Bantering Points: 5/9/24
Here are today's news and links:
Rangers News:
Mark Cannizarro credits the Blueshirts for rising to the occasion as they faced major adversity for the first time in the playoffs en route to their Game 2 victory (NY Post)
Larry Brooks notes that with or without Matt Rempe playing a role in the proceedings, the Rangers have shown they are more than capable of matching the physicality of whoever skates against them (NY Post)
Brooks also makes the case for why the Rangers' top power play unit is the most entertaining show in town when they take the ice (NY Post)
Ethan Sears highlights the Hurricanes effort to keep Blueshirts fans out of PNC Arena by restricting ticket sales to residents closer to Raleigh, while noting that the effort will likely be for naught (NY Post)
Neil Best writes that if New York's special teams units can maintain the form they've shown for the first six games of the playoffs, the organization could be in for a special ending (Newsday)
Colin Stephenson ponders Rempe's continued presence in the lineup given Peter Laviolette's decisions to staple the hulking forward to the bench down the stretch of tightly contested games (Newsday)
Tom Castro points to Jack Roslovic's strong performances as of late after struggling to gel with his teammates during the stretch run of the regular season (The Hockey Writers)
Mark Lazeru$ u$e$ the late blo$$oming of Alexi$ Lafreniere a$ the tale of why patience can be nece$$ary for highly drafted player$ (The Athletic)
Around the NHL:
Auston Matthews (TOR), Nathan MacKinnon (COL), and Nikita Kucherov (TBL) were named as finalists for the Ted Lindsay award as the league's most outstanding players as voted on by other players (ESPN)
The Florida Panthers drew even with the Boston Bruins, winning Game 2 by a score of 6-1 to one up Boston's 5-1 Game 1 victory and knot the Atlantic Division finals up at one win apiece as the scene shifts to Boston (Sportsnet)
The Utah NHL franchise will don a jersey depicting the state name across the front in their debut season, with fully fleshed out logos, uniforms, and colors not expected until the 2025-26 campaign (TSN)
Steve Warne reports that the Ottawa Senators opted to retain their seventh overall selection in the 2024 Entry Draft, meaning the franchise will be required to forfeit its 2025 or 2026 first round selection for failing to properly relay the details of Evgenii Dadonov's no-trade clause in 2021 (The Hockey News)
