Friday, March 18, 2011

3/18/11 Rangers vs. Canadiens

Don't call it a comeback, they've been here for years.

Rangers against the Montreal Canadiens.

Its been arduous for the Rangers against the Canadiens this season, coming up short on all three of their previous meetings. The Rangers have picked up their play as of recently, beating both San Jose and the Islanders. The Rangers are keeping their hopes for the playoffs alive, and tonight will be no different. A win against the Canadiens will move the Rangers further away from the 9th seed Carolina Hurricanes, who play the Islanders tonight.

Tonight will be another game where the Rangers need Marian Gaborik to really step up and make the big play. He has improved after slumping when he came back from injury. the Islanders game showed that he seems to be at optimal performance now, and hopefully, that adrenaline can carry over into tonights game. Along with that, Erik Christensen, who has taken some flack from Rangers fans about his inconsistency has scored 5 goals and gotten four assists since being scratched seven games ago.

The Canadiens have won seven of their past nine games, and look to further their hot streak tonight as well. However, they will be without some help along the way tonight. Max Pacioretty is still out, along with defensemen Hal Gill and Brent Sopel. Along with that, forwards Jeff Halpern and Tomas Plekanec will sit tonight as well. This could be the break in the armor that the Rangers need tonight. The injured lineup of the Canadiens could be a big enough chink in the armor of the Habs for the Rangers to exploit, considering Carey Price does not play phenomenally like he has been for the majority of this season.

My Predictions


Rangers win 3-2

Brandon Dubinsky will get the first goal for the Rangers early in the 1st.
Marian Gaborik will get the second goal coming in the 2nd period.
Nigel Dawes will get the first goal for the Canadiens (because thats just how ex-Rangers do it) also in the 2nd.
Erik Christensen will get the Rangers their final goal early in the 3rd.
And finally, James Wisnewski will get the final goal for the Habs late in the 3rd.

Enjoy the game!

No comments:

Post a Comment