Pre-Game Talk: Stanley Cup Final: New York Rangers vs. Los Angeles Kings

[Inferno]

I don't think anyone is really bothered by the Kings fans (and many neutral fans) calling the series for LA, it's just all the "It's going to be a cakewalk" or "Should be a blowout" **** from some people that rubs the wrong way. Nothing to get bent out of shape about, hopefully our guys can make them look stupid.

exactly how i look at it.

its what the Habs said after they beat the brooins. its what the pens said after it took us 7 to beat the flyers.

always overlooked. ZERO credit from the media.

could the kings sweep us?

absolutely

could we sweep the kings?

ABSOLUTELY

It's way too tough to call this series imho.

Ive got Rangers in 6 OR Kings in 7 as the 2 likeliest outcomes.

 

[BarbaraAlphanse]

Let's get this series underway. I think people who haven't watched the Rangers are going to be blown away by how fast the team is and how good at puck possession they are.

Klein has gotten better and better each series. I'm hoping he continues this trend. Staal seems to have hit a bit of an energy rut last game. 5 days rest should do him wonders. Girardi and McDonagh need to play the same way they did throughout 5/6 of the Habs series (game 5 excluded).

Kopitar didn't have 1 goal in the Blackhawks series. Everyone is tooting his horn. He seems to have relative success against the Rangers but that seems to me to be because they focus on other players. I wouldn't be surprised if they focused on containing Doughty and Carter rather than Gaborik and Kopitar. Kopitar seems to be in a scoring slump, Gaborik due to slump from this ridiculous goal pace.

Again, 21 games for any team is a death sentence. Rangers have played 20, while consistently making sure to evenly distribute playing time, and have 5.5 days of rest before the game. Nash missed about a month of time with a concussion, Zucc missed about a month of time with the broken hand, Kreider missed more than a month with a hand injury. McDonagh missed 2-3 weeks heading into the playoffs due to injury. Hagelin missed 2-3 weeks to begin the season with the shoulder injury. Henrik played in the least amount of minutes he has in a regular season since his rookie season. Brassard missed some time with that shoulder injury in the last round.

There's not as much hockey in our player's this season as there is for the Kings, let alone just the playoffs. Our players will have fresher legs, and that effect will not be overblown. The Kings have had to give it their all in 7 elimination games this season. 7... We've had 4. The Kings have played 3 single over time games played this post season and one double OT game. The Rangers have played in 3, all of them ending within the first 6 minutes.

We all saw the effects on the Rangers when they had to play a lot of games in a crammed schedule. They lost 3/4. What's even more telling is that we lost 3/4 playing 4 lines and inserting about 4 different scratches for 1/3 of the playoffs at the time. The Kings are basically playing 10 forwards.

21 games will be a death sentence for that team. Their 4th line is not as prominent as ours. They don't play more than 6 minutes when the games get tough. Their defense is not going to be able to keep up with us. The Habs played 1 game where they gave us a full effort. 1. That was game 5. The next game they couldn't catch their breath. I think that by mid-series, the Kings will really begin to taper off.

 

[Si Hopkins]

Late with this, but congrats on coming out of the East guys. Really been loving the way you guys took out Philly, Pitt and MTL - three of the hardest teams to love on Earth. SO GOOD. Fun to watch, respect your style and can't help but love the story lines with MSL and Moore. I've never been able to root for an NYC team, but I've snuck on your bandwagon. The Kings have a talent for making things hard on themselves and you guys seem to have a talent for beating people when it counts. Best of luck!

 

[Blue777]

McDonagh > Quick. Rangers in 4 AINEC.

 

[Cake or Death]

McDonagh > Quick. Rangers in 4 AINEC.

That's always been the book on Quick... shoot low blocker side from 190 feet away

 

[aufheben]

May be the defining series of Henrik's career.

 

[RangerLifer]

Staal was not very good at all against Montreal. It's a shame because he was so damn good the first 2 series.

The key to this series is how the Rangers defense will break down the forecheck of LA. I mentioned this last week, the Rangers were so efficient at getting the puck out and not letting the opposition cycle and get going.

Game 6 was a clinic not only in preventing a forecheck but even preventing entry into the zone. Now is that going to happen against a team such as LA, probably not, ok definitely not. Kopitar and Carter are much better possessing the puck than anyone on Montreal. However, if the Rangers can get a counter attack going before LA starts their cycle, the Rangers speed will really create problems for LA.

Which leads me to saying the Rangers need to convert their chances at a much higher, more efficient rate. They have a way of making all goalies look otherworldly for long stretches, no matter how pedestrian the keeper is.

I am sorry, lets call a spade a spade, Quick has not been far north of mediocre these playoffs and the Rangers need to make their opportunities count.

Staal was the one who coughed up the puck in our D zone to Mtl that led to Hank's Hasek-like save. Girardi had to make a great play to help there as well. He can't do things like that vs LA or we'll be in a lot of trouble.

 

[Fitzy]

May be the defining series of Henrik's career.

You never know if we'll be back the next 7 years.

No pressure, eh?

 

[Ladyfan]

I knew you would beat the Habs.

Best of luck in the SCF !!! It won't be easy as LA is a good team but so are the Rangers.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

LA
Forwards
Avg Height 6' 1.5"
Avg Weight 206.7 lbs

Defense
Avg Height 6' 1.8"
Avg Weight 212.3 lbs

NYR
Forwards
Avg Height 6' 0.6"
Avg Weight 200.3 lbs

Defense
Avg Height 6' 1.5"
Avg Weight 202.3 lbs

Kings also have more Canadian players on the team. No way we can win

 

[chosen]

Let's get this series underway. I think people who haven't watched the Rangers are going to be blown away by how fast the team is and how good at puck possession they are.

Klein has gotten better and better each series. I'm hoping he continues this trend. Staal seems to have hit a bit of an energy rut last game. 5 days rest should do him wonders. Girardi and McDonagh need to play the same way they did throughout 5/6 of the Habs series (game 5 excluded).

Kopitar didn't have 1 goal in the Blackhawks series. Everyone is tooting his horn. He seems to have relative success against the Rangers but that seems to me to be because they focus on other players. I wouldn't be surprised if they focused on containing Doughty and Carter rather than Gaborik and Kopitar. Kopitar seems to be in a scoring slump, Gaborik due to slump from this ridiculous goal pace.

Again, 21 games for any team is a death sentence. Rangers have played 20, while consistently making sure to evenly distribute playing time, and have 5.5 days of rest before the game. Nash missed about a month of time with a concussion, Zucc missed about a month of time with the broken hand, Kreider missed more than a month with a hand injury. McDonagh missed 2-3 weeks heading into the playoffs due to injury. Hagelin missed 2-3 weeks to begin the season with the shoulder injury. Henrik played in the least amount of minutes he has in a regular season since his rookie season. Brassard missed some time with that shoulder injury in the last round.

There's not as much hockey in our player's this season as there is for the Kings, let alone just the playoffs. Our players will have fresher legs, and that effect will not be overblown. The Kings have had to give it their all in 7 elimination games this season. 7... We've had 4. The Kings have played 3 single over time games played this post season and one double OT game. The Rangers have played in 3, all of them ending within the first 6 minutes.

We all saw the effects on the Rangers when they had to play a lot of games in a crammed schedule. They lost 3/4. What's even more telling is that we lost 3/4 playing 4 lines and inserting about 4 different scratches for 1/3 of the playoffs at the time. The Kings are basically playing 10 forwards.

21 games will be a death sentence for that team. Their 4th line is not as prominent as ours. They don't play more than 6 minutes when the games get tough. Their defense is not going to be able to keep up with us. The Habs played 1 game where they gave us a full effort. 1. That was game 5. The next game they couldn't catch their breath. I think that by mid-series, the Kings will really begin to taper off.

Kopitar leading the playoffs in scoring is a scoring slump. I hope some Rangers start slumping.

 

[BarbaraAlphanse]

Kopitar leading the playoffs in scoring is a scoring slump. I hope some Rangers start slumping.

He has not scored a goal in 7 games. How many of those 19 assists can be attributed to Gaborik?

 

[Callafan24]

He has not scored a goal in 7 games. How many of those 19 assists can be attributed to Gaborik?

How many of those 12 goals can be attributed to Kopitar?

Respect our upcoming opponent. This will likely be the toughest series of the playoffs for the Rangers.

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

I heard a few telling points last night after the game:

Carter said they he thought they didn't play their best hockey in the Chicago series.
That could be a good sign (or a bad sign considering they are in the finals and still haven't played their best)

Brown said that it was the most emotional series he's ever played in. He actually said it three times. That could count for something. In such a hard fought series, its almost like you have to spend it all as a team to make the next one. I felt the Rangers went through that a little with the Flyers series and paid for it with not being as sharp against Pitt.

I dont think the Rangers/Habs series was that emotional. Knocking Price out, winning the first two on the road. I felt the Rangers knew they were the better team the whole time, they just had to execute. Sure no series is easy but theirs was almost a cake walk emotionally compared to what may have been one of the top 5 conference finals of all time with the Kings and Hawks. That could amount to something.

 

[HFsNumber1Heel]

I haven't posted much here in the last few months. I'm trying to enjoy this as much as possible although some times life gives you some weird bounces and you're not enjoying something as much as you thought you would.

Hoping for a great series and it's been a crazy season and a wild run.

 

[Diddy Wah]

The biggest x-factor of the series has to be Quick imo. He's obviously capable of going beast mode but that's nowhere near as much of a certainty as a lot of ppl seem to just assume. How labeling Quick as overrated is considered so contoversial (even among non-Kings fans) is fascinating. Ever since his, admittedly superb, cup run the narrative has almost always been construed to his advantage (good streches are godlike and bad play has been glossed over and excused). His style of play helps keep it alive I guess since it's conducive to producing highlight reel saves.

I'm expecting a good series from most, or all, of the Rangers D. As others have pointed out Staal will be a key factor that could/should thrive against the Kings. This will be a big test for Stralman also, but if my memory serves me right he's done quite well vs physical opponents. If the Kings forecheck gets the upper hand I'm worried we'll (be forced to) turtle even more than we did for parts of the Pens-series. And considering the Kings blueline I'd very much like to avoid that.

 

[Xref]

Here's a question worth a thought. Why did the Kings almost blow a 3-1 series lead?

Because you know, the west rulez.

 

[chosen]

He has not scored a goal in 7 games. How many of those 19 assists can be attributed to Gaborik?

You just can't call it a slump when you are the hottest player in the game. As someone else pointed out, Gaborik just might be benefitting from Kopitar. I think he is the most complete forward in the playoffs, other than perhaps Toews.

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

 

[Levitate]

I heard a few telling points last night after the game:

Carter said they he thought they didn't play their best hockey in the Chicago series.
That could be a good sign (or a bad sign considering they are in the finals and still haven't played their best)

I mean...they played their best hockey in 2012 when they thrashed the entire West on their way to the finals. They haven't been at that level since then so them saying they didn't play their best hockey is meaningless to me...they've played three 7 game series, of course they haven't been playing awesome, they've been doing just enough to get by and have been inconsistent, but all the wear and tear could cost them. Or not. We'll see.

I mean, I don't think the Rangers consistently played their best hockey in any of the series they played in as well.

Brown said that it was the most emotional series he's ever played in. He actually said it three times. That could count for something. In such a hard fought series, its almost like you have to spend it all as a team to make the next one. I felt the Rangers went through that a little with the Flyers series and paid for it with not being as sharp against Pitt.

And we saw Montreal come off an emotional series with Boston and look unprepared in game 1 against the Rangers. Losing Price and having that to help drum up some emotion might have actually helped them in some way (though I can't say it overcomes losing Price) and they proceeded to try to turn the series into some big rivalry.

If LA has an emotional let down I wouldnt' expect it to be for more than one game, but sometimes that one game is pretty important.

I dont think the Rangers/Habs series was that emotional. Knocking Price out, winning the first two on the road. I felt the Rangers knew they were the better team the whole time, they just had to execute. Sure no series is easy but theres was almost a cake walk emotionally compared to what may have been one of the top 5 conference finals of all time with the Kings and Hawks. That could amount to something.

Rangers haven't really played like an emotional team though, even in coming back from being down against Pittsburgh. At least on the ice, they just executed their gameplan.

 

[chosen]

To me the big question mark is whether guys like Kreider and Hagelin can put the D on their heels. If yes, they can win. Without that I doubt it.

 

[Diddy Wah]

To me the big question mark is whether guys like Kreider and Hagelin can put the D on their heels. If yes, they can win. Without that I doubt it.

I'm feeling somewhat optimistic regarding this since the Rangers have speed spread throughout their lineup. To me it's almost impossible to rank the 4 lines in terms of speed (factoring both flat out speed and maneuverability), especially since Dorsett has been skating far better than I've ever seen the last few games.

 

[Tawnos]

I think the one often overlooked fact that was mentioned above and is probably more ominous for the Rangers than any other one I can find is faceoffs. The Rangers must be better than they have ever been in this area or they're going to have a very difficult time against LA.

I don't know whether the centers will have to step up or the wingers to pick up their man or both but it needs to be cracker jack this series or the puck will be in their end consistently too much.

I actually think the Rangers play better when they lose more faceoffs than they win. This might sound sarcastic, but it isn't.

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

To me the big question mark is whether guys like Kreider and Hagelin can put the D on their heels. If yes, they can win. Without that I doubt it.

Yeah i was thinking about how much of a key Kreider could be in this series. He's got to be a beast, especially on the wall where its been lacking

 

[Inferno]

The goaltending in this series is going to be so unbelievably huge.

Why?

Just some numbers.

Shots Per Game
Los Angeles: 30.7
New York: 29.4

Shots Allowed Per Game
Los Angeles: 30.3
New York: 28.0

Save Percentages:
Jonathan Quick: .906
Henrik Lundqvist: .928

Based on those rudimentary stats, it would appear the Rangers may end up with More shots per game this series than before. And the Kings may end up with fewer than before, by the teams relative differentials there.

So let's do some simple averages here.

Without factoring in the quality of opponent prior to this series and all that a simple Shots For + Opponents Shots Allowed/2 gets you these rough numbers.

Los Angeles: 29.35
New York: 29.85

Basically, both teams getting between 29 and 30 shots a game with the Rangers getting a few more over the course of the series.

Then factor in the goalies save percentages.

Los Angeles...29.35 Shots per game X HL's (1-.928)= 2.11 Goals Per Game

New York...29.85 X JQs (1-.906)= 2.8 Goals Per Game

The numbers actually show the Rangers with the better expected offensive output.

of course I dont weigh any of these numbers with the quality of opposition faced prior to facing each other.


but in terms of rudimentary numbers, at the very least it shows this series is a HELL of a lot closer than the mainstream media wants to make it out to be....or at least it *should* be closer.