Blueshirts Strike First!
2014-2015
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
Rangers lead series 1-0
I - NYR 2; T.B. 1
II - MONDAY
NEW YORK RANGERS: Serving Up a Blue Line Special.
Derek Stepan picked up where he left off in Game Seven against the Capitals, by opening the scoring in Game One against the Tampa Bay Lightning with one of those morale breaking goals at 19:47 of the 2nd period.
No one expected Tampa to stay quiet for very long though. Ryan McDonagh got called for a high stick, and at 6:45 of the 3rd, the Lightning scored on Andrej Palat's power play goal.
Despite the Rangers playing a very strong defensive game, giving Tampa a man advantage is something they can least afford to do, if only because of the Bolts already high potential for scoring. The Rangers gave Tampa four power play opportunities - three in the 3rd period.
Can't do that boys!
On Saturday, they got away with it, but they'll need to tighten that up by Monday.
I fully expected the Bolts to visit the box more often than the Rangers this series, and still do. In Game One however, they limited the Rangers to just two PP opportunities. The Rangers went scoreless which makes them 6 for 40 in the post-season.
Dominic Moore was guilty of tripping at 15:05 of the 3rd, which could have spelled big trouble. But, the Rangers did well limiting Tampa to just two shots.
Out of the box, Dominic turned the puck over in the offensive zone. Roughly 20 seconds later, however, Kevin Hayes' feed from the left corner deflected off Dominic Moore's skate as he attacked the crease, and by Ben Bishop for what proved to be the game winning goal.
Coming with just 2:25 left in regulation, you might as well file Dominic Moore's goal along with the other demoralizing goals the Blueshirts have scored in either the opening or closing moments of a period. It was close enough.
Derek Stepan picked up where he left off in Game Seven against the Capitals, by opening the scoring in Game One against the Tampa Bay Lightning with one of those morale breaking goals at 19:47 of the 2nd period.
No one expected Tampa to stay quiet for very long though. Ryan McDonagh got called for a high stick, and at 6:45 of the 3rd, the Lightning scored on Andrej Palat's power play goal.
Despite the Rangers playing a very strong defensive game, giving Tampa a man advantage is something they can least afford to do, if only because of the Bolts already high potential for scoring. The Rangers gave Tampa four power play opportunities - three in the 3rd period.
Can't do that boys!
On Saturday, they got away with it, but they'll need to tighten that up by Monday.
I fully expected the Bolts to visit the box more often than the Rangers this series, and still do. In Game One however, they limited the Rangers to just two PP opportunities. The Rangers went scoreless which makes them 6 for 40 in the post-season.
Dominic Moore was guilty of tripping at 15:05 of the 3rd, which could have spelled big trouble. But, the Rangers did well limiting Tampa to just two shots.
Out of the box, Dominic turned the puck over in the offensive zone. Roughly 20 seconds later, however, Kevin Hayes' feed from the left corner deflected off Dominic Moore's skate as he attacked the crease, and by Ben Bishop for what proved to be the game winning goal.
Game One Final
Lightning 1
Rangers 2
Coming with just 2:25 left in regulation, you might as well file Dominic Moore's goal along with the other demoralizing goals the Blueshirts have scored in either the opening or closing moments of a period. It was close enough.
- The Rangers lost the face-off battle by a 30-23 margin. Dominic Moore was 9 for 19 on face-offs (47%), Brassard was 6 for 13 (46%), and Derek Stepan was 7 for 16, (43.8%). Tampa's Valtteri Filppula destroyed the Rangers, going 10 for 13 (76.9%)
The Rangers finally got off the snide. Ben Bishop is now 8-1-0 in career against the Blueshirts. On Stepan's goal, he was forced to slide right and got beat stick side low. On Moore's goal, he was forced to slide left and got beat glove side low.
Just saying....
Dan Boyle still might be suffering affects from the hit laid upon by Brooks Orpik. He nonetheless played near 18:00 minutes Saturday. He and the rest of the blue liners limited the Bolts to single digit shots on goal in the 1st and 3rd periods. The Rangers also posted 10 takeaways. Tampa took 24 shots overall, with only one getting by Henrik Lundqvist.
The Rangers took 30 shots on goal. Nice adjustment by Alain Vigneault moving Kevin Hayes up on the line with Rick Nash and Derick Brassard, whom led the Blueshirts with 6 shots on goal. Dominic also happened to be in the ice with Brassard and Hayes in the closing minutes - another (in-game) adjustment by AV.
Ryan Callahan did not have a shot on goal. He was credited with 2 hits though. However, it was the Rangers who applied the body, outhitting the Bolts by a jolting 30-18 margin.
Mike
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