Zach "manned the blog", as he said last night, and wrote a great post after Game 3. Check it out.
Here's the way I see the rest of this series. The Rangers can certainly win tomorrow night in a must-win game. They can win Game 5 in Pittsburgh. They can even win Game 6 at home in front of a boisterous crowd. But Game 7 at the Mellon Arena after winning three straight, against a lineup that stacked? That's a tough one.
But hey, it could be worse. Remember, the Rangers are only the fifth seed in the East. They're supposed to lose, right? Maybe they shouldn't be on the verge of a sweep, but the deck was stacked against the Rangers from the start. It's not as though they're the San Jose Sharks, a team that went twenty straight games without a regulation loss and went into the playoffs as a favorite to win the Cup. Those Sharks, by the way, are in the same predicament as the Rangers, playing a Dallas team that isn't nearly as good as the Penguins. So really, if you think about it, it's not all that bad.
Of course, tell that to a Ranger fan, and you'll hear a different story. And who could blame them? Their team is just one loss away from an early playoff exit. After adding Drury and Gomez, they stand a great chance of finishing exactly as they did last year. Not good.
It's a shame, too. Like Zach said, they were in each of the first three games. In fact, aside from the empty-net goal in Game 2, they were never more than a goal out of it prior to last night's third period. When I heard that stat, I thought about the 1993 Kings - a team that was on the verge of winning the Cup, but lost three games in overtime to the Canadiens. The Rangers haven't been quite as unfortunate - let's face it, they've done their share of gravedigging so far - but they've been right there.
As much as I hate Ryan Hollweg, I hope his penalty doesn't go down as the moment when the Rangers lost the series. Sure, the ensuing power play for Pittsburgh gave them the lead, killed the crowd, and basically ended the game. But the Rangers did lose the first two on the road, they have one power play goal all series, and they haven't exactly gotten stellar goaltending thus far. Unless, of course, you consider five goals on seventeen shots a quality outing.
So, what has to change in Game 4? Simply put, the Rangers need to focus solely on winning Game 4. They can't win four games in one night. The only thing they can do is try to get back to Pittsburgh. Then, once they get there, try to push the series back to New York. It's certainly not going to be easy... but if the Red Sox could do it four years ago, who's to say the Rangers or Sharks can't?
Here's the way I see the rest of this series. The Rangers can certainly win tomorrow night in a must-win game. They can win Game 5 in Pittsburgh. They can even win Game 6 at home in front of a boisterous crowd. But Game 7 at the Mellon Arena after winning three straight, against a lineup that stacked? That's a tough one.
But hey, it could be worse. Remember, the Rangers are only the fifth seed in the East. They're supposed to lose, right? Maybe they shouldn't be on the verge of a sweep, but the deck was stacked against the Rangers from the start. It's not as though they're the San Jose Sharks, a team that went twenty straight games without a regulation loss and went into the playoffs as a favorite to win the Cup. Those Sharks, by the way, are in the same predicament as the Rangers, playing a Dallas team that isn't nearly as good as the Penguins. So really, if you think about it, it's not all that bad.
Of course, tell that to a Ranger fan, and you'll hear a different story. And who could blame them? Their team is just one loss away from an early playoff exit. After adding Drury and Gomez, they stand a great chance of finishing exactly as they did last year. Not good.
It's a shame, too. Like Zach said, they were in each of the first three games. In fact, aside from the empty-net goal in Game 2, they were never more than a goal out of it prior to last night's third period. When I heard that stat, I thought about the 1993 Kings - a team that was on the verge of winning the Cup, but lost three games in overtime to the Canadiens. The Rangers haven't been quite as unfortunate - let's face it, they've done their share of gravedigging so far - but they've been right there.
As much as I hate Ryan Hollweg, I hope his penalty doesn't go down as the moment when the Rangers lost the series. Sure, the ensuing power play for Pittsburgh gave them the lead, killed the crowd, and basically ended the game. But the Rangers did lose the first two on the road, they have one power play goal all series, and they haven't exactly gotten stellar goaltending thus far. Unless, of course, you consider five goals on seventeen shots a quality outing.
So, what has to change in Game 4? Simply put, the Rangers need to focus solely on winning Game 4. They can't win four games in one night. The only thing they can do is try to get back to Pittsburgh. Then, once they get there, try to push the series back to New York. It's certainly not going to be easy... but if the Red Sox could do it four years ago, who's to say the Rangers or Sharks can't?
A) Lundqvist has been incredible this series. He is the reason it wasn't 3-0 in the first 5 minutes of Game 1, he is the reason they were in it at all in Game 2, and he played good last night, but not great. He did have some real good stops, and most of the goals were good ones.
ReplyDeleteHe wasn't the one who told 4 Rangers to stare at the guy behind the net and completely ignore Laraque coming up at the net alone.
2) Teams came back from down 3 games in 1942 and 1975. That's 33 years apart. What's 33 years after 75? Yes, 2008.
D) However, it has all the makings of a collapse. Shanahan disappearing, Drury hurt, Avery hospitalized, Betts hurt.