Down the Frozen River

Tag: Derick Brassard

  • Rangers, in Dominant Fashion, Take Game 4 and Tie Series 2-2

    Rangers, in Dominant Fashion, Take Game 4 and Tie Series 2-2

    2015 Eastern Conference Finals Game 4 Recap

    By: Colby Kephart

    New York Rangers LogoThe New York Rangers bounced back from Game 3 to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1 in Game 4 at Amalie Arena on Friday night. The stars for the Rangers showed up with two goals from Rick Nash and one from Martin St. Louis. Henrik Lundqvist had 38 saves, while only allowing one goal. The Rangers also managed to keep Tampa’s Triplet Line off the scoresheet altogether.

    The first period saw a better defensive performance from the Rangers as they limited the chances for Tampa. The Lightning’s first true scoring chance came 4 minutes into the period when Nikita Kucherov found the puck in front of Hendrik Lundqvist and shot it over the net. New York took the first penalty of game 8 minutes into the first period when Martin St. Louis was sent to the sin bin for interference.

    Tyler Johnson then got a great chance on the power-play, as he found the puck in the front of the net and rang it off the post. About 4 minutes later, Tampa’s Anton Stralman took an interference penalty of his own on a hit delivered to Kevin Hayes. Tampa managed to kill the penalty without even allowing on shot on Ben Bishop. With under 3 minutes left in the period Rick Nash snapped his cold streak with a power move, in which he slid the puck past Bishop’s leg pad into the net. Both teams finished the first period equal in shots on goal with seven apiece.

    The second period saw the undisciplined Rangers show up from the first minute when Marc Staal took a holding penalty on Cedric Paquette. While on the penalty kill the Rangers had a great chance with a 2 on 1 that ended up with Nash trying another power move that was denied by Bishop’s pad. Just a few seconds later, Alex Killorn had a breakaway from a stretch pass sent by Victor Hedman on the power play and was denied by Lundqvist. The Rangers killed the penalty, but a few minutes later Killorn got another chance while on a 2 on 1, but the puck slipped off the end of his stick and went wide of Lundqvist.

    Unknown-1At this point in the game, it was all one way traffic in favor of Tampa. The Rangers found themselves down a man again, when Chris Kreider took a penalty for tripping Brenden Morrow. Tampa had a few chances on the power play, but the Rangers managed to kill it off again. The Lightning couldn’t be kept off the board long after that though, as Steven Stamkos managed to beat Lundqvist with a slap shot from the slot.

    The game didn’t stay tied for long, however, as just 3 minutes later New York regained the lead. Kreider managed to find his 7th goal of the playoffs on what was yet another rebound goal. The Rangers weren’t done however, as two minutes later Keith Yandle got his first of the playoffs, sending a shot that bounced off Hedman past Bishop.

    Tampa continued to fire at the net, but Lundqvist remained superior and continued to shine through two periods. After forty minutes of play, Lundqvist had 25 saves on 26 shots. While at the other end of the ice, Bishop was having a rough game, stopping only 10 shots on 13 shots against.

    The third period started similar to the second period, as Tampa continued to shoot without any rewards to show for it. The Lightning took their second penalty of the game just 4 minutes into the period with Nikita Nesterov high sticking St. Louis. On the ensuing power play, St. Louis finally got his first of the playoffs, putting a shot in the open side of the net on a back door pass from Derick Brassard.

    Halfway through the period Tampa’s Brenden Morrow was called for hooking. The Rangers capitalized again with Yandle’s shot from the point deflected on goal by Kevin Hayes and banged home on the rebound by Nash, past the legs of Bishop, for his second of the night.

    The game finished with a lot of scrums from frustrated Lightning players, culminating in a barrage of penalties. Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Carl Hagelin, and Ryan McDonagh all received roughing penalties. Severl game misconducts were handed out to a few players, including Nikita Kucherov, Kevin Klein, Morrow, Tanner Glass and Paquette. Eventually time expired, ending Lundqvist’s great night- stopping 38 of 39 shots on goal. It also brought the end of Ben Bishop’s rough night- only stopping 19 of 24 shots on goal.

    Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
    Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

    This game saw the appearance of all of the Rangers superstar’s, Rick Nash, Martin St. Louis, and Henrik Lundqvist. All of them had amazing games in Game 4. St. Louis finally got the all-important first goal of his playoff run, and his play changed immediately afterwards, as he continued to create chance after chance.

    Rick Nash had a two goal night, and his form looked as it did during the regular season. Keith Yandle also had a terrific night with a goal and two assists in the best performance of these playoffs for him. The first star of the game still goes to Lundqvist who had a huge bounce back after Game 3’s uncharacteristic performance.

    Tampa’s Triplet Line and big stars had a lot of chances, but couldn’t find a way to put the puck to the back of the net. Ben Bishop struggled and the puck didn’t bounce in his favor on Friday night. The series is now tied at 2-2 with it now effectively becoming a best of 3 to see who will represent the Eastern Conference in the 2015 Stanley Cup finals. Game 5 is Sunday at 8 PM with TV coverage on NBCSN.

  • Tyler Johnson’s Hat Trick Sparks Lightning, Bolts Take Game 2

    Tyler Johnson’s Hat Trick Sparks Lightning, Bolts Take Game 2

    2015 Eastern Conference Finals Game 2 Recap

    By: Colby Kephart

    Unknown-1Tyler Johnson’s hat trick helped the Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the New York Rangers 6-2 in a thrilling end-to-end battle. Tampa coach Jon Cooper made changes from Game 1 switching from 12 forwards and 6 defensemen to only 11 forwards and 7 defenseman. This proved to be confusing for the Rangers and Cooper juggled the lines all night and pulled off a big win at MSG.

    The first period was full of special teams action and undisciplined hockey by both teams. Tampa started the period off pretty strong similar to Game 1, recording the game’s first few shots on Lundqvist. About 2 minutes into the first period Tampa took their first penalty- Brian Boyle for holding. Tampa got put in a horrible situation after taking another penalty just a minute later when Jason Garrison was called for delay of game.

    But then the unthinkable happened. Martin St. Louis tripped with the puck at his stick and the red hot Tyler Johnson took it the other end and scored shorthanded just 5 minutes into the first period. Tampa Bay then managed to kill off the rest of the Rangers power play, but took another penalty a few minutes later when Brendan Morrow got 2 minutes for high sticking. This time the Rangers took advantage of their power play and Chris Kreider notched home a power play goal assisted by St. Louis and Dan Boyle.

    Special teams performances didn’t change the attitude of the players as Kreider (roughing), Ryan Callahan (tripping), and Derek Stepan (tripping) all took penalties within minutes of each other. The result was a 4 on 3 power play, which Tampa capitalized on. Johnson got his second goal of the game- and league leading 10th of the playoffs- assisted by Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov.

    With just 5 minutes remaining in the period, Derick Brassard took a penalty for high sticking. The Rangers killed it off without giving up any real opportunities. Both teams had a few power play opportunities during the period with Tampa racking up 8 penalty minutes and the Rangers taking 6 penalty minutes. New York, despite trailing by one after the first period, outshot the Lightening eleven to nine.

    The second period brought some discipline issues for Tampa just like in the first period; it started in the first minute with Braydon Coburn taking a roughing penalty. The Lightning managed to kill off the penalty and the game seemed to calm down as both teams finally played some 5 on 5 hockey.

    Alex Trautwig/Getty Images
    Alex Trautwig/Getty Images

    Just 8 minutes into the second, fans back in Tampa, Floridawere throwing their hats at their TV’s as Johnson scored his 3rd goal of the game, assisted by Ondrej Palat and Kuckerov. This gave Johnson a goal even strength, shorthanded and on the power play and was his 11th of the playoffs.

    About halfway through the period a freak injury to linesman, Brad Kovachick, occurred on a hit from Stamkos delivered to Kevin Klein, catching Kovachick by accident. It appeared as though Kovachick’s injury was to his knee.

    Greg Devorski replaced Kovachick on the ice, and the Rangers resumed firing away on Ben Bishop. The Rangers began throwing the kitchen sink at the net and drew a questionable penalty on Cedric Paquette. New York converted with the man advantage as Bishop made two huge saves on Derek Stepan, but couldn’t make the third as Stepan bounced it off Tampa defenseman, Braydon Coburn, on another power play goal for the Rangers.

    New York Rangers LogoStepan has recorded a goal in the last three games. The final two minutes of the period saw end-to-end hockey with chances for both teams. After two periods of play the Rangers still outshot Tampa twenty-two to fifteen.

    The third period saw the opposite of the second period with the Rangers being the undisciplined team. Stepan took another tripping penalty in the first minute of the period. Even though the Rangers killed it off, the Lightning kept the puck in the zone as Killorn netted his first of the night, making it 4-2.

    A few moments later Brassard took his second penalty of the game and got 2 minutes for high sticking. Tampa capitalized on the ensuing power play with Steven Stamkos deflecting a shot in front of the net by Lundqvist. At this point it became frustrating for the Rangers as Lundqvist allowed two goals on three shots. Things started to become edgy as Tanner Glass took a 2-minute minor penalty for roughing and a 10 minute game misconduct for a scrum in Tampa’s end.

    Killorn then capitalized on his second goal of the night in what was another power play goal for the Lightning. The Rangers continued to shoot on Bishop, but couldn’t find a hole. New York outshot Tampa for the entire game finishing with thirty-seven shots on goal compared to Tampa’s twenty six.

    Game 2 saw an amazing performance by the league leader in playoff goals, Tyler Johnson. In Game 1 Johnson had 1 point with the assist on Ondrej Palat’s goal. In Game 2 he had a 3-point night by scoring his team’s first 3 goals of the game.

    His actions woke his team up and the woke Tampa’s first line up as Alex Killorn had 2 goals and Steven Stamkos netted one on Monday night. Tampa’s stars decided to show up and let the Rangers what they are truly made of.

    It was the opposite for the Rangers, despite Kreider and Stepan scoring goals, you have to wonder where are Rick Nash and Martin St. Louis in this series, let alone the playoffs as a whole. If it wasn’t for Kreider and Stepan how would the Rangers be in the playoffs? Both St. Louis and Nash had great chances in the game, but couldn’t seem to beat Ben Bishop.

    The series is now tied at 1-1 and Game 3 will be in Tampa, Florida on Wednesday May 20th at 8 pm and will be televised on NBCSN.