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| Cally And Step: Derek Stepan and Ryan Callahan celebrate Callahan’s shorthanded goal. Copyright Getty Images/Mary Altaffer |
The Rangers enter the playoffs playing their best hockey. They continued to trend upwards by winning the final game of the regular season yesterday. A listless Devils club was no match. Henrik Lundqvist stopped all 20 shots for his second shutout in a 4-0 win at MSG. It was his 45th shutout.
Rick Nash scored twice to reach at least 20 goals for a ninth straight season. Derek Stepan had a goal and assist to edge Nash for the team lead in scoring. He finished with 44 points (18-26-44). In his first season as a Ranger, Nash led them with 21 goals in 44 games. He added 21 helpers totaling 42 points. Brad Richards added two assists in his 900th career game. After struggling, he ends on a six-game point streak tallying 11 points (5-6-11). Richards was third in scoring with 34 points (11-23-34). Ryan Callahan had a shorthanded goal and assist to conclude on a seven-game point streak. Over that span, he has five goals and six helpers for 11 points. That includes the playoff clincher.
”It was big for us,” an excited Nash said after making the postseason for the second time in his career. ”We wanted to ride some momentum going into the playoffs, and I thought the guys had a great effort.”
The Rangers jumped on the Devils early. Stepan scored 2:37 in. He finished off a Callahan set up in front for his 18th. John Moore helped set it up. Stepan had a great April. He recorded points in 12 of 14 games, tallying 19 (8-11-19). Our most consistent player, who somehow lost out to Callahan for the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award, was also plus-14 for the month. He paced the club with a plus-25. That tied him for fifth with defending Selke winner Patrice Bergeron. Stepan’s improvement was on display. He intercepted a Marek Zidlicky pass and then sent Callahan in for a shorthanded breakaway. Captain Cally deked and beat Johan Hedberg five-hole for a 2-0 lead at 19:01.
”It’s been fun so far,” beamed Stepan of the chemistry he has with linemates Callahan and Carl Hagelin. ”Those two guys just work so hard, and when they get on pucks it’s hard to get it off their stick.”
On the play, Callahan drove past Ilya Kovalchuk and Steve Sullivan. Kovalchuk lollygagged back. The game didn’t mean anything for the Devils. But seeing your best player give such a lackadaisical effort is discouraging. Even if he wasn’t close to 100 percent after returning, it was reminiscent of how he played for the Thrashers. Equally mystifying was Pete DeBoer’s choice to sit out Andrei Loktionov and defense prospect Eric Gelinas. The veteran coach said he wanted to use the final few games to evaluate some young talent. So much for that. My Devil buddy Rob didn’t understand the logic of sitting them out for vets. It made about as much sense as benching Adam Henrique for a game for Sullivan.
The Devils were more competitive in the second even forcing Lundqvist to make a couple of decent saves. But they really couldn’t sustain any pressure. They were shutout for the fourth time in April. The Rangers out-shot them 21-20. The difference was quality. Hedberg had little chance on any of our four goals. New Jersey had numerous defensive breakdowns. A coverage mistake allowed Richards to find Nash wide open in the slot for an easy finish putting the Blueshirts up three. By now, the Garden serenaded favorite target Martin Brodeur with “We Want Marty,” chants. Brodeur admitted that he didn’t want to play due to facing the music for two hours. If the game had playoff significance, he would’ve dressed. Personally, I thought his response was ridiculous. But it was his choice.
All day, Hedberg was hung out to dry by a team that mailed it in. The score could easily have been double if not for some big saves from the Moose. One included a sprawling pad stop on Nash off a great set up from Mats Zuccarello. Zuccarello continues to impress since coming back. Having gained John Tortorella’s trust, MZA was moved up to the Richards line with Nash against Carolina. The trio has found instant chemistry with the right combination of size, speed and skill. Zuccarello’s uncanny ability to back up opposing defenses with his relentless skating has opened up the ice. On Nash’s second, he combined with Richards on a beautiful passing play. Zuccarello worked a give and go with Richards, getting the puck back. He skated out and found Nash, who ripped his 21st past a helpless Hedberg.
Zuccarello has three goals and five assists for eight points in 15 games. Six of his eight came in the final seven. The Rangers are 10-4-1 since his return. They posted a 10-3-1 record in April and were 9-3-1 following the deadline pick ups of Ryane Clowe, Derick Brassard, John Moore and Derek Dorsett. Dorsett remains out while Clowe missed the season finale with an undisclosed injury after taking an elbow. Kris Newbury played on the fourth line. For our team to be successful in the postseason, they need to get healthy. Clowe is a lunch pail type of player whose energy was a perfect match with Brassard. Chris Kreider took his place taking 15 shifts. He delivered five hits, including an eye opening one that knocked down Adam Larsson. That’s what Kreider has to do to stay in the lineup.
The only area the Rangers were ineffective was the power play. They even allowed a shorthanded bid to Peter Harrold while up two men. Tortorella described it as a battle. Special teams are a key area in the playoffs. They must get better. The penalty kill wasn’t great either, finishing in the middle of the pack. They’ll need to be more consistent when the puck drops either Tuesday or Wednesday against a familiar foe. By winning to reach 56 points and Ottawa falling to Philadelphia in regulation, the Rangers leapfrogged the Islanders and Senators to finish sixth in the East. They’ll take on the Capitals again. It’s the third straight year they’ll face Washington and fourth in the last five.
Ottawa/Boston To Determine Rest Of First Round: Our match-up is the only one that’s set. The Bruins host the Senators following the Celtics’ Game Four win over the Knicks at TD Garden.
Boston trails Montreal by a point for the Northeast and No.2 seed. The Habs defeated the Leafs 4-1 Saturday to move up. Boston must win to beat them out. One point won’t do it with Montreal holding the ROW tiebreaker.
The game is equally important for the Sens, who enter eighth with 54 points. They trail the Islanders by one for seventh. Each team has 20 ROW. An Ottawa win would vault them over the Isles, allowing them to bypass the Pens in Round One. If they gain a point, they finish seventh due to taking the season series.
NY Puck 3 Stars:
3rd Star-Mats Zuccarello, NYR (assist, +2 in 14:58-his energy has rubbed off)
2nd Star-Rick Nash, NYR (2 goals-20, 21, 7 SOG in 14:29-a confidence builder for our top finisher)
1st Star-Ryan Callahan/Derek Stepan, NYR (2-2-4, SHG, +4-where would they be without them)
hasan4978
Derek
Battle Of Hudson 
Just out of curiosity, I found the preseason predictions post:http://newyorkpuck.blogspot.com/2013/01/nhl-preview-chaotic-season-begins.htmlI got more out West right than I thought, I undersold the Hawks a little. I got seven of eight playoff teams, you got six of eight (we both missed the Ducks obviously). I don't remember what my picks would have been out East. I think I would have had seven of your eight playoff teams, subbing the Sens for the Lightning.
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I think I did pretty bad on the East. I had the Devils in and the Lightning. Montreal was out. So was Toronto. Flyers I had in too. My predictions sucked.
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I wouldn't have been much better…the Isles, Toronto and Montreal surprised almost everyone. Well maybe not Burke, he probably thought he had a playoff team when he got fired lol. On the other end, Carolina was a trendy pick, and I figured even halfway through they'd win the division by default but Ward got hurt and the Caps got white-hot.One funny (or not) stat is the Devils were first in shots allowed and shot differential. The next twelve teams in shot differential all made the playoffs. Toronto was 29th in shot differential.
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That too. Boy did we mess up. Carolina's 2nd line was horrible. Jordan and Skinner were a combined minus-38 or 39. Even the injury to Ellis hurt them. They had no one else. I did kind of a quasi East first round. No predictions yet.
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