New York Rangers
AS IT STANDS…
The Rangers earned home-ice advantage for the 1st round, but barely. The could have moved into 3rd place with a win over the Capitals in the regular season finale but failed badly — taking poor momentum into the postseason. NYR will benefit from Artemi Panarin raising his game. He played in 71 games and scored only 17 goals.
NYR TEAM LEADERS
A. Fox, 67 points, 59 assists
F. Chytil, 39 assists, 15 goals
K. Kakko, 24 goals, 55 points
A. Radulov, 12 PP goals
I. Shesterkin, 2.60 GAA
J. Trouba, 187 hits
New York defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 at Wells Fargo Center to win the series 4-2. Brian Goodrow scored midway through the first period to break a 1-1 tie, then the Rangers poured it on, scoring three more goals through the next two periods while their defense stood firm to keep the Flyers from mounting any kind of comeback. (Game recap)
Gm1 – Flyers 4, @Rangers 1
Gm2 – @Rangers 3, Flyers 1
Gm3 – Rangers 3, @Flyers 2 (OTW)
Gm4 – @Flyers 4, Rangers 2
Gm5 – @Rangers 3, Flyers 2 (OTW)
Gm6 – Rangers 5, @Flyers 1
The Rangers were left disappointed after losing the series opener on home ice, but they rebounded to take the next two games. Ultimately, it was their performance on the road that fueled their victory, winning two games at Wells Fargo Center where the Flyers were 26-11-4 in the regular season.
Panarin to miss time — New York suffered a set back in the series when Artemi Panarin experienced knee soreness after Game 3 and he’s expected to miss the first three games of Round 2 against Carolina.
NYR TEAM LEADERS
RD Adam Fox, 67 points, 59 assists
C/LW Filip Chytil, 39 assists, 15 goals
RW Kaapo Kakko, 24 goals, 55 points
RW Alexander Radulov, 12 power play goals
G Igor Shesterkin, 32-17-7, 4 SO, .904 SV%, 2.60 GAA
D Jacob Trouba, 187 hits
PHI TEAM LEADERS
G Carter Hart, 35-23-6, 2 SO, .915 SV%, 2.56 GAA
C/LW Claude Giroux, 72 points, 32 goals, 40 assists
RW/LW Travis Konecny, 47 assists, 62 points
C Sean Coutier, 31 goals, 68 points, 165 hits
Because of the pandemic, the conferences were rearranged to mitigate travel restrictions.
Buffalo, Toronto, Philadelphia, and NY Rangers are the new clubs in the East who did not make the playoffs in the 20-21 season. East clubs missing the playoffs from last season: Montreal, Nashville, NY Islanders, Washington, and Boston.
Of the West teams, Chicago, Anaheim, San Jose, LA Kings, and Calgary are new, while Vegas, St. Louis, and Winnipeg failed to return to the playoffs.
The defending champions, Tampa Bay Lightning (44-32-6, 94 points), narrowly avoided missing the playoffs. They began the season with a horrible start and had to claw their way up the standings. The beat out 9th-place Montreal (43-32-7, 93 points) by a point and will begin the defense of their title against Toronto who finished with the most points (118) in the league.
Round One
Colorado 4, Minnesota 2
Chicago 4, Anaheim 3
Edmonton 4, San Jose 2
LA Kings 4, Calgary 3
NY Rangers 4, Philadelphia 2
Carolina 4, Pittsburgh 0
Buffalo 4, Florida 2
Toronto 4, Tampa Bay 1
What we learned from Round One
Home-ice advantage was real — SEVEN out of eight series ended with the home team winning. Only club that failed to advance was San Jose who lost their series 4-2 to Edmonton.
Toronto playing at another level — The Maple Leafs put the Lightning out of their misery, crushing the defending champs 4-1. The Lightning averaged just 1.80 goals per game while surrendering 3.00 per game. Mitchell Marner led Toronto’s offense with 5 points and 6 assists. He and John Tavares scored 3 goals each.
The Sabres are glad they worked out their situation with Jack Eichel in the offseason — Eichel led Buffalo to a 1st-round series win against the Florida. He scored 10 points (second to McDavid’s 11) and racked 6 goals to lead the postseason.
Round Two
#1 Chicago vs #8 Colorado
#2 LA Kings vs #4 Edmonton
#2 Carolina vs #5 NY Rangers
#1 Toronto vs #3 Buffalo