strakas left skate this time. Sid falls. to his knee but gets right back up and into the play. ref's arm goes up before Scotty Gomez makes a great play to dive for the puck.
Next, on the Tyutin play, Tyutin takes his left hand off his stick (Stupid move that ALWAYS draws a call) and grabs Sid's sweater at the C.Sid goes down. As you admit. No Dive.
If the Rangers played the pens half as well as they played the Devils, the rangers would still be in this series.
Busey wrote: "I thougth AO went in the same draft as Crosby.. the combined draft after the lockout".
Nope. AO went in the prior draft after the 2003-2004 season and BEFORE the lockout. Malkin was the second pick in that draft.
http://www.nhl.com/draft/2004/round1.html
B&G: I apologize for being on the same blog with you - the all-knowing hockey maven. (Sarcasm intended). Calling my posts stupid is like the pot calling the kettle black (and gold). I have both HDTV and HD-DVR. I replayed it a hundred times. Bottom line - Cindy is an embellisher, plain and simple. Straka was skating along side and Cindy leaned into him, creating the skate contact. If Straka had fallen back (like Cindy would have) he would have drawn a penalty (as if the refs would call it). Cindy is an overactor and a crybaby, witness his head-snap on NBC last month, falling from Tyutin's shove (not grab - look again idiot) yesterday, and his looking around for a ref to cry to after the Avery love tap. Someone is gonna take him out at the knees someday. You're lucky that dirtbag Ruutu is on your team, because he would do it (then run). For such a great talent, Cindy is an embarrasment to the league. Granted, he's a better actor than Mario was.
Lastly, why don't you go on a San Jose blog and pretend to be a Dallas fan.
B&G: I apologize for being on the same blog with you - the all-knowing hockey maven. (Sarcasm intended). Calling my posts stupid is like the pot calling the kettle black (and gold). I have both HDTV and HD-DVR. I replayed it a hundred times. Bottom line - Cindy is an embellisher, plain and simple. Straka was skating along side and Cindy leaned into him, creating the skate contact. If Straka had fallen back (like Cindy would have) he would have drawn a penalty (as if the refs would call it). Cindy is an overactor and a crybaby, witness his head-snap on NBC last month, falling from Tyutin's shove (not grab - look again idiot) yesterday, and his looking around for a ref to cry to after the Avery love tap. Someone is gonna take him out at the knees someday. You're lucky that dirtbag Ruutu is on your team, because he would do it (then run). For such a great talent, Cindy is an embarrasment to the league. Granted, he's a better actor than Mario was.
Lastly, why don't you pretend to be a Stars fan and post on a San Jose blog
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
One thing I'll give Flyers fans credit for, they told me that Rangers fans were the biggest group of crybaby's in the league... they certainly were right on that count.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Black N Gold -- If you're having an argument with Ranger fans about "class," you need only point out one thing to end the argument: When Pat LaFontaine, then of the Islanders, incurred a concussion in a game against the Rangers at MSG, Ranger fans surrounded LaFontaine's ambulance and tried to tip it over.
You can also point out that after Pelle Lindbergh was killed in an auto accident in his Porsche, and Ron Hextall succeeded him as the Flyers' goalie, Ranger fans at MSG chanted "Buy a Porsche, Hextall, buy a Porsche!" These are the lowest lowlifes in all of sports fandom. Arguing about "class" with them is like arguing about human rights with the Iranian government. No doubt there are exceptions -- I've met some decent Ranger fans -- but most of their fan base is not worth trying to reason with.
Black N Gold - and Isles fans like KH have a history of throwing stuff (bottles etc)on the ice in the 1st round of the playoffs in recent years. I can't say whether that tradition carries to the 2nd round since the current generation has never seen that. It's been since 1993 after all when most of the Isles punks were in grade school at best.
I have been a Rangers fan for 35 years and one thing I do know about the Rangers, (this is for msg4ever) is that the Pens may get the good draft picks, but the Rangers have all the money and have been buying up all the great players (even though they are pretty much over thier "great" status) and they can't bring a cup home. My heart wants the Rangers to take it....AWWW who am I kidding Pens all the way. Hope someone gets Avery to back off or his blue shirt is going to get RED real quick courtesy of Gill or Laraque.