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Rangers punch Senators in the mouth to even series

It devolved into an ugly mess, frustration boiling over and being met with a stern fist. The Rangers have shown more than just structure and skill during this impressive two-game homestand; they have depth along with an iron backbone. They took it to the Senators for another full 60 minutes, winning Game 4 of this […]

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One gritty Ranger emphatically enforces Vigneault’s message

It was the turn of Tanner Glass, by serendipitous coincidence, to read out the starting lineup to his teammates before the Rangers would take the Garden ice for Thursday’s Game 4 of the conference semifinals against the Senators. “I went ‘At center, Step [Derek Stepan], on left wing, myself’ and the guys all went ‘Ooooh,’” […]

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Banged-up Senators star question mark for Game 5

Ottawa can recover from two straight losses. The Rangers just did. But if superstar defenseman Erik Karlsson is lost, the Senators’ season might be, too. Surrendering their series lead with a 4-1 loss to the Rangers in Game 4 on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, the Senators also saw their best player aggravate an […]

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Rangers’ fourth liners giving top guys ‘room to breathe’

The Rangers have been preaching the importance of depth all season, and Oscar Lindberg is doing what he can to prove it true. The Blueshirts’ fourth-line center scored twice in his team’s 4-1 win over the Senators in Game 4 of their second-round series Thursday night at the Garden, giving Lindberg three goals in the […]

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Rangers’ unsung hero scores vital breakthrough goal

The Rangers’ momentum was long gone. Their dominant performance two days earlier didn’t mean anything anymore. The first period of Game 4 was scoreless, and Madison Square Garden was quiet and curious, anxiously waiting to see how long the battle with the Senators would remain a stalemate. No one knew what was coming next. Certainly, […]

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Rangers fans open old wounds with ‘sloppy seconds’ chant

Sean Avery has not been on the Rangers in five years, but the fans are still carrying on his spirit. The Garden faithful serenaded Senators defenseman Dion Phaneuf with a “sloppy seconds” chant during the Rangers’ 4-1 Game 4 rout of Ottawa that evened the Eastern Conference semifinal. It came after Phaneuf fought with Rangers defenseman […]

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There’s only one way Rangers lose this series

OTTAWA — The challenge for the Rangers entering Saturday’s teeter-totter Game 5 here on Saturday afternoon is neither so much the trap nor containing Erik Karlsson as it is continuing to give the Senators the respect they did not earn through two of the most negligible playoff performances you’ve ever seen. To guard against overconfidence. […]

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Rangers refuse to lose their cool against hot-tempered Senators

OTTAWA — There is an abstract feeling the Rangers have utter control of their second-round series against the Senators going into Game 5 on Saturday afternoon at Canadian Tire Centre. It’s a feeling drawn not strictly from what has happened on the ice. With each team having held serve in its own building and the […]

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This Rangers center isn’t scoring at all, but here’s why that’s OK

OTTAWA — If you asked two years ago where Kevin Hayes would be most utilized in the 2017 playoffs, a defensive-zone draw while holding a tight lead would not have been the first guess — if at all. Nevertheless, as the Rangers center readies for his 25th birthday Monday, he also appreciates how his game […]

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Rangers still have healthy fear of this Senators top gun

OTTAWA — Maybe the Rangers have worn him down, or maybe Erik Karlsson’s body finally is just giving in. Either way, the Blueshirts have found a way to somewhat marginalize the Senators’ superlative captain in this second-round series, so much so that Ottawa coach Guy Boucher told him to stay in the locker room for […]

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