Look, I’m not going to totally sugarcoat the situation the Rangers find themselves in but I can tell you one thing, it’s not over ‘til it’s over. This could arguably be the most frustrating seven day span in the times of a Rangers fan and believe me, we’ve seen some frustrating times. The fact that they were up 2-0 in the series, the fact that one little goal could’ve had them threatening a sweep, the fact that this is the most star studded roster we have ever seen take the ice for this team and the fact that the expectations are so damn high all combine for the perfect storm that is the frustration surrounding where the Rangers reside. Although if there is one thing we’ve learned from this team’s run last year it’s that you can’t count them out until they’re out and while things really aren’t looking great, you have to keep that in mind.
Again, with how great the expectations are for this team, you can’t justify or excuse the results of the last couple of games and credit does have to be given to this Devils team. However, something, SOMETHING has to give. You have a roster that consists of Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, Christopher Kreider, not to mention all the others. Getting shutout by a goalie most people have never heard of is unacceptable. TWO SHOTS ON GOAL IN THE THIRD PERIOD can not happen. I don’t care how good the Devils play, TWO SHOTS?! FIGURE IT OUT. To Mika’s credit, you could tell he stepped up his game a little bit going into tonight. He was really moving out there, doing as much as he can but again, none of it matters when you’re not getting on the scoresheet.
I’m not even going to go down the list and talk about each goal or each moment of that game, it can all be summed up in that first 40 seconds. Rangers actually win the initial face-off, spend some time in the Devils zone, they go the other way with it and get a face-off in the Rangers zone. What’s worse than losing a face-off? Winning one back that hits off your goalie, lands right on the stick of an opposing player and rolls off, up your goalie and into the back of the net. I cannot stress enough how important starts to these games can be and low and behold, the game was pretty much decided in the first minute of action.
Special teams were again, a non-factor, nothing seemed to work, frustrations were visibly boiling over, Igor Shesterkin really getting the Henrik Lundqvist treatment of having to do everything for this team. THE MAN LITERALLY HAD A SHOT ON GOAL. Hell, he probably had one of the best scoring chances of the night when there was a mad scram in front of the Devils net in the third period and he came out to play the puck at his blueline as the chaos continued to ensue… Two shots on goal in the third period, unforgiving. I don’t know what else to say. We know what this team is capable of and we know what they have to do. Everything up to this point is irrelevant. Win two hockey games.
Chris Feldman
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