PREVIEW: RANGERS VS SENATORS GAME 6 EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMI-FINALS

PREVIEW: RANGERS VS SENATORS GAME 6 EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMI-FINALS

By: Matthew Blittner


Is this 2012 or 2017?

You might ask, what commonality links these two years together?

Well, let's take a look at the New York Rangers' playoff runs from both years.

2012: The Rangers faced the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals and fell behind three games to two after losing Game 5 at Madison Square Garden by a score of 2-0 as Jason Spezza netted both Ottawa goals against Henrik Lundqvist and Craig Anderson pitched a 41-save shutout.

2017: The Rangers are facing the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference Second Round or the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals if you will. After losing Game 5 in Ottawa, by a score of 5-4 in overtime, the Blueshirts find themselves in the same 3-2 hole that they did in 2012. Once again, Henrik Lundqvist got beat in a crucial game, this time thanks to Kyle Turris's OT game-winner, while Craig Anderson, who was far from his 2012 shutout form, made enough saves when they counted most, to steal a win from the 7th Avenue Skaters.

If you look at both team's rosters you will notice that there are still a number of holdovers from that 2012 encounter.

For New York: Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Ryan McDonagh, and Henrik Lundqvist remain from that playoff run, and therefore can tell their new teammates how they managed to overcome the 3-2 series deficit as they head to Game 6 Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

For Ottawa: Erik Karlsson, Chris Neil, Zack Smith, Mark Stone, Kyle Turris, and Craig Anderson remain to tell the cautionary tale of what went wrong in 2012, and how to get revenge here in 2017.

In 2012, Game 6 took place at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, and the Rangers won 3-2 thanks to goals from Stepan, Kreider, and Brad Richards. Ottawa's goals were scored by Jason Spezza and agitator Chris Neil.

Here in 2017, Game 6 will be held at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night at 7:30pm. With Lundqvist and Anderson manning their respective nets, one will have the chance to repeat his success from 2012, while the other will look for redemption that has been five years in the making, as Ottawa looks to do what they could not back then -- close out the series and advance to the next round.

Here's to hoping for the former rather than the latter: Let's Go Rangers!

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 8, 2017 at 4:19 PM

    Great article. I can't believe so many players from 2012 are still playing today. Talk about a flash from the past!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMay 8, 2017 at 5:07 PM

    Great read Matt! LGR!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Frank KellyMay 10, 2017 at 1:53 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

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