The New York Rangers, float or sink?

The New York Rangers vs The Ottawa Senators
Credit to MattBrit00 on Flickr

The New York Rangers may not be the best team in the Stanley Cup playoffs this year; however, they’re a powerful team that won’t give up. Despite their rough history, The Rangers have improved and can win the Stanley Cup.

The blueshirts beat the Ottawa Senators in the playoffs with a record of 4-3 and advanced to round two. However, watching the first round of the games, it is noticeable the Rangers improved since the regular season.

In the regular season, the Rangers were usually defeated by the Senators with a large three point difference, but now in the playoffs, the Rangers manage to decrease the differences of scores to only one or two points.

It's true that The Senators have a great offense that finish in the top 35 offensive GVT ranks like Erik Karlsson (fourth), Jason Spezza (sixth), and Daniel Alfredsson (34th) , however, The Rangers have an even better defense player to match it up with defensemen Ryan McDonagh (fourth), Dan Girardi (seventh), and Michael Del Zotto (28th) in the top 30 GVT defense ranking. They also have Henrik Lundqvist, who has the third highest ranking for goaltending.

The Rangers are playing well, and they are going to start playing better. The other team better watch out, because the Rangers are coming through!

Is this the Rangers' year?

New York Rangers locker room- vipeldo / Flickr

The New York Rangers will advance to the finals in the Stanly Cup. The Rangers are playing against the Ottawa Senators and are down in the series three to two. The Rangers, who haven’t won the Stanley Cup since the '93-'94 season, must get past the Senators in order to advance to the semi-finals.

The Rangers won games one and three of the series and lost games two, four, and five. The Rangers had an impressive regular season winning 50 games and coming in first place in their division. In the games against Ottawa, the Rangers have made the games close, but didn’t make the most out of their opportunities.

Center forward Brian Boyle, who has scored in the last three games against Ottawa, will need to step up big in game seven in order to keep the Rangers' post season hopes alive. Boyle has been one of the leading scorers for the Rangers during the post season and seems to perform well against the Senators. Center forward Brad Richards, who has taken 26 shots during the post season and only has a 3.8 shooting percentage, has to be accurate with his shots in order to help the team score more goals. 

If the Rangers are able to play solid defense and work well together they will be able to win game seven against Ottawa. The Rangers need to play like the team who has one of the best records in the whole NFL in order to advance to the next stage of the playoffs.  

Bruins to move on to second round

Bruins in a March 2011 game- enjoiskate8-Flickr

The Boston Bruins, winners of the 2011 Stanley Cup Championship, may not be as lucky this year. They will defeat the Capitals and advance to the second round, though.

Goalie Tim Thomas, a Vezina Trophy winner, has played exceptionally throughout the playoffs. With 36 saves last game, a 2.18 GAA and 0.922 save percentage against Washington; Thomas has been key to the team’s success. After Game 6, Tim Thomas said to ESPN, "If you want to be the one that comes out on top in Game 7, you have to be the one who is willing to pay the price and be the one that is prepared to give everything you have from what's inside you". Surely Thomas' play will be vital to the Bruins' final game against Washington.

Other players have made outstanding plays throughout the series, like Tyler Seguin, who made the winning point in overtime in the sixth game. The team as a whole has excellent offensive ability and with an average of 3.2 points per game, the Bruins are ranked second in the league for points per game.

The Bruins have a good combination of offensive and defensive plays. Their third line, consisting of Chris Kelly, Rich Peverley and Michael Ryder, has made several important assists, goals, and defensive plays, greatly aiding the top forwards’ somewhat lacking performance. Peverley, current center for the team, is the series leaders in both goals and points, with three goals and five points.

Although the Bruins have a good chance of moving on to the quarterfinals, their performance is not enough to advance further. After a close win over the Capitals, the Bruins do not have much of a chance to defeat other, more competent teams.

San Jose Sharks: No chance at all!

The San Jose Sharks started out with a high chance of winning against the St.Louis Blues. They had the first win in the series and led 1-0. Maybe they were just lucky because in the next game the Blues tied the series at 1-1. As the series, went on any chance of winning for the Sharks perished.

In Game 3 at the Compaq Center at San Jose, the Blues won with a score of 4-3 and took the lead at 2-1. The Sharks, at this point in the series, still had a likely chance to catch up with the Blues and win. A few days later, they lost another home game to the Blues.

A loss is a loss, but the most humiliating thing for any team in sports is to lose when they are playing home. This was humiliating for the Sharks because out of the five games they played with the Blues, two were home games and they had lost in both.

At this point in the series the Blues were leading at 3-1 and they only needed one more win to move to the next round. The Sharks just simply had no chance. The Blues went to take the win at the last game in the Scottrade stadium.

The Sharks were dominated and slaughtered by the Blues and lost the series at 4-1. A few reasons why they lost is the poor offense and lack of teamwork. They had a good defense over the St.Louis Blues and did not allow them to score that many points, but they lacked offense and were not able to penetrate the Blues defense and score points. The main reason why the Sharks lost was because they traded Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi in separate off-season deals to Minnesota. Too bad for the Sharks, but there's always next year.

Philadelphia Flyers is on their way to winning the Stanley Cup

Philadelphia Flyers - Rhys Asplundh - flickr.com

The Philadelphia Flyers concluded their first round series by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Six of their series on Sunday, April 22. The Flyers have a high chance of winning the Stanley Cup this year. 

In the series, the Flyers scored a remarkable 30 goals. In two different games the Flyers scored eight goals. Claude Giroux had six goals and Danny Briere had five goals. All of the players contributed to the game, leading to the series victory.

Even though the defense for the Flyers was not as strong because Chris Pronger and Andrej Meszaros were injured and Nicklas Grossmann was eventually knocked out with a concussion, they managed to succeed. During Game Six the defense blocked many of the Penguins' shots.

The Flyers set an amazing record by scoring 12 power play goals in this series. They had an outstanding average of two goals per game. The Flyers converted 50 percent of their power play chances, which is the most out of any other playoff teams. They also added three shorthanded goals.

Even though the games after this series are going to be tough because Grossmann is injured,  the Flyers can get through this and work hard to win the Stanley Cup this year.  

Predators preying for first Stanley Cup in franchise history

Predators' goalie Pekka Rinne- flickr.com- Photo Taken by Robert Claypool

All around the United States, and Canada, people are tuning in to the hockey games this season. The popularity of hockey has risen, with the thrilling game series and underdogs winning at this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs. “The game has never been more popular, nor seemed so out of control,” Jim Litke of the Associated Press said in a recent column on MSN.com.

After crushing the Detroit Red Wings 4-1, the Nashville Predators seems like a legitimate contender to winning the NHL championship. Pekka Rinne, the goalie of the Predators, is undoubtedly playing his best game during the most important time of the season. During the first round, the goalie had stopped 35 or more shots from the Red Wings. Also stepping his game up is rookie Gabriel Bourque who scored three of the 13 goals scored by the team during the whole round. With these young talents, the Predators has an advantage of less chance of their players being fatigued.

For most of the round, the Red Wings had most of the possession of the puck, but the Predators came to win the series 4-1. The Predators take their opportunities and use them wisely. The Predators are also first in the whole league in power play percentage. Their next opponent is the Phoenix Coyotes. During their last meet, Predators beat the Coyotes 5-4. The Predators also have six more wins during the season compared to the Coyotes, outscoring them 13-9. The Predators should come in the series confident that they can win the the second round.

After beating the Coyotes, the Predators are likely to play the St. Louis Blues in the Conference Finals. The Predators managed to win Game three against the Red Wings with only 17 shots, and that's just spectacular. Although their Finals opponent seems unclear at the moment, the Predators seem to be on top of everything.It is likely that the Predators will win the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Although they have some disadvantages as a team such as lack of experience, it seems as they're ready to win a championship for the first time in franchise history. "Nashville's depth, balance and basic lack of weaknesses makes them my pick to win this year's Stanley Cup," said Timothy Rapp in a Bleacherreport.com article.

Boston Bruins, winner of the second Stanley Cup in a row

Thomas (left) and Seidenberg (right) - clydeorama - Flickr

Without a doubt, the Boston Bruins will win the 2012 Stanley Cup, becoming the first team after the Detroit Red Wings in 1998 to win two Stanley Cups in a row. With the veteran goalie Tim Thomas and defenseman Zdeno Chara, opposing teams will have difficulty scoring. While their defense is exceptional, their offense will have to improve on finishing their chances, if the Bruins are to win.

The Bruins goalie Thomas was a big factor in the Bruins win of the Stanley Cup last year, and likewise he will be this year. Paired with Chara, it will be tough for opposing teams to score. But we shouldn’t forgot other defenseman Dennis Seidenberg who will also be a big factor. "Zdeno is as good as you'll get as a defenseman, but when it comes to playoff time, Seids isn't that far behind him, if at all," Bruins coach Claude Julien said to ESPN.com.

The offense had great difficulty scoring in the fourth game against the Washington Capitals. With an impressive 45-21 shot advantage over the Capitals, only one of the 45 shots went in, while the Capitals scored two goals out of their 21 shots. "We had so many chances, we just didn't bury them, I think that's the story of today's game. Like I said, we could've had five goals on our line, but we didn't. That's how it is," said David Krejci to Chicagotribune.com.

Center Tyler Seguin had some good opportunities to score in game five against the Capitals, but had difficulty finishing them. But then he turned that around in game six. The game was tied after the third period, but just 3:17 in OT he burst forward, received a pass from Milan Lucic and won the game. He and the others in offense have to keep on doing that. "We need to see a young player like that gain some confidence if we're going to become a better team down the stretch," Julien said to ESPN.com.

This year the Bruins will have a tough time, on account that all teams are after them, considering they won last year. The difference is, this year they have the experience of winning the Cup. "The confidence you get from having won will be important. You can never underestimate the value of the experience. ... Having said all that, it's real tough to repeat so it's going to be a challenge," Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said to Huffingtonpost.com.

The Flyers are on their way to the Stanley Cup

Photo of the Flyers celebrating taken from Flickr.com by ambellephoto

The Philadelphia Flyers are on the road to the Stanley Cup, and seem to have a huge possibility of winning it. Although the postseason has just begun, from their outstanding performance, it is likely for the Flyers to make it to the finals. In their series, the Flyers won four to two against the Pittsburgh Penguins allowing them to qualify into the semi-finals.

On April 18, the Flyers encountered the Penguins again, and this time the Penguins brought their A-game. The Penguins delivered great shame to the Flyers after destroying them by scoring ten and allowing the Flyers to score only three. The Flyers had terrible goal tending during this game. Ilya Bryzgalov, allowed four goals out of the 15 shots the Penguins took and the other goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky, allowed five goals on 18 shots. It was obvious that the Flyers were not having the best defensive day.  

The Flyers, who have advanced to the semi-finals, played a marvelous game against the Penguins on Sunday, April 22. The Flyers won this game giving them the opportunity to advance to the semi-finals.They won the game against the Penguins gracefully with a score of five to one. The Flyers dominated the Penguins throughout all periods and left them embarrassed in Philadelphia. The match ended with Brayden Schenn, number ten, scoring for the Flyers. The Flyers showed the fans that they were not going to give up without a fight.  

The Flyers have an amazing lineup. Every line consists of someone who scored 19 or more goals this season. By having a great offensive team they were able to win three consecutive games in their series. The Flyers ability to draw penalties has also assisted them because the Flyers are known for scoring the most power plays in the season. Even though the Flyers have strengths, they also have weaknesses such as their amount of injuries and issues with goal-tending. The injuries of the Flyers have contributed to their losses. Star players such as Chris Pronger and Andrej Meszaros have been injured, but still the Flyers were able to manage. Their issue with goaltending has also contributed to their losses. Bryzgalov, the goalie of the Flyers, had one of the craziest seasons amongst the other players because of his errors. At times it seemed that Bryzgalov was going to lose his position, but he still was able to become one of the top players.

The Flyers are bound to go to the finals and they are definitely going to put up a great fight against their soon to be known competitor. Philadelphia along with many others will be cheering for the Flyers at the Stanley Cup. 

Philly's Flyers soaring to the top

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Danny Briere #48- flickr.com- Rhys Asplundh

With a fantastic win over their cross town rivals the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Philadelphia Flyers are moving quickly to the Stanley Cup finals. The Flyers won the series 4-2. After winning three straight, they lost two and won their last game to move on to the Conference Semi-finals. Their key players have been playing well and their postseason success looks bright.

The Penguins led the season in most points scored and are widely known for their fantastic goal scoring and offensive prowess; they entered the playoffs at a record of 51-25-6. Sidney Crosby, a Penguin center, led the league in assists and is fifth in goals scored. The Flyers are known to have goal tending difficulties which was their downfall after three games. They finished the season at 47-26-9.

The Penguins got out to a great start in game one with a score of 2-0 at the end of the first period. The Flyers came out blazing on the ice and scored three goals to tie it up and send the game to overtime. During overtime, the Flyers scored a goal and won the game 4-3. In game two, the Penguins once again came out the locker rooms to gain an early advantage. At the end of the first period, the Penguins were up 3-1, but by the end of the second, the Flyers tied up the game at four. The third period is where the Flyers rallied and dominated the game. They scored four goals in the third period while the Penguins only scored one. The final score was 8-5 and the Flyers won their second game where the Penguins scored the first goals. At the end of the first two games, the Flyers scored 20 goals, more than enough to cancel out the 12 goals that goalie Ilya Bryzgalov gave up.

Game three was a game of penalties because there was 38 penalties that added up to 158 penalty minutes. Jordan Staal scored almost four minutes into the first period but the Flyers responded and had a 4-2 lead after the first period and a 6-4 advantage after the second. it took Claude Giroux all of 27 seconds to score and give the Flyers a 7-4 lead. Giroux's goal gave him a Gordie Howe hat trick in Game 3 after he had six points in Game 2. Maxime Talbot scored the final goal in the game and the Flyers went on to lead the series 3-0.

Games four and five were both similar in the fact that the Flyers defense did not show up. The defense wasn't there and the high scoring Penguins took advantage of the goalies. In game four, the Penguins outscored the Flyers 10-3, and game five they did it 3-2. The series was tied up 3-2 and the Penguins had a chance to make an upset victory, but the Flyers held out and won the game 5-1 and the series 4-2.

The Flyers are one of three teams to make it to the semifinals so far. They took down the giant Penguins and are on a roll going into the next round. The Flyers were doubted because of their bipolar goal tending abilities. Although they lack defense, they have a lot of offensive weapons that could step up, especially Giroux. "When the best player in the world comes up to you and says, 'I don't know who you plan on starting tonight, but I want that first shift,'" Peter Laviolette, head coach of the Flyers, said, "that says everything you need to know about Claude Giroux." As long as the Flyers can stay away from a lot of penalties, they can make it to the Stanley Cup finals and win the coveted trophy.

In do or die Game six, Rangers show fight, send series to Game seven

The New York Rangers logo - Vipeldo / Flcik

The Rangers had an impressive 51-24 record this season with a lot of help from right wing Marian Gaborik and center Brad Richards. Gaborik and Richards have had a combined 142 points this year with Gaborik being the team’s top goal scorer and Richards having the most team assists. The two have been a huge threat to other teams. The Rangers overall however, are priding themselves on defense. They are 3rd in the league in goals against. 

The New York Rangers over the past few years have been a disappointment in the playoffs. Last year, they were eliminated in the first round by the Washington Capitals and in 2009 they were eliminated by the Capitals in round one as well, where they blew a three games to one lead. However this year may very well be different. With the Rangers claiming the top seed in the Eastern Conference, they are a favorite to go deep into the playoffs.

However, the Rangers are not blowing away their first round
opponent, the Ottawa Senators. With the series tied at three, the Rangers look to stay alive in the tournament and win the series on Thursday night in Madison Square Garden. This series could have been an entirely different story for the Rangers. They blew a 2-0 lead in Game 4 and have lost both times they faced the Senators in overtime.

The Rangers should be able to win this final game and advance to the second round. They have been the better team throughout the year and although Ottawa has made things interesting, they won't get past the Rangers.

How far will the Boston Bruins go?

As the teams are competing to win the Stanley Cup, NHL fans are in anticipation for who will win the trophy. Based on how they are currently playing, the Boston Bruins will be crowned the champion. Their biggest obstacle right now is Brandon Holtby, the goalie of the Washington Capitals.

Holtby is playing well against the Bruins and on Thursday in the Bruins' loss he made 44 saves and only gave up one shot. However, on Saturday they overcame their difficulties and Tyler Seguin scored the game winner in overtime. They won in overtime with a shot that has low odds of happening again, so they need to have a more aggressive offense. They shouldn't be tripping or hooking their opponents but, keeping the game intensity will put a lot of pressure on Holtby.

With the series tied at 3-3 their next game will have a lot of pressure but, the Bruins have home field advantage they will be playing at TD Garden. If they can encourage themselves and play strong defensively like they did last Saturday, they can surpass the Capitals and move farther into the Stanley Cup.