The New York Rangers should be applauded for their efforts this season, because no matter how you look at it, leading the Eastern Conference with a 29-12-4 record is something to be proud of and also makes a statement about the team. However, the Rangers haven't accomplished anything just yet with only 45 games played, and the outcome of today's matinee against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins will not change that.
Though, going back to the whole 'statement' idea, the Blueshirts will be making a huge one by taking down arguably the best team in the National Hockey League right now, which could eventually lead to an accomplishment later in the year if history repeats itself. I think by now you should be getting my drift.
I cannot speak on behalf of others, but in my opinion, from top-to-bottom, the Bruins are a more intimidating and skilled team than the Rangers are. The B's have widely distributed scoring, their defense is rock solid led by Zdeno Chara, and they have one of the better goaltending tandems in the league in Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask. I feel like Boston has everything the Rangers have, but in slightly better form, save for goaltending. I don’t care what anyone says, Henrik Lundqvist is a better goaltender than Tim Thomas.
So there’s no doubt that the Rangers will be staring an unfamiliar challenge dead in its eyes this afternoon at TD Garden, but these are the games this team was built for. By that I am talking about the structure of the Blueshirts as a hockey club, as they are designed to find ways to beat other teams that are better than them as the Bruins are. This has been a major contribution to their success this season.
On Boston’s end of things, their season so far looks identical to that of the Rangers. They completely tore up the league in November and December, but have cooled off as of late, going 4-3-0 in their last seven games. They play rough and tough hockey, but they also have a broad variety of skill that makes them very tough to keep up with on the scoreboard (just ask the Calgary Flames).
Centers Tyler Seguin and Patrice Bergeron have been the Bruins' top scorers for a while now, with 40 and 39 points respectively. In fact, there is a huge push from Bruins fans right now to get Bergeron into the 2012 NHL All-Star Game.
But again, the Rangers are ahead of the Bruins in the standings, so they can beat this team without question. They will need a better effort than what we saw against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night, though, when they lost, 4-1, in front of the Garden crowd. Mental mistakes cost New York the game in that one, and will do the same if made again today in Boston. The Rangers seriously need to clean up their act if they want to have a chance at winning this game.
All four lines need to be going, the defense needs to play a tight game and collapse efficiently, and Henrik Lundqvist also needs to come up with the performance of the season. It’s taken a while, but number one and number two are finally squaring off, and the Rangers don’t want to be embarrassed on such a big stage.
The Rangers have been phenomenal this season in meaningful games like this, so I’m counting on them to do the same this afternoon. This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for, and it would be a huge disappointment if they let us down.
New York Rangers Lineup
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