There was no denial from the Rangers that the home playoff losing streak was weighing on them. How could it not. So in turn, there was a distinct sense of relief when it finally broke, the Blueshirts recording a complete 2-1 victory over the Canadiens on Tuesday night at the Garden that was equally encouraging […]
Read MoreTwo losses from the end of their season, Alain Vigneault shared a simple and strong message about what needed to change after the Rangers’ underwhelming Game 3 performance: “Our top players need to find their game,” Vigneault said. “They obviously don’t have it right now.” In Game 4, Ryan McDonagh answered the call. The Rangers […]
Read MoreWith their backs nearing the wall, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault turned to a rookie one day after his 22nd birthday. Pavel Buchnevich came into the lineup and made his NHL postseason debut in the Blueshirts’ 2-1 win over the Canadiens in Game 4 of their first-round series on Tuesday night at the Garden, knotting the […]
Read MoreThese are words Mika Zibanejad is going to live with, for good or for bad, or as long as he is a Ranger. He will forever be linked to Derick Brassard, for whom he was traded this summer, as “Big Game Brass” was sent north to his hometown Senators. So before Zibanejad’s first postseason with […]
Read MoreNo longer is this opening-round series about the dread and angst of the Rangers in the playoffs at the Garden. For that narrative — which obscured the good things the Blueshirts had done to earn an opening split in Montreal, and had taken on a life of its own after the Blueshirts’ lifeless performance in […]
Read MoreHenrik Lundqvist wouldn’t quite say it this clearly, so Derek Stepan was willing to do it for him. “Right now, he loves this Carey Price-Henrik Lundqvist matchup,” Stepan said about the two competing goalies, two of the best in the world going toe-to-toe as their first-round series approaches a climax, the best-of-seven contest tied at […]
Read MoreMONTREAL — Tanner Glass has had six months of perspective in the minors, so being grateful just for where he is and being a good teammate at this point have come naturally. Glass still had a smile on his face at Wednesday’s practice, one day after the rugged Rangers winger was scratched in favor of […]
Read MoreBrendan Smith is moving on. By doing so, he hopes the Rangers will, too. Throughout the third period of the Rangers’ Game 4 win against Montreal, the defenseman was repeatedly battered by the Canadiens, most apparent in Alexander Radulov’s slash across Smith’s wrist. Later came a cross-check and an elbow to the face. Play continued […]
Read MoreAlain Vigneault cut off the question before it could be completed, even as it steered toward complimenting the play of his fourth line. “I wouldn’t know which line [that is],” Vigneault said following the Rangers’ Game 4 win over the Canadiens. The coach wasn’t just being diplomatic, by refusing to label any of his players […]
Read MoreMONTREAL — We know what they did. We know that on Tuesday night at the Garden with their very essence in question, the Rangers played their best game of the year when anything less would not have gotten the job done against Montreal in Game 4. And we know they will have to be even […]
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