Saturday, April 4, 2009

Peepin' Foes: Boston Bruins

Where We Are: In better shape now that Rich Peverley and the Moose helped tame the Panthers. Florida's game in hand is gone so now getting in the playoffs has less to do with how they do and everything to do with how the Rangers play. The on-again-off-again intensity is troublesome at this time of year and mental slips like those that plagued the Blueshirts against the Canes are unacceptable.

Where They Are: Oh, first place and on a five game win streak. That's all.

Who To Watch For: MSG pointed out during the Carolina game that Mark Recchi leads all active players in goals against the Rangers. Former Blueshirt Marc Savard is still stellar and David Krejci seems to be following in his footsteps to become a top notch setup man with 11 assists in his last nine games. Milan Lucic seems to have been completely healed from his injuries earlier this season and is playing some scary hockey. Zdeno Chara is always scary and Dennis Wideman may be the most underappreciated defenseman in the NHL.

What To Watch For: The Rangers have been notoriously terrible in matinee matches either from sleeping in and never getting started or taking midafternoon naps and falling apart later on. There is no possible excuse for them not to come out of the gates flying given the gravity of their situation.

What We'll (Hopefully) See: Wade Redden not on the power play. Rozy to return strong and actually shoot the puck. Colton Orr to see more than three minutes of time against the oversized Bruins. Markus Naslund to find whatever gas is left in the tank and hit the accelerator for the last four games. Chris Drury to rediscover some of the magic he had when he played for BU and earned a spot in the Beanpot Hall of Fame. Tim Thomas to show the usual big contract signing hangover.

Also Check Out: Hub Hockey, Stanley Cup of Chowder and Cornelius Hardenbergh and the Hockey Blog Adventure.

3 comments:

Duniyadnd said...

The good news is that Florida lost yesterday, giving the Rangers a little bit of breathing room. Florida had a game in hand.

Scotty Hockey said...

I said that at the top.

Duniyadnd said...

And I totally missed that - whoops