[PST] Playoff Series Thread: Montreal (1st Atlantic) vs NY Rangers (Wildcard) NYR win 4-2

[Flames89]

Habs can take it, as long as Kreider doesn't take out Price

[Imported_Aussie]

Habs in 6. Price will steal this for them.
Rangers are a good matchup all told - Habs have a good record against them, but this is two very good teams going toe to toe!

East is going to have 2 strong teams gone in round 1 with loser of this series and loser of Pittsburgh vs Columbus.

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by OILFAN #81

This series is officially set. Montreal who finishes 1st in the Atlantic will play the Rangers who are in a wildcard spot. Should be a fun series. I'll post times, etc when they are announced. Early prediction: Habs in 7. I think Carey Price will win it for them.

Shouldnt it be McDavid and luck now?

[SofaProfessor]

It's crazy to think about the Rangers as a wild card team. That Metro division is absolutely stacked.

Should be a good series - I'm guessing Habs in 7. I could also see it only lasting 5 or 6. Sometimes the Rangers scoring seems to dry up at the worst time and it's not like Price gives up many softies to help a team build confidence.

[Vinny01]

Habs in 7

[R2theJ]

Lets go rangers!!!

[BsFaninCGY]

Habs home record: 24-11-5
Rags road record: 27-11-2

Habs road record: 22-14-4
Rags home record: 20-16-4

Seems this will be a series with a lot of road wins, which bodes well for New York. Rangers in 7.

[GullFoss]

Rangers have a better offense and its diversified across 3 lines. That puts the Habs at a disadvantage, because having a guy like Weber is best against teams that have one or two franchise players. But, Habs have Price, so this is a coin-toss

[Flamenspiel]

Habs in 5. Right now it appears that the Rangers are a good opponent for Montreal, Tampa Bay or Boston look better. To make a long run the Habs will have to have a new scorer emerge, perhaps Artturi Lehkonen.

[Stanley]

Habs in 6

[photon]

I added a PST (playoff series thread) prefix to identify playoff series threads.

[polak]

Lets go Rangers.

All Canadian teams shall be embarrassed besides the Flames.

[bubbsy]

anyone know what the season series has been between these two?

[CroFlames]

Dueling goalies series. I have a feeling the Rags will win out, but the Rags are the Caps' bane.

If Flames don't win a Cup, I'd like to see Ovi win one. But for some reason they can't get past the Rags.

[Erick Estrada]

Interesting take is that the Rangers have been in the playoffs 10 times since 05/06 and last season was the first time they had been eliminated in the first round which was against the eventual cup champions. Basically of all the teams that have made the playoffs they are the safest bet to make it out of the first round.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by photon

I added a PST (playoff series thread) prefix to identify playoff series threads.

thought it was a provincial sales tax thread

[dissentowner]

Rags in 6.

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

thought it was a provincial sales tax thread

Thanks NDP.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

anyone know what the season series has been between these two?

3-0 Habs

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Both teams are relatively healthy, although Weber might be out for the first game or two of the series depending on the schedule. Emelin's status is unknown at the moment.

Goaltending edge clearly goes to the Habs, even though Henrik is still a great goalie.

Forwards edge goes to the Rangers: one of the fastest teams also has plenty of players with size and "jam" in their game. All their forwards are defensively responsible as well. The Habs have game breakers in Pacioretty and Radulov, but I wouldn't expect them to take over a series by themselves. A bit more depth of scoring with the Rangers, but Habs are good with depth scoring as well.

Defense edge goes to the Rangers as well: 1-6 they're as good defensively as any group in the league. However, they lack offense from the back end. The Habs don't have near the same level of defensive ability, but they do have Weber as a game breaker. However, he might be out for part of this series, so it remains to be seen as to whether he'll have an impact or not.

Special teams are a wash as both teams are nearly identical in the stats.

This boils down to whether the big players for Montreal (Price, Weber, Pacioretty) can carry their team past the Rangers who are more of a complete team throughout their lineup. I'm cautiously picking the Rangers to beat the Habs in 6.