Tonight’s recap is sponsored by the Fyre Festival. “One cluster F deserves another.”
Expectation vs. Reality#fyre #fyrefestival pic.twitter.com/U80NApajxl
— William Needham Finley IV (@WNFIV) April 28, 2017
The New York Rangers lost to the Ottawa Senators by the score of 6-5 in the second overtime of Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Semi-Final match-up. Ottawa leads the series 2-0. For a box score, click here.
3 Stars
1st Star – Booze
2nd Star – TUMS
3rd Star – Anti-Depressants
Post Game Cocktail Hard Core Drug Recommendation
I’ll let my good friend Steve McCroskey take this one…
Gif of the Game
Us too JT, us too.
No Killer Instinct
One glaring negative throughout this amazing run of playoff appearances for the Rangers has been their difficulty closing out games. Even when they do hold on, it’s usually because Lundqvist had to stand on his head.
Whether it was Drury’s goal with 7.7 seconds remaining…
Blowing two, two-goal leads in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Kings…
Or Game 2 of the previous series against Montreal when Plekanic tied it with 17 seconds remaining…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKX7vVskPVA
…the Rangers have lacked that killer instinct. And this isn’t exclusive to just AV as both Renney and Tortorella coached the same way. Sit back and hope Hank can hold on. While more often than not, the Rangers All World netminder is able to seal the deal, unfortunately, taking their foot off the gas has left the Blueshirts vulnerable to these horrific collapses. Not sure there’s a team in the league that craps their pants when down 6-on-5 more than the Rangers.
We just have to hope this is the straw that broke the camel’s back because when the Rangers have an opponent down, they need to start stepping on their throat.
Hank Can’t Always Be Hank
Lundqvist was 100% guilty, tonight. That’s right, 100% guilty of not being Hank. Unfortunately, when that happens his teammates are exposed for what they really are: a very flawed ice hockey team.
You see, Craig Anderson forgot how to goalie for half of Game 2, but his teammates were able to put him on their shoulders and carry him to victory. Ask yourself this Rangers fans, when was the last time the Blueshirts carried Lundqvist?
Sure, they gave him five goals tonight, but they also gave him brutal defense, awful coaching and zero offensive zone pressure during the final five minutes of the game.
This isn’t meant to excuse Lundqvist, because he needed to be better tonight, but if he’s not perfect in the postseason the Rangers don’t win.
Skjei What?!?!?
Alain Vigneault decided to play Nick Holden six minutes more than the defenseman who did this tonight…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgfXq3hGtHI
You have to wonder how many times Holden and Staal are going to have to fail in the clutch before Skjei and Smith (didn’t get a shift in the final five minutes of regulation) succeed them as the second pairing.
No Luck Nash
I know Nash has finally been producing in the postseason, but is there a play that exemplifies his Rangers playoff experience more than this…
Ok maybe this…
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtZSgANdsHg&w=560&h=315&start=458&end=499]Mini Recap
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEMHtoWGLW0
A horrific Girardi giveaway and blowing a two goal lead? What is this the 2014 Stanley Cup Final?
Good God that game was sloppy. On both sides. Penalties, turnovers, odd man rushes, inopportune icings. It had it all. It was a wild ride that would have made Mr. Toad jealous.
As I sat here and wondered how the Rangers are down 0-2 to a far inferior team, it dawned on me that maybe I’m not giving the Senators the credit they deserve. Can this be their game plan and the Rangers are falling prey to it? Could it be that while the Rangers are pointing the gun at their own foot, it’s the Senators who are pulling the trigger? The Senators are known for sitting back and being opportunistic and that’s pretty much how this series has played out.
Got to assume Tanner Glass replaces Buchnevich in Game 3 as the Russian rookie was completely invisible during the third period and overtime…
If you haven't noticed, Buchnevich got one shift in third (on PP), and hasn't played in OT. Stapled. Vesey, Lindberg, also limited. #NYR
— Brett Cyrgalis (@BrettCyrgalis) April 29, 2017
…oh.
Listen, I get that AV is trying to get his horses on the ice in overtime as much as possible, but one of the Rangers advantages in this series is their depth, so by shortening the bench the Blueshirts head coach basically chopped off one of his own legs. Not the greatest night behind the bench for the head coach.
Interesting to see the Rangers offensive strategy going into Game 2 was to rely on their penalty kill for offense. Amazingly, they almost pulled it off.
Wasn’t all negative as Kreider and Stepan finally found the back of the net, while JT Miller was much more active. Also, Grabner’s been fairly dominant through two games as Ottawa hasn’t been able to handle his speed.
I was happy to see a little of the Rangers snarl return tonight as they went after Karlsson hard in an attempt to knock him off his game.
It was also nice to see all the traffic in front of Anderson as they took away his eyes on three of the five goals. Need more of that.
Maybe I’m just being naive, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rangers are able to get this series to MSG for a Game 6.
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