Spanked in game one, blistered in game two, the New York Rangers once again need some MSG TLC to make the out of town boo-boos feel better.
The Boston Bruins put a 2-0 choke hold on the Eastern Conference semifinals with a decisive 5-2 win over the NY Rangers in game 2. The Bruins were able to exploit multiple defensive breakdowns by the Rangers and light up Lundqvist for five goals in 60 minutes. The King had not been lit up like that since a guy named Gomez pranced on Broadway. It was also the first time the royal guardian has let in three or more goals this postseason.
The walls they came a tumbling down as defensive stalwart, Dan Girardi, made a number of major mistakes that let Boston assassins pick off the King. Girardi was on the ice for all five Boston goals, but did not earn the perfect -5, because he got an assist on Nash's goal.
Girardi's first misfortune was letting Krug use him on a screened double five-hole shot, for Boston's initial tally. Dano's killer misdeed was allowing a sneaky backdoor tap-in by Marchand from Bergeron early in the third period for Boston's fourth. It was a sick replay of the game one OT winner by the same pair and it was a back breaker, which put the B's up 2. It also earned Girardi a four minute benching for conduct unbecoming a rock.
However, Dan was not finished, for an encore Lucic scored Boston's 5th goal, which was punctuated by a sprawling, flailing Girardi. The matinee massacre then mercifully concluded after a wee bit of fight'n between Dorsett and Campbell.
Oh, Danny boy the pipes, the pipes are calling (out for some protection)...*Did Dan Girardi just have a bad game, which happens, or are other forces at work? Did the splitting of the twin rocks Girardi and McDonagh wreck their karma? Here the fickle finger of fate points at Tortorella for his flagrant overplaying of Girardi and McDonagh during the season. That shortsighted strategy now looks like it has predictably wrecked Girardi. A four minute benching times 60 or 70 would have been better during the season.
And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me
And all my grave will warm and sweeter be
And then you'll kneel and whisper that you love me
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me.
*Del Zotto was only on the ice for Boston's last 4 goals, and was a net -3.
*Things are always upside down in a Tortorellian World when Boston's rookie defensemen are jumping out on the rush, scoring, and contributing, while our own defensive rocks have gone in the tank.
*New York's power play is "putrid, stinky, malodorous" say the NBC pundits, and they are being kind. The Rangers man-advantaged offense, it's no longer a power play, has become a national joke. But, John Tortorella has no shame. If he doesn't take ownership of the problem, who will? 0-for-4 Sunday, 2-for-35 in the playoffs, and getting worse.
*Can a reporter now please ask Torts why *his* power play stinks?
*Boston's hobbit, Brad Marchand (5'9", 183lbs, age 25), is playing bigger than his New York counterpart, Mats Zuccarello (5'7", 175lbs, age 25). If Zuccarello is ever going to get in a scrap here is the guy, hobbit on hobbit.
*The only other goal worth mentioning is Callahan's unassisted gem, off a steal and break away that made Rask look very vulnerable. If only the Rangers had been able to follow that one up, Rask might have cracked.
*Still trying to understand why Nash didn't go hard to the net late in the 2nd period, like he did earlier in that period for his first playoff goal. Instead he settled for a poor shot. At least he got in a good slash during a Boston goal.
*Despite all the sound and fury Boyle, Dorsett, and Pyatt are getting outplayed by Boston's 3-4 lines.
*Who is more useful Brad Richards or an ancient Jaromir Jagr? The museum piece still surprises.
*h/t Jeanine for pointing this good one out:
Kevin Weeks / NHL.com: Playing safe could end up costing Rangers
| G | Per | Time | Str | Team | Goal Scorer | Assist | Assist |
| 1 | 1 | 05:28 | EV | BOS | Krug(2) | Horton(5) | Krejci(10) |
| 2 | 1 | 08:01 | EV | NYR | Callahan(2) | unassisted | |
| 3 | 2 | 02:24 | EV | BOS | Campbell(1) | Krug(1) | McQuaid(1) |
| 4 | 2 | 03:20 | EV | NYR | Nash(1) | Zuccarello(5) | Girardi(2) |
| 5 | 2 | 12:08 | EV | BOS | Boychuk(3) | Marchand(5) | Bergeron(3) |
| 6 | 3 | 00:26 | EV | BOS | Marchand(2) | Bergeron(4) | Bartkowski(1) |
| 7 | 3 | 12:39 | EV | BOS | Lucic(3) | Krejci(1) | Hamilton(2) |
This is the only team I've ever seen that uses the flop to the ice as a system, rather than a desparation play. Teams like Boston know this, and are exploiting it - This, as well as the power play issues stem from lack of basics:
1. tape to tape passes- how many times do you see failed passes from player to player? puck behind, too far in front, or in the skates, which leads to the end of any decent rush, or more glaring failure to generate anything on a power-play?
2. Break out- issues starting with inability to hit a simple pass, then become a desparation play- how many times have we seen the Rangers standing alone in their own end, only to cough up the puck with an ill-advised pass to the far boards, or a no look shovel pass that gets easily knocked down by the covering defense because one or more of our wingers is flat out on the ice and in no position to be where they need to be- on the boards to recieve a breakout pass forcing the Boston D to back up from 10 feet inside the blue line?
3. un-organized rush: they spend so much time collapsing and dropping to their stomachs to block shots, when the get the puck there is no organization or interest in following up a rush with a shot- instead they try an ill-advised behind the back pass to someone who is either draped with a defender, or try to weave a puck through 3 B's accross the middle of the ice which is inevitably intercepted and turned back up the ice for an odd man rush. Lack of foresight and movement in the offensive zone, coupled with a general dis-interest in shooting the puck leads to a heavy burdon on the D to back up before any offense is generated. the B's just have to stand around and wait for the puck carrier to try to force a pass, and have no worries about anyone crashing the net.
Awful play, just brought glaringly to light by an opponent who has obviously watched a lot of tape on how this team operates, and a coach that refuses to coach anything resembling an offensive game.
As NBC aired the quote of the disagreeable one where he said Hagelin "stinks" on the PP my friends 9 year old son, Ryan, yelled out "No Hagelin doesn't stink, YOU STINK" -as they say, out of the mouths of babes! I said "you tell him Ryan!" It was the highlight of the game for me. The Rangers can talk all about the 2nd period and how that's the way they want to play but all I hear now is the teacher in Peanuts asking "blah-blah blah-blah-blah?" Torts our master of "blah-blah blah-blah-blah" said he thought the Rangers played much better in game 2 than game 1 and he's encouraged. He thinks "we're going to be okay here." -I guess he's satisfied with the one period effort as is Ryan Callahan- but I say hey guess what guys, hockey games are still 3 periods and even if we only played the 2nd period- WE STILL WOULD HAVE LOST! Yes we outshot them 16-9, it didn't feel like it but we did, and even so- the B's still managed to outscore us 2-1 so we lose the period. I know its a foreign concept for ya coach but the object of the game is to outscore your opponent.
That was one of the worst playoff games I can remember because it was depressing. It was so sad to see poor Girardi make so many mistakes as he is so overworked and it was bound to happen. It was so sad to see our overworked King suffer on the same night and he still didn't play a bad game. But 5 goals against? I know that hurts him. Poor Henrik. Down 2-0 in a second consecutive series, underachieving as usual, a disgrace of a PP the coach will never take responsibility for so it is doomed. Hagelin is his new scape goat for that one. I lost count of how many times during the season Jeanine and I talked about how dumb it was that Hagelin was not used on the PP or in the shootout when he was the hottest player on the team. He hardly uses him in that situation and now he's going to fault Hags for not scoring? Its tough to score from the bench. I have said over and over that this coach does not inspire confidence and putting players down in public is one of the reasons I say so. He does this a lot. Considering most people are on their best behavior in public, it makes me cringe to think about what he must say behind closed doors. Hags said today that his only comment regarding the PP is "I don't stink" -glad he said that. I give these guys a lot of credit because when Tortorella said he asked Hagelin why he stinks on the power play he said Hagelin didn't have much to say in response. I would have looked him in the eye and said "we all stink on the PP because our coach doesn't know what the f*ck he's doing." Yeah, I would have gotten Avery'd for sure! All kidding aside, this guy is a total disgrace. It astounds me that people make excuses for him. It astounds me how the players change but our results stay the same and yet people still defend him and insist coaching isn't our problem. It astounds me how arrogant and ignorant this guy is and people think he's funny. He's not funny. He's insane and he's poisoning our team. That Kevin Weeks article Jeanine found and JB put up the link up to is the perfect analogy of the Rangers and why they fail. It really underscores what I've been saying- the Rangers have the personnel to take steps toward winning but they underachieve. I couldn't have written it better myself!
So now we must make history- again. No team in NHL history has come back from a 2-0 series deficit in back-to-back series. This makes winning game 7 on the road look easy. Sigh.
What she said ;-)
Tortorella is a true professional at throwing people under the bus. I am so looking forward to the day someone throws his pompous butt under one.
The hole is deep and all the Rangers can do is play it shift-by-shift, period-by-period, game-by-game, and hope to dig themselves out. Hopeful, but not optimistic.