As reader Luke put it so aptly: "you can't win, if you can't score." The Rangers can't score. Marian Gaborik got 23:18 of ice time. Played with Christensen and Prospal and then with Anisimov and Avery and got all of 4 shots on goal, none of high quality. Meanwhile Avery got all of 10:22, begrudgingly by coach disagreeable, and got 3 shots on goal. Maybe the wrong guy is getting all the ice time? Dubinsky got 21:05 of ice time and got all of 2 shots on goal. So maybe the coach is not only disagreeable, he may be stupid.
The Caps have stolen a page from the Rangers by clamping down on defense. They blocked 21 shots to the Rangers 15 and were outhit by the Rangers 28-35. The Rangers out shot the Caps 22-18, but the Caps basically kept the Rangers away from young goalie Michal Neuvirth, who is looking like the second coming of Ken Dryden.
So it's back to the Garden for game three. Looking at it logical the Rangers can get back in it if they hold serve at MSG. After all that is all the Caps have done in winning the two home games. Unfortunately the Rangers are not that good at home and they can't score goals.
Maybe another tinker is in order. How about coach disagreeable swallowing his pride and brain and coming up with a line of Dubinsky centering Gaborik and Avery? Gaborik has had some of his biggest games with Avery on his other wing. Got nothing to lose coach, let's try it. Who knows. We may even score a goal and maybe win a game.
ICINGS:
The view from the other side is very upbeat.
On Frozen Blog:
A Bad Matchup Indeed — for New York --
This Rangers club was supposed to be a bad matchup for these Capitals. Big up front, rascally around the net, opportunistic offensively, a good defensive club backstopped by a premiere netminder. Turns out, the Capitals are a very bad matchup for New York. Through two games in this opening round series it’s the Capitals playing suffocating defense, getting elite goaltending, rolling difficult-to-match-up-with lines, and playing smart, disciplined hockey. The Capitals in fact are playing the Rangers’ game, and for added measure, attack with elite skill and difference-making depth.
This Rangers club doesn’t possess the skill level up front to threaten the Caps...
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