Five Keys to the Rangers vs. Ottawa Round Two Series
After an exciting six game series against the Montreal Canadiens, the New York Rangers after heading into round two against another north of the border team for the first time since 1937.
Before Thursday’s game one, there are five key elements to examine from not only the Rangers’ round one victory but their history with the Ottawa Senators.
1) The King has Returned: Henrik Lundqvist
It’s no secret that Henrik Lundqvist had a questionable regular season this year, giving up uncharacteristic goals, struggling to find his rhythm and being sidelined by injury. However, when it counted, the King was back with a vengeance.
Hank’s playoff statistics, if playoffs were to end today, would be his best in his entire career. With a 1.70 GAA and .947 save percentage, Hank was unstoppable. Compare that to last year’s first round exit with a 4.39 GAA and .867 save percentage. Lundqvist’s next best playoff numbers come from the 2011-12 post-season with a 1.82 GAA and .931 save percentage.
For those of you who say Hank’s window is closing, you better open up those eyes and take a look at the cold, hard, stats.
2) Depth Save the Blueshirts
Everyone knows the Rangers’ top-liners. Stepan, Kreider, Miller, Grabner, etc but they may as well not have shown up in round one with the depth the Rangers are rolling. It was the fourth line who came to play in games one and two when the top lines struggled to produce much of anything.
With the wake-up call from game three’s horrendous performance, the top guys seemed to smell the coffee a bit but they wouldn’t have a chance to show it if it wasn’t for the workhorses of the bottom lines. It was all about the Swedes, Lindberg and Fast. I guarantee I’m not the only one still drooling over Fast’s goals in game five from Zibanejad and backhanding it in game four. Talk about a player’s player.
3) Summer’s Trade Shocker: Brassard and Zibanejad
It was the Blueshirt’s shocking switch of the summer when they announced they were trading Derick Brassard for Mika Zibanejad. Brassard had been one of the scorers for the Rangers, especially in the post-season and his friendship with his teammates, especially Mats Zuccarello was a point of focus. However, after scoring 27 goals in his 2015-16 season right before his exit to Ottawa, the Senators got the short end of the stick as he registered only 14. While Zibanejad also scored 14 goals for the Rangers this regular season, let’s not forget he was out for several weeks with a broken leg. So there’s that.
Zibanejad is five years younger than Brassard and was an intelligent move to make for Rangers management to build some much needed youth on an aging Rangers’ squad. Zibanejad also scored the OT winner in game five to send the Rangers back to New York to punch their round two ticket.
Karlsson, a Team Sweden teammate with Hank many times over, including in this past summer’s World Cup of Hockey, was the Senators’ best player this year with 71 points. Captain Karlsson has also been nominated for the Norris Trophy for the fourth time in his career.
However, while the stats and leadership qualities don’t lie, Karlsson has been playing with hairline fractures in his heel and while he doesn’t foresee them becoming a problem. Apparently the injury initially occurred on March 28th blocking a shot but has been re-aggravated. With the top TOI in this playoffs (182:23), including 41 minutes in game five′s double OT, Karlsson certainly isn’t letting pain sway his stamina.
5) The Blueshirts are Bringing the Grit
More than your typical blueliners got involved in some scraps in round one, including baby-face Jimmy Vesey who took on Montreal Captain, Max Pacioretty in game six. The Rangers vs. Canadiens series, which was once touted to be one of solely skill turned into the most physically aggressive of all round one match ups if you paid attention.Montreal had 52 penalty minutes while the Rangers were right behind with 48.
It’s not just physical grit that emerged in the series though, it was the grit to win intellectually as well. There’s no question that grit was non-existent for the Rangers in game three and they knew it. Their ability to come back and win three-in-a-row to seal the series win proved that there’s a winners’ mentality in the Rangers locker room.
Also, I know most Blueshirt fans dislike Dan Girardi but he’s making these playoffs count. His hit on Shaw was a key piece in game six’s success and his lifer status for the Rangers is nothing short of iron man worthy.
So there you have it! With a couple days to rest before Thursday’s kick-off, will the Rangers have done enough to continue to round three or will the Senator’s rare playoff appearance motivate them to propel ahead? Only time will tell.
