And it's game day (again)! The Bruins (13-6-1) are going up against the New York Rangers (10-10-0) at Madison Square Garden tonight hoping to extend their win streak to two.
After a pretty pathetic playoff showing by the Rangers last season and a brand new head coach, the Rangers have shown slight improvements. For one, they've finally managed to nail down how to properly do a line change. Not to mention their power play has taken huge steps to one day becoming an actual threat in this league. There's some sense of cohesion with this team now which was lacking in the playoffs, so one would think this would bode well for the Rangers.
After a pretty pathetic playoff showing by the Rangers last season and a brand new head coach, the Rangers have shown slight improvements. For one, they've finally managed to nail down how to properly do a line change. Not to mention their power play has taken huge steps to one day becoming an actual threat in this league. There's some sense of cohesion with this team now which was lacking in the playoffs, so one would think this would bode well for the Rangers.
WRONG. The Rangers, despite these minor improvements, have looked mediocre at best. The Rangers are coming into this game with a -8 scoring differential with about 2.5 goals scored against them a game. This could be a for a number of reasons but the biggest one I'm seeing is King Henrick Lundqvist himself.
You have to give it Lundy, he is by far one of the best goalies in the league. He was nominated for the Vezina in each of his first three seasons and ended up winning it in 2012. He's the only goalie in NHL history to record 30 wins in his first 6 seasons. I mean for crying out loud he's a two time Olympic gold medalist! It's obvious how great he is.
Or used to be. Because this season he has been almost unrecognizable. Lundy has a 2.41 GAA and a .919 SV%, letting up 33 of the 50 goals against the Rangers. His record while in net is 6-8-0, which is not something you'd expect out of a Vezina trophy winning Olympic gold medalist. But alas, here we are and Lundy isn't looking too good. And it doesn't look like he's getting much help defensively either.
You have to give it Lundy, he is by far one of the best goalies in the league. He was nominated for the Vezina in each of his first three seasons and ended up winning it in 2012. He's the only goalie in NHL history to record 30 wins in his first 6 seasons. I mean for crying out loud he's a two time Olympic gold medalist! It's obvious how great he is.
Or used to be. Because this season he has been almost unrecognizable. Lundy has a 2.41 GAA and a .919 SV%, letting up 33 of the 50 goals against the Rangers. His record while in net is 6-8-0, which is not something you'd expect out of a Vezina trophy winning Olympic gold medalist. But alas, here we are and Lundy isn't looking too good. And it doesn't look like he's getting much help defensively either.
If the Rangers are smart, they'll put in Talbot, who's 4-1 with a .943 SV% and a 1.58 GAA, which trumps Lundqvist right now. And you're going to need those numbers up against the Bruins offense right now. Not to mention after the playoffs last year its still a mystery how Lundqvist will respond to playing the team that made people question his title as "King." Or seeing Torey Krug, who basically had his way with Lundqvist in the playoffs. In reality, the only thing holding this team up is their offense and even they are struggling a little bit.
So this game definitely won't be as easy as the game against the Panthers was but we are definitely capable of winning this with little issue. Our offense, as mentioned this morning, is on fire. We have a 2.85 goals for average and players like Loui Erikkson are dominating in the offensive zone. And we don't even have to talk about Tuukka because god knows he is fully capable of handling a mediocre Rangers team. The only thing that may be an issue for us is our tendency not to do as well as we usually do in the second consecutive game on the road. But if the Bruins stay focused, this shouldn't be a problem.
So this game definitely won't be as easy as the game against the Panthers was but we are definitely capable of winning this with little issue. Our offense, as mentioned this morning, is on fire. We have a 2.85 goals for average and players like Loui Erikkson are dominating in the offensive zone. And we don't even have to talk about Tuukka because god knows he is fully capable of handling a mediocre Rangers team. The only thing that may be an issue for us is our tendency not to do as well as we usually do in the second consecutive game on the road. But if the Bruins stay focused, this shouldn't be a problem.
Here are my players to watch for tonight:
- Milan Lucic: Once again, the dude's a train and has continued his revenge upon all those doubters with last night's empty netter. Looch has had his fair share of issues with the Rangers and this could propel him to play hard and score those goals.
- Loui Erikkson: Everyone said we shouldn't have traded Seguin. HA. Loui is on a six game point streak and has 4 goals and 6 assists so far. One of these goals came last night in the first period. He's getting good looks and making good plays. If he keeps this up, he's going to have a big game tonight.
- Brad Marchand: Despite being in the middle of an identity crisis, Marchy has been driving to the net and firing pucks pretty consistently. You can tell he's dying for a goal and it's only a matter of time before he gets one with the amount of pressure he's putting on these goalies. And with a goalie who probably hasn't gotten over the trauma that was the playoffs last year, it's possible tonight could be the night.
My Score Prediction: 3-2 Bruins Win
And on a final note, congratulations to Saint Patrice on his 600th NHL game tonight!
Until the end of the game,
Keep Calm and Bergeron!
Keep Calm and Bergeron!