Pick Your Poison -- Boston or Montreal?

[Greg02]

Yeah but Talbot totally owned them this year. I don't know, Henrik is DIALED IN right now, so maybe it is a bit overblown.

This is also the playoffs. It's different.

 

[I Eat Crow]

It really doesn't matter as far as I'm concerned. We've been through two long series, but Boston and Montreal was a war. Both teams will both be pretty physically worn down.

Tough choice. Both teams have elite goaltending, good team defense, and balanced scoring.

 

[wolfgaze]

If Stepan, Nash, and to some degree MSL would find their games for the next series, we will give either team a run for their money in a 7 game series....

 

[thepoeticgoblin]

Voted MTL but am sure we'll get BOS. I hold Rask and Price to the same standards so that's a toss up but have a hard time imagining being able to handle BOS physicality over potentially 7 games. Plus, they really had our number last time around.

However, MTL away is no joke.

 

[Fitzy]

Montreal has a great speed and counter-attack, Boston grinds you down physically.

Because the Rangers do much better with puck position than on breaks (How many odd man rushes did we spoil last night?) I'd rather play the counter-attacking team. At least that way both teams play their strengths rather than NYR getting penned in their own zone for long periods of time.

 

[Zucc36]

Easy choice. Montreal. Don´t think Rangers stand much of a chance against Boston.

 

[beastly115]

Boston.

Hank always seems to stone them and playing in Montreal always seems to give the Rangers fits.

 

[haveandare]

I honestly don't have a preference. They're both dangerous in their own ways. I had absolutely no faith in MTL this post season, but I'll admit that they look good and it'd be a hell of a series against them.

For potentially playing MTL, you gotta wonder how McD will play. I'd imagine he'd have an extra jump in his step. Obviously, that trade was a disaster and literally everyone knows it now, but there's still got to be a part of him that wants to bury that team and just reinforce it once more.

 

[SavedByLundqvist]

Montreal, just because I'm so tired of Boston.

 

[CharlieCharleschuk]

Rangers are really not very good defending the counter attack, breakaways and the like. Plus our record in Montreal is terrible.

I hope we face Boston again. We can take them.

 

[corduroyg]

montreal. this series is their stanley cup finals, if they beat boston theyre gonna have a letdown against us. theyre gonna overlook us. boston knows what it takes to go all the way. i think the "we usually struggle against montreal" goes out the window considering what we just did to pittsburgh. we never beat them in a playoff series, crosby/malkin always seemed to have hank's number, and we took care of them.

go habs!

 

[Whiplash27]

Only thing about Montreal is that they've only played 11 games whereas Boston has played 13. The Rangers have played 14. I don't know how big of a difference those 3 games would be, but that can be taken into consideration.

 

[schabadoo]

Only thing about Montreal is that they've only played 11 games whereas Boston has played 13. The Rangers have played 14. I don't know how big of a difference those 3 games would be, but that can be taken into consideration.

The Rangers will probably be off until Sunday. That's a lot of rest.

 

[Miamipuck]

I don't prefer either. They both have strong goaltending and we all know the Rangers penchant for making even mediocre goaltending look like Hank.

That said from a physical standpoint, I think Boston is a worse matchup.

 

[Beacon]

If I can play two equal teams, I prefer the less physical one. If we get out of the ECF, I don't want this team unable to move in the Finals. I also don't want to risk an injury early in this series that would cripple our chances.

On top of that, the Habs are worse than Da Bears. They would also be the team that just came out of a series being run over by Lucic, Chara, etc. With them having one day less of rest and a far more physical round 2 opponent, we might be able to take advantage of them either in game 1 to steal it on the road or late in the series if we pound them hard where they will run out of energy.

The Rangers having a day off while the Habs get pounded hard by the Bears in Game 7 is a pretty significant advantage at this stage.

 

[Unpredictable1]

You guys must not live where many Habs fans reside. Boston is the easy pick for me.

Us doing back to back 7 game series doesn't bode well for us moving on part this round.

 

[SlapshotTheMovie]

Eh. Can we not get either and just advance to the finals?

This all day.


Both teams are really tough. I think it would be very hard to get past boston without injuries. They hit and they slow us down a lot. I imagine we would be busted up and Hank would be working over time to pull out the wins.

Montreal I don't think poses the same threats. Those games will all be about who can set the tone for each game. I think Price is A LOT better then Rask right now. I think we play a faster game then Montreal and I think our energy level is at a good place to use it. Hank has an easier time shutting down skilled players then guys are are leaving bodies in front of him and just throwing everything at the net and crashing.

Also if Montreal wins Boston will have beaten the ever loving life out of them before ending their season early.

 

[cjc5103]

Easy: Montreal

Boston would just play like they did last year vs us and just own. We need the Habs to win tonight.

 

[94wasagoodyear]

Boston is clearly the better, more physical team. However, Montreal scares me because they are in a similar position to us. If they are to beat Boston tonight, they would have the same mentality as us heading into the ECF. The overachieving, can't be stop underdog mentality. Some times I'd rather face the heavy favorite that is expected to win rather than the underdog, Cinderella team.

Not to mention, Bell Center is much more difficult atmosphere to play in than TD Bank.

 

[Beacon]

i think the "we usually struggle against montreal" goes out the window considering what we just did to pittsburgh.

Leading up to the 1994 playoffs, I desperately did not want to play the Islanders. We were winless in the Mausoleum for 14 games in a row. At one point during the 1993-94 season we were going to set the team's unbeaten streak, but we lost to the Isles on national television during the Sunday afternoon game.

The Islanders were a real threat that we simply did not match up well against. I desperately wanted the Panthers, but they collapsed in the final couple of weeks of regular season, giving away a 6-7 point lead on the Islanders.

Then the playoffs came around. 6-0 and 6-0 at home, but can we really break the unbeaten streak in the Mausoleum? 5-1 and 5-2. Series over.

The moral of the story is that losing a few regular season games means nothing in the playoffs.

Montreal is not as good as Boston, and given the physicality level between the two squads, they are probably more physically beaten, so we have to go with the Habs.

 

[Beacon]

The Rangers will probably be off until Sunday. That's a lot of rest.

Are we not showing up to Game 1? Why would the league give us that much time off?

I would prefer to have the next game as soon as possible since the Bears and the Habs are playing one day after us. Don't want them to get rest. I'd prefer it if we got back to playing on Friday with Game 2 on Sunday.

The extra day is a day of rest for us (but not for our opponents) and then they'll be forced to go right back to practice the following day, while still tired from Game 7.

 

[Beacon]

Us doing back to back 7 game series doesn't bode well for us moving on part this round.

That's true normally, but since our opponent will be coming off Game 7, played one day after us, I think we'll be ok.

 

[Clown Fiesta]

Doesn't matter, gotta beat the best to be the best. Don't want Boston because my uncle is a Bruins fan. Don't want Montreal because they are Montreal and it's annoying.

 

[Swept In Seven]

Either way it will be no walk in the park

 

[rangers5000]

Boston is clearly the better, more physical team. However, Montreal scares me because they are in a similar position to us. If they are to beat Boston tonight, they would have the same mentality as us heading into the ECF. The overachieving, can't be stop underdog mentality. Some times I'd rather face the heavy favorite that is expected to win rather than the underdog, Cinderella team.

Not to mention, Bell Center is much more difficult atmosphere to play in than TD Bank.

this plus boston has played way more games this last year, and chara i believe will slow down
going as deep as they went last year, there style of play, coming off another hard series vs montreal very good chance they are tired