New York Rangers Brace For Hurricane at the Garden

From the desk: RAISE GRESCHNER WITH THE GREATS

DEFEND THIS HOUSE

GAME FIVE

Rangers       1

Hurricanes   3

FINAL

First Liners Must Force Game Seven

That was a terrible effort by the Rangers, plain and simple.  

They looked like they were skating on the sands of the Outer Banks.  

Most all attempts to possess the puck and establish the zone were feeble.  Net result, the Rangers mounted an amateurish 17 SOGs.  Five shots in the first period, five in the second, and a whopping seven in the third period, that's it ... that's all there was.

Ryan Strome led the Rangers with four SOGs; Mika Zibanejad and Andrew Copp had two.  No other player had more than one shot on the net.  Chris Kreider had none and Artemi Panarin, none.

Chris Kreider has one point in this series - a goal in game three.  Artemi Panarin registered assists in games three and five for two points.  We're watching with our own eyes: the Rangers can't survive this significant lack of productivity from the top-line guys.

But there's more ...

For the second time this series, the Rangers yielded another short-handed goal to Carolina, and just like the closing minutes of game two, Igor Shesterkin was pulled in favor of a sixth skater.  Still, the Rangers again failed to establish possession, much less zone presence.

The series shifts back to the Garden on Saturday.

We know what they gotta do.

Defend this house!