Tonight we find out whether or not my pre-playoff prediction was true, will the Rangers beat the Flyers in six? They’re now only one win away from the second round and that other team from Pennsylvania after beating Philly on Sunday.
Despite oh so many referee miscues including a goal waved off after review due to a whistle that in my opinion was blown too soon, the Rangers stayed focused and didn’t fall apart like the obviously frustrated Flyers did. A year ago, that might not have been the case. I’m sure we all remember who the Rangers coach was last year, someone who is not best known for his calm and cool demeanor. Their current coach, Alain Vigneault, is most assuredly a big reason for the Rangers not allowing themselves to get easily frustrated and stay focused on winning the game. Going into game six, I can’t think of anything more important for the Rangers to do to win. You know, aside from playing hard, keeping up their defense and of course keeping the Flyers from scoring more goals than they score. Game 6 isn’t being played in the Rangers friendly confines at Madison Square Garden; they’re going to have to win this one on the road at the Wells Fargo Center. And we know the Flyers aren’t going to make it easy on them.
The Flyers can be expected to come at the Rangers hard as they’ll be playing for their playoff lives in what for them is an elimination game. After Sunday’s game, Flyers forward Scott Hartnell said he knows for a “fact” that the Rangers don’t like playing in Philly and it’s always tough for them there. Maybe it’s because their fans flip them off when they score. A quick Google image search for Carcillo’s goal in game four has some very nice shots of Flyers fans flipping off the former Flyer as he celebrated his goal. Gotta love how classy some fans are.
The Flyers starting goal tender is already looking forward to game seven with Mason quoted as saying this series, “isn’t over.” But unless the Flyers find a way to beat Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, shut down the Rangers defense as well as step up their own defense, they’ll be starting their summer vacations by the weekend.
Prior to the team traveling to Philadelphia, Alain Vigneault said the team needs to focus on the game plan they’ve laid out and executing hard, and repeatedly stressed the team’s need to stay focused and execute. He also stressed making the Flyers pay for any mistakes they make and really capitalize on their miscues.
On Monday Brad Richards was quoted as saying, “we have an opportunity to win a game, close out a series, it’s important to try and get it done right away. You don’t want to put it to chance and do it now and move on.”
The Rangers did a great job on the penalty kill this series to shut the Flyers down and keep them from scoring while also capitalizing on a few power plays of their own. The importance of allowing cooler heads to prevail against a team that loves to get on people’s nerves to unhinge them also can’t be underestimated. So long as they stay focused and don’t let the Flyers get under their skin and throw them off their game, the Rangers should be closing out the series tonight.
It’s sure to be a game not to be missed. (By the way, nothing saddens me more than the fact that I can’t watch this game as I have an important meeting to attend, but I will be checking my twitter feed almost obsessively for updates.)
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