Well what can one say about the overtime goal bouncing off of New York Ranger Marc Staal's skate and into our own net? This is the playoffs and any goal is a good one. It was a fluke. It was anti-climatic & it sucked. Move on.... Official recap here.Disappointment aside, the New York Rangers played with verve throughout the game (with the exception of the second period) and they were a force to be reckoned with. We still go into our second home game on Wednesday with home-ice and leading the series 2-1. Unlike both games in Newark at 'The Pebble', both teams came out strong offensively crashing the net and looking for the right bounces. Not one to complain about the officiating, but in reviewing the broadcast later last night after attending MSG, the calls did not go the Rangers direction and there were questionable & ridiculous calls against my Blueshirts. "Closing the hand on the puck?" -- when was the last time that rule was called? The refs were inconsistent -- at times allowing both teams to physically play post-season hockey and, strangely, at times 'cherry-picking' minor calls that led to power play goals.
Outstanding performances by Jaromir Jagr, Chris Drury, Sean Avery and, of course, goaltender Henrik Lundqvist should be celebrated, as they are the ones who will take us as far as we may go... Scotty Gomez was quick as usual, but not the monster we saw in the previous two games in Newark. Brandon Dubinsky continues to amaze me, as he scored two goals and controlled the best of them -- he is strong and I don't think any defensive opponents expect this young-looking lad to beat on them as he does. As sad as Marc Staal must feel scoring the OT winning goal for New Jersey - I have to hand it to the kid -- here we have a 21-year old kid rookie who is playing like a blueline veteran. The Blueshirts need him and we salute him.
Then there were other standouts last night. WE NEED TO SEND HIM 'BACK, MAN.' Christian Backman needs to get off of this team -- his comrades in Blue must be entirely frustrated in his AHL-level of play and his continual stupid mistakes. You can see the penalties coming a mile away, "Oh no....you can see it in his eyes, look ...he's going to push him into the boards head-first.....BINGO." Score for the other team! (I know we have a terrific penalty kill unit, but for crying out loud!)
Wednesday will be the deciding factor in this first-round, as both teams are evenly matched. Whiner NJ Goaltender Marty Brodeur played a solid game -- chants of MAAAARRRTTTTTTYYYYY throughout the Garden were funny until they won in OT, and chants of BOOOORRRIING from MSG fans I didn't understand, as it was one of the most exciting games of hockey I've seen between these two rivalries.
One thing is for sure -- we have ourselves an exciting first-round playoff run (as expected), and The Dark Ranger will take the loss last night. It was good, solid hockey -- though, it didn't go the way we wanted, I still appreciate what both teams brought to the ice.
Let's Go Rangers!!!! Let's Go Avery!!!! Henrik's Better....!!!!!
tdr
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