When looking at why the New York Rangers to beat the Capitals, the reasons were very self explanatory.
The Rangers had a much better goaltender in Henrik Lundqvist, a bit more offensive depth, and got much better defensive play. In the final two games of the series, the Rangers used this exact formula and were able to come away with two convincing victories.
With the team down 2-0 to the Bruins, however, it appears the Rangers could be in trouble. Yes, the club was in this same situation against the Capitals but it is much different this time around.
Bruins have more depth
When playing against the Capitals, the Rangers had to worry about just a few players.
The team had to keep their eye on Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Ribeiro and Mike Green. When the Rangers shut down those guys, it was easy to win a hockey game.
This is not the case with the Boston Bruins. In this series, the Rangers have to worry about players from each and every line that the Bruins throw out there and that has hurt them in their two losses so far.
It seems like the Bruins are getting production from everywhere. Guys like Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Milan Lucic, and Gregory Campbell are all producing and right now at least, it appears that the Rangers are struggling to keep them in check.
Bruins have better defensive corps
If you think the Rangers have guys who can block shots on defence, take a look at the Bruins’ roster.
With big defencemen like Zdeno Chara, Johnny Boychuk, Dougie Hamilton and Adam McQuaid, it has been hard for the Rangers to get pucks through to goaltender Tuukka Rask with regularity. Sure, the Rangers had 35 shots on goal in Game 2 but it was usually one and done because of the big defensive bodies the Bruins had in front of their net.
Not only are they blocking shots and clearing bodies, but the Bruins’ defencemen are also putting up points. In fact, the Bruins’ defensive corps have combined for nine points on four goals and five assists.
If the Rangers want to get themselves back into this series, not only must they find better shooting lanes away from the Bruins’ big defencemen, but they also must find a way to cover these guys in their own zone. Right now, the Bruins defencemen have accounted for four of their eight goals in this series.
Rask tougher to solve than Holtby
There is no doubt that Washington Capitals’ netminder Braden Holtby is a young and talented goaltender that has a very bright future in the NHL.
With that said, he is no Rask. The Bruins netminder was one of the best in the NHL this year as many thought that he should have been up for the Vezina Trophy this season as he went 19-10-5 with a 2.00 goals-against average (fifth in the league), a .929 save percentage (third in the league) and five shutouts (first in the league).
In the series so far, Rask has been steady. He has allowed four goals on 72 shots and has made the big saves when his team has needed him to.
Rask was especially good in Game 2 Sunday afternoon. He made a few big saves from shots in the slot when the defensive coverage was not there and also showed that he can slow the Rangers’ offensive momentum down with a big save or big cover up.
Again, this is not taking anything away from Holtby but when it comes to the top netminders in the NHL, Rask is certainly one of them and right now, the Rangers are having trouble beating him on a consistent basis.
