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Series Talk: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. New York Rangers | Eastern Conference Finals

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Putting the micro analytics aside for a minute

I'm looking at how the general stats from the reg season to match up here in this series.

Goals For Per Game
Pit - 3.28 - 11th
Car - 3.38 - 9th
TB - 3.48 - 8th

Goals Against Per Game
Pit - 2.71 - 5th
Car - 2.44 - 1st
TB - 2.78 - 6th

Power Play
Pit - 20.2% - 19th
Car - 22.0% - 13th
TB - 23.9% - 8th

Penalty Kill
Pit - 84.4% - 3rd
Car - 88.0% - 1st
TB - 80.6% - 11th

Shots Per Game
Pit - 34.7 -6th
Car - 34.1 - 9th
TB - 30.9 - 17th

Shots Against Per Game
Pit - 31.4 - 14th
Car - 28.2 - 1st
TB - 29.8 - 7th

Pretty similar metrics all around, all 3 very tough opponents. Carolina was a real challenge to break through their defense, shot suppression and PK, and the Rangers still found a way. The Rangers PP was very impressive given Carolinas numbers and it got stronger as the series went on.

TB doesnt take as many shots as Pit or Car, which may help or actually hurt the Rangers. They like to get more traffic in front and understand quality over quantity. That's where Igor and the defense in front of the net will have to be aware. The young D like Miller and Schneider will need to utilize their size and be very cognizant of this.

The other difference I see TBs PK, which is above average but not great. However - they are #1 of the 4 teams left at almost 88%. No surprise there. They know when to turn it on and provide AV with good sightlines if they arent blocking the damn thing. Their PP has been decent, but the Rangers have made a living off of it. Once again the special teams will be a huge part of this series.

I see the Pitt series being a good break in set of games for the kids, they learned quickly about how to buy into the team game to manage the pace and toughness of a playoff round. They got some breaks but making it out of the first round allowed them learn even more in the second round. They seemed to settle down and while falling to 0-2, they played decent enough to win in Carolina. Game 5 was lousy but otherwise we saw a team learn quickly and make necessary adjustments, getting some timely scoring from all lines.

The TB series poses a completely different challenge and win or lose it will provide the youth (and vets) the necessary experience to take the next step towards a championship. TB has figured out what it needs to do to win in the postseason, they've found the formula and execute it extremely well for their coach. Everyone buys into the little things. Checking, screening, blocking. The Rangers will have to learn quickly and apply that same mentality and they'll need to get it from all of their players (including Panarin) if they want a shot at that big sliver thingy with a bowl on top.

As far as predictions go, I expect TB to win this but I wouldnt be surprised if the Rangers took it the distance. The important thing is to not get swept, they need to get as many minutes against this team in a playoff setting as they can. Many championship teams always have moments and teams they've played against they have used as springboards. This is that time for the Rangers.
 
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duhmetreE said:
I think his listed info is wrong. He's looks humongous in net and in person
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Ben Bishop was a mountain. Everyone else is a mole hill. He was also a Rangers Killer. He's the only goalie I know, when in the butterfly, his pads reached post to post.
 
HockeyBasedNYC said:
TB has figured out what it needs to do to win in the postseason, they've found the formula and execute it extremely well for their coach. Everyone buys into the little things. Checking, screening, blocking....
As far as predictions go, I expect TB to win this but I wouldnt be surprised if the Rangers took it the distance.
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Probably the most important factor in this series that you failed to address is speed. Which is why the Rangers will win. Tampa can't match our speed or aggressiveness.

If you look at our 3 games against them during the season, you will see we had no problem executing. Now I know the regular season matches mean nothing in the playoffs,.... but unless Tampa has suddenly become a much faster team, they can't stop us from executing our game plan, which is attacking with speed and aggressiveness.

And Panarin is guaranteed to have a much better series against Tampa. For one, he couldn't play much worse than he did vs the Canes. And two, he will surely have more time and space to operate and make plays.

Also look for Zibad to light up the Bolts. He scored all 3 game winners vs TB this season.
 
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While looking up playoff scoring leaders to see where Fox is on the list (hes currently 4th among all skaters in the 2022 playoffs), I decided to stroll down memory lane and review Leetch's 94 playoff performance.

What Leetch did in the 94 playoffs is legendary. 34 points. The only defenseman ahead of him on single season playoff performances is Coffey (3 more points with 37). But Coffey did it in the 85 when goals per game was higher.

McDavid and Draisaitl have been great this playoffs. But McDavid still needs 5 more points to tie Leetch's 94 playoffs. Leetch a defenseman. Had the 9th highest point total in a single playoffs in NHL History. Gretzky and Lemieux are on the list repeatedly above Leetch (Gretzky 5 times, Lemieux 2). 8 players in NHL history had better playoff performances than Leetch in NHL history. The only current player with a better single playoffs performance is Malkin with 36 points.
 
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I love how on every nhl/hockey show, podcast, whatever. They all put tthe rangers down, they all say lightning will score first and win game 1. Vasy is in another league, blah blah..

FIrst off Tampa hasnt played a goalie of our caliber either, nor defense, nor team makeup that has everything. Toronto no goalie, no defense and basically 1 line show.
Panthers, again no goalie, no defense, and everyone is a scorer, they had no diversity in the lineup to counter what the lightning did.

I know Tampa is a 2x champ but this time they are not over the cap, and last time i checked, playing the games matter. Otherwise we should have lost to pittsburgh and carolina..

f*** all the haters!
 
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Chalfdiggity3 said:
I love how on every nhl/hockey show, podcast, whatever. They all put tthe rangers down, they all say lightning will score first and win game 1. Vasy is in another league, blah blah..

FIrst off Tampa hasnt played a goalie of our caliber either, nor defense, nor team makeup that has everything. Toronto no goalie, no defense and basically 1 line show.
Panthers, again no goalie, no defense, and everyone is a scorer, they had no diversity in the lineup to counter what the lightning did.

I know Tampa is a 2x champ but this time they are not over the cap, and last time i checked, playing the games matter. Otherwise we should have lost to pittsburgh and carolina..

f*** all the haters!
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I’ll say Toronto had 2 scoring lines, and Campbell isn’t terrible.
Florida everyone was a finesse scorer, they scored in bunches in the regular season but didn’t have the ability to score greasy goals, which is what you need in the playoffs.

We’ve got deeper rosters than both Toronto and Florida, and a far better goalie.
We also just beat our worst matchup.
Tampa doesn’t have that smothering forecheck that carolina has, and they’re not as fast as carolina can be.

To me the deciding factor is gonna be 2 things.
Can Panarin take even one step closer to what we know he’s capable of. ( dunno if it’s an injury or not officially, but his quiet production is still half decent, but we need at least all star Panarin if not mvp Panarin)
And

Can the kids continue to dominate enough that we just roll 3 lines that can score.
Tampa is generating offense from 2 lines right now, and with point out that might end up really hurting them because they’ll be overplayed, and they can’t take advantage of our 3rd pair.
 
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Oh boy, king of the mountain time.

Shesty vs. Vasy is the key match-up ... we're gonna get stupid goaltending. Let's creep onto Vasy's head, it's our time bitch.

As many say our offense has better depth, their defense is stellar. That's the other key, weather we find a way through.

And discipline as always.
 
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It's going to be a fun series people. We haven't advanced this far since the middle of last decade. Savor it since it's a rare occurrence even for the best clubs.
 
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Chalfdiggity3 said:
I love how on every nhl/hockey show, podcast, whatever. They all put tthe rangers down, they all say lightning will score first and win game 1. Vasy is in another league, blah blah..

FIrst off Tampa hasnt played a goalie of our caliber either, nor defense, nor team makeup that has everything. Toronto no goalie, no defense and basically 1 line show.
Panthers, again no goalie, no defense, and everyone is a scorer, they had no diversity in the lineup to counter what the lightning did.

I know Tampa is a 2x champ but this time they are not over the cap, and last time i checked, playing the games matter. Otherwise we should have lost to pittsburgh and carolina..

f*** all the haters!
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What’s funny is the Rangers had an outside chance to line up against the Lightning in round 1, and going in many were feeling good about our chances against them.

TB had a rough stretch going into the playoffs and were on the downslope heading in. They were very close to getting knocked out by Toronto but then again so was the Rangers vs. Pitt

I think that since TB destroyed Florida and exposed the fact that they aren’t really built for the playoffs, has everyone over estimating them a little, but that’s due to the fact that they are back to back Cup champs.

Until they are knocked off they are the team to beat.

With the 9 days off for Tampa- this is the quick turnaround game on home ice the Rangers need to send a message to the Lightning and the league. Stop the Lightnings 6 game winning streak. Make them think a little. They are just as resilient as the Rangers, more battle tested so while it won’t mean a ton it will definitely be big for the Rangers psyche to get a series lead against a team you had success against in the regular season.
 
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Peltz said:
It's going to be a fun series people. We haven't advanced this far since the middle of last decade. Savor it since it's a rare occurrence even for the best clubs.
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Yeah they have a good PP, better than the Canes. They have a similar pk and it’s been hot in the playoffs.

I agree there are just as many things they will need to face that are new against the Rangers that will match the #1 goalie the Rangers haven’t faced. And yes Raanta wasn’t a #1 but he had insane numbers at home and throughout the first 5 games he was very good.
 
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You don't want to know what my phone battery is right now.
 
They couldn't get Callahan? Why is Biron on this pre-game?

aufheben said:
It’s making me nervous how wildly optimistic this board is feeling…
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That's what worries me. Thinking we should win.

I honestly am numb for this game. I'm excited to watch it but I'm indifferent. Really weird feeling

SnowblindNYR said:
Is it just me or do we lose every time Biron's in for Hank?
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Pretty sure he was here for Game 4 @ PIT and Game 5 @ CAR.

LOSER ENERGY
 
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