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• Celebrating hockey’s ‘anti-heroes’

Stanley Cup Playoffs 2013, Bruins vs. Rangers Game 3: Time, TV schedule and more

2013-05-21T17:00:05Z

The New York Rangers will be in a familiar position on Tuesday night. This is the second consecutive round that the Rangers will have fallen down 2-0 in a postseason series. For the second straight round, they are returning home to Madison Square Garden to face this deficit. Of course, the very fact that they are in the second round tells you the obvious: that doing so in the last round led to the start of their comeback. They will try to win four out of five for the second straight series starting on Tuesday against the Boston Bruins.

They will try to do that just two days after playing their worst game of the postseason. The offense was limp, their defense -- even top dogs Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh -- was tissue paper, and Henrik Lundqvist surrendered five goals. You play another game like that, and you're basically dead in the water. The Rangers, their coaches, players and fans all know this.

For more on the series visit: Bruins blog Stanley Cup of Chowder Rangers blog Blueshirt Banter

Should the Rangers play an improved game on Tuesday night and win Game 3, then you start to build a little doubt. Remember, this is a Boston team that almost gave away a 3-1 series lead just a week ago. This is a Rangers team that fully came back from a 2-0 deficit just a week ago. The Rangers win tonight, and it is a series. They lose, and it becomes a laugher.

Will Boston's young defense continue to step up?

Torey Krug is an undrafted, 22-year-old defenseman out of Michigan State. After playing three career games in the NHL, he was called up from AHL Providence to replace the broken three (Wade Redden, Dennis Seidenberg and Andrew Ference) of the Bruins' defense. He has two goals and an assist in the first two games of this series. While 19-year-old Dougie Hamilton got beat by Ryan Callahan on the Rangers' first goal of Game 2, he has also not killed Boston in this series. Matt Bartkowski has also contributed. Redden may return to the lineup tonight (he is a game-time decision), but Dennis Seidenberg will likely not play, so all three of these young men will remain in. Do they, or at least Krug, keep their momentum going?

How will Henrik Lundqvist rebound?

Henrik Lundqvist had not surrendered five goals in a hockey game since 2011 before Sunday afternoon's barrage of Boston goals. It's very unlikely that this is going to happen again, two games in a row. The question remains, however, will Henrik Lundqvist bring his best game to steal the series back for the Rangers? It really is imperative that he be a brick wall again if they're going to win the series.

Where will the Rangers offense come from?

As much as the onus might be on Lundqvist, the Rangers have put up four goals or more three times in this postseason. It's not as if they're a team incapable of putting the puck in the net when everything gets moving. Will they respond with a little more offense at Madison Square Garden? Or has the well on all of John Tortorella's offensive options finally run dry?

Game Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
National TV: NBC Sports Network, TSN

More in the NHL:

• Celebrating hockey’s ‘anti-heroes’

CBC adds Martin Brodeur to panel this week

2013-05-21T15:32:46Z

CBC's Hockey Night in Canada is adding 669 wins and 121 shutouts to its studio panel this week.

Martin Brodeur -- the National Hockey League's all-time leader in wins, shutouts, playoff shutouts, wins in a single season, consecutive 30-win seasons, consecutive 35-win seasons and 40-win seasons -- will join the CBC studio team starting on Wednesday, when the network covers Game 4 of the Penguins and Senators. The New Jersey Devils goaltender is scheduled to be in the studio for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night. He will work with Ron MacLean, PJ Stock, Elliotte Friedman, Glenn Healy, Kevin Weekes (a former backup of Brodeur's), and Andi Petrillo in the studio between periods.

"With so much playoff experience and success, Martin brings an extra layer of insight and expertise to our already stellar team," said Trevor Pilling, head of sports programming, CBC. "He's a future Hall of Famer and our viewers will no doubt benefit from his experience and playoff wisdom. He adds a new point of view to the broadcast and we're excited to have him as part of the Hockey Night in Canada family."

"I am thrilled to join the esteemed team of broadcasters at Hockey Night in Canada, and look forward to sharing my insight and perspective with viewers," Brodeur said.

Brodeur, 41, still has another year left on his contract with the Devils, but is likely looking into a life after hockey. Brodeur is not necessarily known for saying outrageous or provocative things, but has long been known as a good quote and a personable voice in the Devils locker room. He also adds a second Quebecois voice to the panel, in addition to PJ Stock. It'll be interesting to see how Brodeur translates to television, as often Hall of Famers (or, in Brodeur's case, future-Hall of Famers) are not considered, or don't go after TV jobs. The last hockey player of this calibre I can recall doing TV is Mark Messier, who used to make monthly appearances on VERSUS.

More in the NHL:

• Celebrating hockey’s ‘anti-heroes’

Weekend Ratings Breakdown: Big drops for NBA Playoffs, MLB on Fox

2013-05-20T17:10:24Z

This is Weekend Ratings Breakdown, which takes a look at all the ratings from big sporting events over the past weekend. Numbers are from Sports Business Daily, while some of the numbers come from press releases via NBC and ESPN.

Saturday, May 18

1 p.m. ET - Stanley Cup Playoffs: Detroit vs. Chicago, Game 2 (NBC): 1.4
3 p.m. ET - PGA: Byron Nelson Championship, Third Round (CBS): 1.3
4 p.m. ET - MLB on Fox: regional action (Cincinnati vs. Philadelphia, Tampa Bay vs. Baltimore, CHI White Sox vs. LA Angels) (Fox): 1.4
5:45 p.m. ET - Preakness Stakes (NBC): 6.0
8 p.m. ET - NBA Playoffs: New York vs. Indiana, Game 6 (ESPN): 4.1

Sunday, May 19

1 p.m. ET - Amgen Tour of California: Stage 8 (NBC): 0.6
3 p.m. ET - NBA Countdown (ABC): 1.4
3 p.m. ET - PGA Tour: Byron Nelson Championship, Final Round (CBS): 2.1
3 p.m. ET - Stanley Cup Playoffs: NY Rangers vs. Boston, Game 2 (NBC): 1.9
3:30 p.m. ET - NBA Playoffs: Memphis vs. San Antonio, Game 1 (ABC): 3.9
7:30 p.m. ET - Stanley Cup Playoffs: Pittsburgh vs. Ottawa, Game 3 (NBCSN): 1.1
8 p.m. ET - Sunday Night Baseball: Detroit vs. Texas (ESPN): 1.3

Once again, let's break everything down by sport, shall we?

Basketball: We all kind of knew that Grizzlies/Spurs was facing a bit of an uphill climb in terms of TV ratings due to smaller markets and (in the Grizzlies case) somewhat unknown commodities from a national television standpoint, and Game 1 proved that theory. The 3.9 rating for Game 1 was the lowest-rated NBA Conference Final Game 1 since 2007, when Cavs/Pistons (3.5) and Jazz/Spurs (3.8) were lower.

Knicks/Pacers was down 26 percent from last year's timeslot, though that featured a Game 7 between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics. It still managed to be the highest-rated NBA game of the weekend.

Hockey: Because of the lockout, you have to look at NHL post-season ratings two different ways: vs. the comparable broadcast weekend last year and vs. the comparable playoff weekend last year. In the former, the NHL on NBC was up in big numbers, while the latter showed it even or down with last year's second round.

Red Wings/Blackhawks was a bit of a stinker in an early timeslot, and was down a tick from Rangers/Capitals in last year's Conference Semifinals (1.5), but up a tick from Game 3 of the Rangers/Devils Conference Final series, which aired on the comparable weekend last year (1.3).

Rangers/Bruins, despite the blowout, was even with last year's Devils/Flyers game on the comparable Conference Semifinal weekend, but nearly doubled the Coyotes/Kings Game 4 that aired on NBC a year ago last weekend (1.1). So... an up weekend for NBC, but a slightly down what for the NHL? Fair?

Baseball: MLB on Fox began their primetime series on this weekend last year, so not quite fair to compare the drop from a 2.4 last year to a 1.4 this year. Fox's MLB coverage continues to get beaten up quite a bit, however.

Horse Racing: The Preakness Stakes were up slightly (5.6 to 6.0) from 2012.

Golf: Both Byron Nelson Championship telecasts picked up a tick from last year's 1.2 for Round 3 and 1.8 for the Final Round.

Stanley Cup Playoffs 2013, Penguins vs. Senators Game 3: Time, TV schedule and more

2013-05-19T16:30:08Z

The Ottawa Senators played better in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series with the Pittsburgh Penguins. They only lost by a goal, and they put in three. Sidney Crosby, however, put in his second postseason hat trick, Brendan Morrow added one, the Pens chased Craig Anderson, and that was all Pittsburgh needed to push Ottawa into what is essentially a must-win Game 3.

The Senators still haven't played their A-game in the series. Not only did Anderson give up the entire hat trick, he gave up four goals in 28 minutes, getting pulled for Robin Lehner, who many would argue played a lot better than Anderson did in a game and a half. Erik Karlsson looked average again, getting taken to school by Crosby on his first goal. You have to wonder just how healthy he is right now.

Game 3 takes place at Scotiabank Place, and features a lineup change that could be the Sens' last gasp at making a move in this series. Jason Spezza, out for the last 50 games after surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back, will draw into the Ottawa lineup. This means that pretty much every major figure who got hurt during the Senators' stunning run to the postseason -- Anderson, Karlsson, Milan Michalek, Jared Cowen -- has finally returned. They'll see if they can turn the series around in Game 3 on Sunday night.

Is Jason Spezza's return too little too late?

Spezza is, no doubt, an elite forward. But is an elite forward who just missed the last four months and probably not coming back at 100 percent worth the risk? Karlsson has already showed that, at times, it might not be good to rush back from major injury. Spezza is a champ for coming back all this way, but the Senators have already stayed on schedule by making it a round further than they did last year. You have to wonder if there might come a moment where it would be more wise not to play all the recovering stars.

What's Sid got for a follow up?

New York Islander fans derided him as "Princess Crosby" during round one, but he was no less than a king on Friday night. His hat trick displayed all the different skills Gentleman Sid (because Sid the Kid is silly now) has in his arsenal: a brilliant deke by Karlsson, a bank shot that handcuffed Craig Anderson and a pure slap shot. The best player on earth lived up to his name and more on Friday. Can he top it?

Is Tomas Vokoun that much of an improvement?

Tomas Vokouns hasn't played all that well in his last three games. He's won all of them, but he's given up eight goals despite not being tested that much, especially in the two against the Senators. He only made 19 saves on 22 shots Friday night. That's not good enough against a team that will, ostensibly, become more dangerous offensively on Sunday. He will need to be better, or the goaltending carousel in Pittsburgh might take another turn.

Game Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
National TV: CBC, NBC Sports Network

More in the NHL:

• Are the Sens now ‘Canada’s Team?’

NHL Playoffs 2013: Bruins take 2-0 lead, Sens stun Pens

2013-05-19T16:02:42Z

The Bruins extended their series lead over the Rangers to 2-0 on Sunday, while the Senators won the first multi-overtime game of the 2013 playoffs.

The Boston Bruins played about as dominant an overtime period as you're going to see against the New York Rangers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series. Not only did they have a power play (which they failed to convert on), but they owned most of the territorial play, outshot the Rangers 16-5, and continuously came close to beating Ranger goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. They finally broke through at 15:40, when Brad Marchand tipped home a shot to give the Bruins a 3-2 win.

Boston was largely the better team and deserved a win, but they had a definite weak period. After taking a 1-0 lead on Zdeno Chara's goal, the Rangers really started to come on. They outshot the Bruins 13-9 and were rewarded at 18:58 with Ryan McDonagh's game-tying goal. They took that momentum into the third, and technically scored 16 seconds later. An excellent snap shot by Derek Stepan at 16 seconds made it 2-1.

The Rangers were looking set. They looked like the better team at that point and had finally claimed a lead on the road. Things changed, however, when a Steve Eminger holding penalty put the Rangers on their heels, and rookie Torey Krug made them pay. Not only did that goal tie the game, it gave the Bruins their momentum back. Shots were 28-14 in the third period and overtime, and the Rangers didn't come close to matching Boston's intensity the rest of the way.

The two teams reconvene for Game 2 on Sunday afternoon. Both teams have had two days off to rest from Game 1, and to rest further still from the intense seven-game series both finished on Monday, which means the two clubs have only played once in six days. Things start to ramp up a bit from here, so there's no time to be off your game. Game 2 is important to both teams, because the Rangers have been better on home ice than the Bruins, and stealing a game on the road might be more important to them.

Can Henrik Lundqvist ever catch a break?

Lundqvist is 3-11 in his first 14 playoff overtimes, which is more rotten luck than anything worth blaming on Lundqvist. For example, Martin Brodeur went 3-11 in his first 14 playoff overtimes. Number 15 was the game that brought him his second Stanley Cup championship. Lundqvist will be fine, but it'd be nice to see the Rangers win one for him, similar to Game 7 against the Capitals, where he doesn't have to be great, but is anyway.

Will Jaromir Jagr ever score in the playoffs again?

Jagr, one of the all-time great scorers, has scored just once in post-season play since he returned to the National Hockey League in 2011. He hasn't scored a playoff goal in 17 post-season games, dating back to Game 2 of the Flyers vs. Penguins series in 2012. No one's expecting Jagr to be scoring and his pace from years past, but the Bruins acquired him at the deadline to at least put a few pucks in the net. Getting him going could be a real X-factor in this series

Are Nash and Seguin really gonna' spend another round slumping?

Speaking of X-factors, while Rick Nash got an assist on Thursday night in Game 1, these two are still without a post-season goal. For as long as this streak keeps going on, it'll continue to be a narrative in the series. Both players are certainly playing okay, but you have to see both of them start putting pucks in the net. Especially when your team is on the losing end, like Nash's was in Game 1.

Game Time: 3 p.m. ET
National TV: NBC, TSN

Stanley Cup Playoffs 2013, Rangers vs. Bruins Game 2: Time, TV schedule and more

2013-05-19T15:59:49Z

Boston was largely the better team and deserved a win, but the Bruins had a definite weak period. After taking a 1-0 lead on Zdeno Chara's goal, the Rangers really started to come on. They outshot the Bruins 13-9 and were rewarded at 18:58 with Ryan McDonagh's game-tying goal. They took that momentum into the third, and technically scored 16 seconds later. An excellent snap shot by Derek Stepan to start the period made it 2-1.

The two teams reconvene for Game 2 on Sunday afternoon after two days off to further recover from the intense seven-game series both finished on Monday, which means the two clubs have only played once in six days. Things start to ramp up a bit from here, so there's no time to be off your game. Game 2 is important to both teams, because the Rangers have been better on home ice than the Bruins, and stealing a game on the road might be more important to them.

Can Henrik Lundqvist ever catch a break?

Lundqvist is 3-11 in his first 14 playoff overtimes, which is more rotten luck than anything else. Martin Brodeur also went 3-11 in his first 14 playoff overtimes. Number 15 was the game that brought him his second Stanley Cup championship. Lundqvist will be fine, but it'd be nice to see the Rangers win one for him, similar to Game 7 against the Capitals, where he doesn't have to be great, but is anyway.

Will Jaromir Jagr ever score in the playoffs again?

Jagr, one of the all-time great scorers, has scored just once in postseason play since he returned to the National Hockey League in 2011. He hasn't scored a playoff goal in 17 postseason games, dating back to Game 2 of the Flyers vs. Penguins series in 2012. No one's expecting Jagr to be scoring at his pace from years past, but the Bruins acquired him at the deadline to at least put a few pucks in the net. Getting him going could be a real X-factor in this series

Are Nash and Seguin really gonna spend another round slumping?

Speaking of X-factors, while Rick Nash got an assist on Thursday night in Game 1, these two are still without a postseason goal. For as long as this streak stays alive, it'll continue to be a narrative in the series. Both players are certainly playing okay, but you have to see both of them start to score, especially when your team is on the losing end, like Nash's was in Game 1.

Game Time: 3 p.m. ET
National TV: NBC, TSN

More in the NHL:

• Are the Sens now ‘Canada’s Team?’