Rangers Primed for Playoff Run

 

Patrick Hoffman (HV)

 

Back in late January, early February, many hockey pundits believed that the New York Rangers were destined for failure. However, the Rangers went on a 13-2-4 run that propelled them into the playoffs as the 6th seed in the very competitive Eastern Conference and a first round match-up against the Atlanta Thrashers.

 

Why the surge? Many hockey experts agree that Sean Avery was the catalyst for this hockey club, providing the team with inspired play by not being afraid to go into the corners, shoot the puck, throw the big hit or get under an opponents skin. Avery finished the season with 18 goals, 30 assists for a career high 48 points.

 

Jaromir Jagr, who also finished the season strong and ended up tallying 96 points (30 goals, 66 assists), believes that the addition of the feisty Avery is what led to the Rangers turnaround.

 

“The way I look at it, I would say it was the addition of Sean Avery,” Jagr told reporters after the Rangers playoff clinching 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens back on April 5. “We changed the lines around. We put three offensive lines together. He gives our coache a chance to shuffle the players around and still have more than one line with offense.”

 

Another key performer who helped push the Rangers into the playoffs has been the play of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. In his last 28 games of the regular season, Lundqvist posted a 16-4-6 record along with a 1.73 goals against average and a .936 save percentage. During that 28-game stretch, he allowed two goals or fewer 21 times and allowed more than three goals only once.

Night in and night out, Lundqvist gave his hockey club a chance to win hockey games and from a goaltender, that is all you can ask in this league.

 

“We’ve played a lot of games when the defense helps me,” Lundqvist told reporters after last week’s 3-1 win over the Canadiens. “Others, I’ve stepped out and helped them. That’s what it’s all about.”

 

The team also got quality regular seasons from Michael Nylander, who set career highs in goals (26), assists (57) and points (83), Brendan Shanahan (29 goals, 33 assists, 62 points in 62 games) and Martin Straka (29 goals, 41 assists, 70 points in 77 games).

However, in the playoffs, the whole team needs to contribute in order to make a run towards the Stanley Cup. The team will need to continue to get balanced scoring from all three lines, play a smart defensive game and Henrik will have to be at his best if the Rangers hope to advance to the second round.

 

For the Rangers, their playoff quest begins tomorrow night at Atlanta’s Philips Arena while the other games are as followed:

Game 2: Saturday, April 14, 3 p.m. EST in Atlanta
Game 3: Tuesday, April 17, 7 p.m. EST in New York
Game 4: Wednesday, April 18, 7 p.m. EST in New York
*Game 5: Friday, April 20, TBD in Atlanta
*Game 6: Sunday, April 22, 1 p.m. EST in New York
*Game 7: Monday, April 23, 7 p.m. EST in Atlanta

 

Photo: Henrik Lundqvist © Andris Jansons (HV)