It is almost two years since the day Mats Zuccarello’s hockey career almost ended. Two years since he took a puck to the head that left him unable to speak for four days. It was Game 5 against the Penguins, April 24, 2015, when Zuccarello took a Ryan McDonagh slap shot in the helmet with 3:58 left […]
Read MoreRegarding the Rangers, whose patience, discipline and structure will be challenged by the Senators in what shapes up as a far less physical series than the six-game tong war against Montreal. Just make sure to keep your head up around Alexandre Burrows and Dion Phaneuf: 1. Round One represented the playoff series of Ryan McDonagh’s […]
Read MoreThe question of whether these Rangers could handle the physicality of the postseason has been answered in the affirmative, and it earned them some rest. After the Blueshirts dispensed of the Canadiens in Game 6 on Saturday night at the Garden to wrap up their first-round playoff series and advance, they were given Sunday off […]
Read MoreTo harken back to the first round of the 2012 playoffs is to see how much can change in a relatively short period of time, with the most recent postseason series between the Rangers and Senators taking place between two completely different teams from their current counterparts. That was the Brian Boyle series, if you […]
Read MoreIt was just one goal after 14 failed attempts. But still, the Rangers were hoping to take away some confidence from that lone tally on the man-advantage in the whole of their six-game, first-round series against the Canadiens. It helps the one goal was a big one, scored by Mats Zuccarello in the second period […]
Read MoreHere is a little fact those in pro sports don’t like to admit publicly and the leagues don’t want you to hear: Winning championships takes a considerable amount of luck. And now, for the first time in a long time, it seems like the Rangers have it on their side. First is the matchups. The Blueshirts […]
Read MoreIf this represents Dan Girardi’s Last Stand as a Ranger, then it could be something special to remember this special player by if, as seems likely, he is elsewhere next season. For the soon-to-be 33-year-old defenseman, who is coming off consecutive seasons diminished by a series of injuries, staged his own revival during the first-round […]
Read MoreThere was no runaround here, no pretending that the storyline between the Rangers and Senators going into their second-round playoff series is not one also acutely punctuated by the offseason trade that sent Broadway favorite Derick Brassard up to Ottawa in a deal that brought back the younger and less-expensive Mika Zibanejad. It was so […]
Read MoreRick Nash, the Rangers’ most important forward, missed practice on Tuesday as a precaution, kept off the ice for a third straight day for what the team called “maintenance.” The Blueshirts had Sunday and Monday off following their first-round defeat of the Canadiens, which ended with a Game 6 triumph at the Garden on Saturday. […]
Read MoreThe hype over Senators captain Erik Karlsson has reached staggering heights, and not even Rangers coach Alain Vigneault was left untouched. As the Rangers and Senators prepare for Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Thursday in Ottawa, Vigneault was asked to compare Karlsson with his own captain and fellow defenseman, Ryan McDonagh. When faced […]
Read More