Circle the wagons. Pull out the stops. Put a puck with some vodka and ice in the blender as an offering to the Hockey Gods.Today at 12:30 the Rangers take on the 8th place Boston Bruins in a game that will mean their season.
Eleven games to go. 3 points out of the 8th and final playoff spot. 2 points behind 9th place Atlanta. And there are 4 other teams within 4 points of us.
You want analysis? Here's my analysis: The Rangers need to win. If they want to keep any hope of their season alive – their two game losing streak cannot become a three game losing streak.
They need to rise up. And really – all we need is the exact same effort as we showed against the St' Louis Blues – with one very important difference.
Henrik Lundqvist needs to be Henrik Lundqvist again. We can't have 4 goals on 16 shots – because you can't beat anyone that way.
And make no mistake – this is doable. They are not playing the 1980s Edmonton Oilers today. They are playing a Boston team that is 4-5-1 in their last ten, and limping toward the finish line.
And speaking of Finnish Lines – we need Olli Jokinen to start putting the puck in the net.
Who The Hell Are We Playing? Boston is 31-27-12, a mediocre record we wish we had. They have lost 11 of their last 12 home games.
Primary Skaters: LW Marco Strum has 21 goals and leads Boston with a +12. Defenseman Zdeno Chara has 30 assists.
In Net: Tim Thomas is 15-17 with a 2.57 GAA and a .914 save percentage. Tuukka Rask is 16-10 with a 2.12 GAA and a .928 save percentage.
Scoring & Defense: The Bruins have scored just 174 goals this year to our 185. But they've only let in 180 goals to our 195.
Special Effects: Boston's PP is at 17.5 to our 18.6. Their PK is 85.8% to our 83.3%
Scheduling Conflicts: We played and lost Thursday. So did they.
Probable Lines:
The top line looks like: Dubinsky – Christensen – Gaborik
Then we are guessing:
Drury – Propsal – Callahan
Jokinen – Avery – Anisimov
Shelley-Boyle-Prust
On Defense: Same 6.
In Goal: Figure that Auld will play later this week – maybe the 3D game against the Islanders as we have the Devils the next day. So I think they go Hank here – expecting – hoping – praying he bounces back strong.
Dave Puck Predicts: I am not predicting and end to our season. Not today. So we win 2-1
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Henrik needs to show up today. Hopefully the copter ride yesterday got the team shook out of the norm and focusing more. Or not. I just want Hank to do good for his sake.
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