Goal Line Report
Entries with the tag: Nicklas+Backstrom
Lundqvist Leads the Blueshirts to 3-1 Series Lead
by Patrick Hoffman on 04/23/09 at 09:30 AM ET
Comments (1)
Its been said by hockey pundits and experts that you need goaltending to win in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Case in point: Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers.
Thanks to Lundqvist’s 38 saves last night, the New York Rangers beat the Washington Capitals by a score of 2-1 in Game four to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. He was not only able to stop initial shot attempts, but he was also able to stop rebound attempts and frustrate the likes of Alex Ovechkin (who scored the Caps only goal), Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin and Mike Green.
Through four games in this series, Lundqvist has stopped an incredible 141 of 149 shots, good enough for a 2.00 goals against average, .946 save percentage and one shutout. Simply put, Lundqvist is the main reason why the Blueshirts are one victory away from eliminating the Capitals in the first round.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Alexander+Semin, Alex+Ovechkin, Henrik+Lundqvist, Mike+Green, New+York+Rangers, Nicklas+Backstrom, Rangers+Reading, Washington+Captials,
Keep it Going
by Patrick Hoffman on 04/19/09 at 01:20 PM ET
Comments (0)
Many hockey pundits and analysts figured that the Washington Capitals’ offense would dominate the New York Rangers in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, with two games in the books, the Blueshirts are up 2-0 with the next two games at Madison Square Garden.
Surprised? I’m actually not because I’ve written before that if the team could shut down the Caps’ big guns and get timely goal scoring against the Caps’ suspect goaltending, this team would have a chance win.
Through two games, the Rangers have gotten 67 saves (on 70 shots) from their star netminder Henrik Lundqvist, lots of blocked shots by forwards and defensemen alike, and timely goal scoring from their young guys (Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan). For the Rangers, this spells s-u-c-c-e-s-s.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Alexander+Semin, Alex+Ovechkin, Brandon+Dubinsky, Henrik+Lundqvist, Mike+Green, New+York+Rangers, Nicklas+Backstrom, Ryan+Callahan, Simeon+Varlamov, Washington+Capitals,
Thoughts Heading Into Game 2
by Patrick Hoffman on 04/17/09 at 12:00 PM ET
Comments (0)
Tomorrow afternoon at the Verizon Center, the New York Rangers look to go up 2-0 in their first round series against the Washington Capitals.
While the Blueshirts were able to pick up a 4-3 victory in Game one on Wednesday night, there are a few things that the team will most likely look to improve upon:
- Limiting Alex Ovechkin. In Game one, Ovechkin fired 13 shots at Rangers’ netminder Henrik Lundqvist. Luckily, the “King” was on his game.
- Staying out of the box. Markus Naslund was guilty of taking three penalties on Wednesday night. The last thing the Rangers’ want to do is give the Capitals power play time with lethal weapons such as Ovechkin, Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin, and Sergei Fedorov.
- Face-offs. The Caps’ outclassed the Blueshirts in the face-off circle on Wednesday night. Hopefully, the return of captain Chris Drury will change that.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Alexander+Semin, Alex+Ovechkin, Chris+Drury, Henrik+Lundqvist, Markus+Naslund, Mike+Green, New+York+Rangers, Nicklas+Backstrom, Rangers+Reading, Sergei+Federov, Washington+Capitals,
All Eyes on The King
by Patrick Hoffman on 04/14/09 at 09:35 AM ET
Comments (0)
When the puck drops tomorrow night at the Verizon Center, all eyes will turn to New York Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist as the Blueshirts take on the Washington Capitals in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
If the Blueshirts are going to advance to the next round, the “King” will need to be at his best when he faces the likes of offensive machines Alex Ovechkin (56 goals, 54 assists, 110 points), Nicklas Backstrom (22 goals, 66 assists, 88 points), Alexander Semin (34 goals, 45 assists, 79 points) and stud defenseman Mike Green (31 goals, 42 assists, 73 points).
Lundqvist will face pucks from all angles and will have to steal at least one of the first two games of the series if the team wants to give themselves any kind of shot when the series shifts back to Madison Square Garden.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Alexander+Semin, Alex+Ovechkin, Atlanta+Thrashers, Henrik+Lundqvist, John+Tortorella, Mike+Green, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Nicklas+Backstrom, Washington+Capitals,
