BLOOD ON THE ICE: The Rangers’ Brian Boyle lies on the ice after a hit from the Senators’ Chris Neil during the third period of the Blueshirts’ 2-0 loss Saturday in Game 5 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series. Game 6 is tonight in Ottawa. (AP)
BLOOD ON THE ICE: The Rangers’ Brian Boyle lies on the ice after a hit from the Senators’ Chris Neil during the third period of the Blueshirts’ 2-0 loss Saturday in Game 5 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series. Game 6 is tonight in Ottawa. (AP)
The Rangers will gladly welcome Carl Hagelin back to the lineup for Game 6 of their first-round series tonight in Ottawa, now that Hagelin has served his three-game suspension for a hit on Ottawa’s Daniel Alfredsson in Game 2.
They also will likely be wondering why the Senators will have the services of forward Chris Neil, whom the NHL declined to discipline yesterday for his unpenalized hit on Brian Boyle early in the third period of Saturday’s 2-0 Rangers loss.
Boyle, like Alfredsson, suffered a concussion from the hit. And while Alfredsson skated in Ottawa yesterday, Rangers coach John Tortorella said he didn’t know whether Boyle would fly north with his teammates.
Tortorella also wasn’t interested in commenting on the league’s decision yesterday.
After Saturday’s loss, Tortorella compared the hit to the one that Phoenix forward Raffi Torres delivered to Chicago forward Marian Hossa, a hit that earned Torres a 25-game suspension.
While Boyle’s status is unclear, Hagelin is excited about the opportunity to rejoin his teammates on the ice tonight.
“I’m excited to get back,” Hagelin said after he was one of only a few players to take part in an optional skate at the team’s practice facility. “We’re down 3-2, and we want to get the next one here. … That’s the only thing on my mind right now.”
After a season full of successes, including amassing 51 wins, an Atlantic Division title and finishing atop the Eastern Conference, the Rangers’ season now comes down to tonight’s game, as the Blueshirts will attempt to come back from a 3-2 deficit in a playoff series for only the second time in franchise history.
The only time they have done it came in 1994, when they won Games 6 and 7 against the Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals before going on to win the Stanley Cup.
“Whoever is going to win, has to win four, and no one’s done that yet,” said Brad Richards, one of the many players who didn’t skate yesterday. “For us to win, we’re going to have to play seven games.”
After spending the last three games without him, Richards and Marian Gaborik will presumably have Hagelin back alongside them on the Rangers’ top line, with the young winger hoping to continue the success he had with the Blueshirts’ top two offensive threats down the stretch.
“I’m just gonna try to do my job,” Hagelin said. “Get on pucks, use my speed.
“The way I played this year, I tried to create turnovers, and I need to do the same thing now.”
If Boyle misses tonight’s game, that will guarantee rookie Chris Kreider will remain in the lineup. Kreider, who took Hagelin’s spot when he was suspended, saw 7:34 of ice time in Saturday’s loss, and could be in line for even more work tonight.
“I think it’s just being more comfortable every single shift,” Kreider said. “There’s so much to learn. … I’ve been able to take away something from every single shift and every single game.”