Hockey_Madness16
08-14-2011, 12:55 AM
(07) Vancouver Canucks vs. New York Rangers (10)
Brubix vs. DEFUHR
Previous Match-Up
Game # 173
New York Rangers-[1] @ [2]-Vancouver Canucks
This was a typical Rangers game that was defensive from the start to the finish. Both teams were pleased to see their snipers get goals as Daniel Sedin and Ryan Kesler potted goals for the Canucks against Marian Gaborik’s lone goal for the Rangers.
Vancouver has gotten a superb season from their second-line center, Ryan Kesler (19-10-29), who led the team in points and goals. Henrik (7-10-17) and Daniel (11-7-18) were doing what they do best and that is Henrik dishing the puck to Daniel to score goals. Both lines were clicking and the Canucks were very delighted to finally get production out of Keith Ballard (2-6-8). Christian Ehrhoff (2-13-15) led the teams’ defence and had the 5th most points overall on the team. Vancouver would like it if Mason Raymond (4-6-10) was to produce a little more than just four goals in this post-season because that would really give them a solid top-nine core of scoring forwards. Vancouver started off decent as they were 6-0-6 at the half-way mark. Following that, they just went into playoff-mode and went on a 9-0-3 run to finish the season with a 15-0-9 record.
The Rangers have been very good at keeping the puck out of their own net. Strong defensive play and the brilliant play of Henrik Lundqvist have made it simple. However, they’ve had an even tougher time scoring goals on their opponents. While the Rangers boast a strong 2.29 GAA, they also average only 2.13 goals-per-game. To put into perspective, the average GFA amongst the 16 playoff teams is 2.94. That pretty much sums up what the Rangers have to do: get on par with the average. Nobody expects them to score 3 goals a game, although that would really help them win games. The Rangers leading point-getter was Vaclav Prospal (8-4-12), followed by Marian Gaborik (7-4-11) and Ryan Callahan (6-4-10). However, it is commendable that the Rangers were not in the bottom 4 playoff seeds with those GFA and GAA figures. The Rangers were always alternating wins and losses, finishing the season with a 12-0-12 record.
In order for the Canucks to win, they are going to have to figure out how to crack the Rangers’ defence and then put a hole in Lundqvist’s wall. The Canucks have a strong offensive group followed by a rich defensive corps. Their biggest question-mark is in net: Roberto Luongo. He has a knack for choking and may let up a few questionable goals from time-to-time. However, he is the Rangers’ only hope that they can stay in this series. Rangers will have to put enough rubber on Luongo and be patient to crack his armour and force him to let up a bad goal here and there. However, they will still need to score at least 2 goals to give themselves a chance to win the game.
“Luongo vs. Lundqvist”, said Coach Johnyboy of the Hurricanes with a very blunt but true response.
“Hey, like Johny said, it’ll all come down to Luongo vs. Lundqvist”, said Coach HockeyMadness of the Wild responding to Johny’s comment.
PROJECTED PREDICTION:
RANGERS IN 3
GOOD LUCK TO BOTH TEAMS
Brubix vs. DEFUHR
Previous Match-Up
Game # 173
New York Rangers-[1] @ [2]-Vancouver Canucks
This was a typical Rangers game that was defensive from the start to the finish. Both teams were pleased to see their snipers get goals as Daniel Sedin and Ryan Kesler potted goals for the Canucks against Marian Gaborik’s lone goal for the Rangers.
Vancouver has gotten a superb season from their second-line center, Ryan Kesler (19-10-29), who led the team in points and goals. Henrik (7-10-17) and Daniel (11-7-18) were doing what they do best and that is Henrik dishing the puck to Daniel to score goals. Both lines were clicking and the Canucks were very delighted to finally get production out of Keith Ballard (2-6-8). Christian Ehrhoff (2-13-15) led the teams’ defence and had the 5th most points overall on the team. Vancouver would like it if Mason Raymond (4-6-10) was to produce a little more than just four goals in this post-season because that would really give them a solid top-nine core of scoring forwards. Vancouver started off decent as they were 6-0-6 at the half-way mark. Following that, they just went into playoff-mode and went on a 9-0-3 run to finish the season with a 15-0-9 record.
The Rangers have been very good at keeping the puck out of their own net. Strong defensive play and the brilliant play of Henrik Lundqvist have made it simple. However, they’ve had an even tougher time scoring goals on their opponents. While the Rangers boast a strong 2.29 GAA, they also average only 2.13 goals-per-game. To put into perspective, the average GFA amongst the 16 playoff teams is 2.94. That pretty much sums up what the Rangers have to do: get on par with the average. Nobody expects them to score 3 goals a game, although that would really help them win games. The Rangers leading point-getter was Vaclav Prospal (8-4-12), followed by Marian Gaborik (7-4-11) and Ryan Callahan (6-4-10). However, it is commendable that the Rangers were not in the bottom 4 playoff seeds with those GFA and GAA figures. The Rangers were always alternating wins and losses, finishing the season with a 12-0-12 record.
In order for the Canucks to win, they are going to have to figure out how to crack the Rangers’ defence and then put a hole in Lundqvist’s wall. The Canucks have a strong offensive group followed by a rich defensive corps. Their biggest question-mark is in net: Roberto Luongo. He has a knack for choking and may let up a few questionable goals from time-to-time. However, he is the Rangers’ only hope that they can stay in this series. Rangers will have to put enough rubber on Luongo and be patient to crack his armour and force him to let up a bad goal here and there. However, they will still need to score at least 2 goals to give themselves a chance to win the game.
“Luongo vs. Lundqvist”, said Coach Johnyboy of the Hurricanes with a very blunt but true response.
“Hey, like Johny said, it’ll all come down to Luongo vs. Lundqvist”, said Coach HockeyMadness of the Wild responding to Johny’s comment.
PROJECTED PREDICTION:
RANGERS IN 3
GOOD LUCK TO BOTH TEAMS