Game 1, Eastern Conference Quarter Finals
Rangers at Canadiens -7:00 PM MSG, NBCSN (if you’re out of town), 98.7 FM. Online streaming is available on nbcsportss.com or the NBC Sports app (cable subscription required and may be blacked out locally).
The playoffs are finally here. After watching three weeks of a second preseason, our heroes finally play a meaningful game. All of the talking is over. It’s time to see how the many “ifs” are answered. You can read my preview on the previous thread. You can read Carp’s preview here.
This is the first legitimate “Go Time” post that we’ve had in probably three months. Clearly, this is an HAV.
Tonight’s probable lineup for the Rangers, via Matt Calamia (@mattcalamia):
Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey-Mika Zibanejad-Rick Nash
Michael Grabner-Kevin Hayes-JT Miller
Tanner Glass-Oscar Lindberg-Jesper Fast
DEFENSE
Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi
Marc Staal-Nick Holden
Brady Skjei-Brendan Smith
The big news of course is that Kevin Klein and Pavel Buchnevich find themselves as healthy scratches in favor of trade-deadline acquisition Brendan Smith and late season AHL call-up Tanner Glass, respectively. While I’m not a fan of either Smith or Glass, I would imagine both guys are on short leashes, Smith in particular. Henrik Lundqvist obviously gets the start. Here’s hoping he can find his old form.
For the Canadiens, Max Pacioretty, who had to be helped off the ice during yesterday’s practice after taking a high stick, seems to be recovered and will play. Slow footed Alexei Emelin will be out with an injury. Talented young forward Alex Galchenyuk will start on the 4th line, but will see PP time. Carey Price obviously starts in goal.
For those of you watching on channels other than MSG (i.e. NBCSN), I hope you aren’t sick of seeing Kreider crash into Price in 2014, because you’re about to see it more times than you’ll care to remember, broken down frame by frame like the Zapruder film. Kreider’s leg goes back, and to the left. Back, and to the left.
I’m sure MSG will show it a couple of times as well, but definitely less.
Don’t forget to tell everyone you know and to follow me on Twitter @rangersreport2. And don’t forget to vote!
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693 responses to “Rangers at Canadiens… It’s Go Time!”
Quote of the night comes from Zucc on talking about his big collision with Gallagher (from the NY Post):
“I was going for the puck and I hit him — don’t make a big deal out of that,” Zuccarello told The Post. “I didn’t try to hit him, I’m trying to go for the puck.
“S–t happens.”
Step aside Butch!
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Big Game Glass!
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678 comments! What’s the record?
I thought the officiating was awful. Cross Checking, interference, boarding – hey, no problem. Sending the puck over the glass and touching the puck with your hand on a face-off – get out of here for two minutes, we can’t have any of that.
Still, the Rangers matched the physicality of the Canadiens. They were not so soft to play against. Good for them.
Montreal goes after the smallest Ranger all game. Cowards.
Good thing about bad officiating; didn’t have to watch that horror show of a PP more..
All I can say to Rangers: REPETE, REPITE, REPITE! That’s all, good boys.
Have to be encouraged by our sexy boys last night, but if we’re going to do this we need to beat Carey Price cleanly and more than once in 60 minutes.
Just one and a half negatives. I thought Holden struggled all game, and Zibanijad struggled early but got better. I know Glass scored a goal, but I thought nearly as important were the two plays he made previous. He was first in on the for check, and took hits both times to do it. I thought that really set a tone. Basically saying this is how we have to play to win.
I had a dream last night that Tanner Glass scored the game winning goal in the 1st playoff game in Montreal…and Hank was perfect ..and Girardi played great…and Lindberg was there…and Zucc…then this woman that looked like the Princess from Mario Bros..bopped me on the head with a wand and made me repeat….There’s no place like the road…There’s no place like the road…There’s no place like the road…
Like I said last night- someone is going to get hurt in this series. I said that in ’14 and 2 games later Prust broke Stepan’s jaw. The refs don’t help the situation. they go through spells of “we’re going to call everything” and then try to let them play. What you get is inconsistency and almost a “hey we have to call this because we called so much on the other team already”- without any regard for some kind of clear cut way to call a game.
It’s all fine and good that Glass was one of the heros last night but some of the stuff I saw from the forwards was concerning. Grabner had that awful pass or clearing attempt that nearly wound up in the back of the net and Stepan was guilty of a similar gaffe. I think early in the third(?) he was behind his net looking for a break out, saw Montreal pressuring and instead of trying to find some space and taking a hit to get the puck out he tries to shoot it up the boards and it stays in the zone. Then you had Zucc all night looking for the extra pass, the fancy pass – any kind of pass. Needs to stop. He’s smarter than that. this is the post season now so wake up when it comes to that stuff.
I think Kreider and Miller need to be taken off their respective lines and put together – being wasted a bit
*NEW POST*
Rangers pitch a shutout with strong team defense and a couple of big stops, so, yeah, time to rejigger the lines? I think the writing was on the wall early on when Glass won a footrace to cancel out an icing. Glass. Keep that boy away from the drug screeners.
Avery had a big mouth but he played the game honestly (most of the time) and wasnt the cheapshot punk like Gallagher and the rest of that punk filled mtl team.
I SAID NEW POST!!
You have to say louder:
NEW POST