Los Angeles Kings v New York Rangers (Staples Center)
Time: 5:00 PM
TV: CBC, RDS, NBC
Enemy reading: Blueshirt Banter
Rangers (projected) lineup:
Kreider-Stepan-Nash
Hagelin-Richards-St. Louis
Pouliot-Brassard-Zuccarello
Boyle-Moore-Dorsett
McDonagh-Girardi
Staal-Stralman
Diaz-Klein
Lundqvist
Injured: JT Miller; Scratched: Jesper Fast, Ryan Haggerty, Oscar Lindberg, Justin Falk; Suspended for being an asshole: Dan Carcillo, John Moore
Kings (projected) lineup:
Gaborik-Kopitar-Brown
Pearson-Carter-Toffoli
King-Stoll-Williams
Clifford-Richards-Lewis
Muzzin-Doughty
Mitchell-Voynov
Greene-Martinez
Quick
Scratched: Robyn Regehr, Jeff Schultz, Jordan Nolan, Andy Andreoff, Patrik Bartosak, Derek Forbort, Colin Miller, Scott Sabourin, Nick Shore, Jordan Weal, Brayden McNabb, Andrew Bodnarchuk, Linden Vey, Andrew Campbell, Colin Fraser
Game notes:
- Oh hey, a hockey game. I will be watching tonight safely from my underwater bunker (it was just a regular old underground bunker but then everything got flooded by the tears of Chris Kreider truthers), but for those of you going to the game tonight, have a ridiculously good time. From here on out, win or lose, ride or die, we’re having fun, okay? No whining, no complaining, no bullshit. Watching your favourite team play for the Stanley Cup is fun and great. People grew up and got
oldmiddle-aged watching this team with no reward except for Patrick Roy’s stupid misogynist face – now they’re in their second Final in three years and you will goddamn act appropriately. - (Okay, now that we’ve got that settled, I’m going to make a bunch of mean jokes about the Rangers because I’m a mean person. This is your warning, people who act like giant babies because they hate the sports opinions of strangers on the internet. Engage in deep breathing. Do some sudoku puzzles. You’re gonna make it after all!!)
- Yesterday, Eric took a look at the Rangers’ forward lines and how they match up against the Kings. Anze Kopitar is basically what Derek Stepan wishes he could be when he grows up, which would be fine except that this game is being played now and so it’s just a little sad. Also – damn, learn how to take a faceoff, son.
- Also yesterday, Andrew took a look at the Rangers’ defencemen and how they match up against the Kings, devastating the tens of people who for some reason thought that Ryan McDonagh is anywhere near as good as Drew Doughty is. The one upside of this series is that, while it will be short, it will at least let future King Anton Stralman get a better look at the team with which he will win his first Stanley Cup in 2015.
- And finally, the goaltending. Nobody wrote an article about the goaltending because there’s not much to say other than that Henrik Lundqvist has been tremendously good and Jonathan Quick has been tremendously not good. Trying to predict goalie performance aside from general tendencies is basically worthless, but the obvious general tendency is that Lundqvist is a much better goalie than Quick.
- Nick also posted a general underlying numbers review, which reinforced the basic idea that the Rangers have been good but have faced weak competition in the playoffs. I look forward to the swarms of commenters who will now misgender him while calling for his head – that’s how this works, right?
- The Rangers and Kings will both line up tonight as they did throughout their respective conference finals. The only lineup news of note is that Robyn Regehr, who was injured by notorious villain Teemu Selanne during the second round, appears to be almost healthy and ready to go. He is not, however, playing tonight. Let us hold hands and give thanks.
- ~Fun With Numbers~ from Extra Skater.
- Prediction: As if. Kings in four.