I feel like pulling a John Tortorella and writing five lines before shutting down this blog for the night. There isn't really much to say other than it was a typical Ranger-Devil game in the Henrik Lundqvist era. Play tight defense until you get a seeing-eye shot in on the first goal early in the third period, have Martin Brodeur give up a softy on the second and then shut it down the rest of the game. People have been talking about 1994 for weeks but honest to god, this feels like 1997 all over again, or 2008. This could be over quicker than people think if the Devils don't figure out a way to get pucks through to the net and ATTEMPT to score a goal.
Of course that task would be easier if the ice surface at MSG resembled an NHL rink. I'd say the Rangers should be embarassed over the quality of ice...except I honestly think it was by design. The league really needs to look at this before Game 2, this is easily the worst ice surface I've ever seen. Considering there are literally no other events at MSG right now, it seems fishy to say the least. It certainly helped what 'should' have been a tired Ranger team, not to mention completely neutralized Brodeur's puck-handling, which was a disaster. Not that he was alone in stinking, Zach Parise somehow getting caught from behind by a supposedly tired Ryan McDonaugh in the first period on a breakaway was the sign right there that things weren't going well tonight. At this point, I'm not even in the mood to complain about the refs who certainly gave the Rangers the benefit of the doubt on a couple of ticky-tack calls (and didn't call a penalty on Michael Del Zotto when he clearly interfered with Travis Zajac canceling out an icing). Not in the mood.
All I'm going to say is I've been hearing and reading from Devils fans all year how 'lucky' the Rangers are and they're overrated, not that good, whatever. I've feared this team from the opening weeks of the season when they somehow went .500 on a crazy trip around the world to a playoff run where they somehow found a way to win two series that literally came down to a bounce of the puck. Not to mention our hideous playoff history against them. If we lose this series against them, and easily as I fear we might...let's just say I'm going on a rampage.
Covering the Rangers, Devils, Islanders and Sabres five years running along with the rest of the puckers!
BONY
Battle Of New York
1 comment:
I would say that there were weak calls on both sides. I sat down at ice level for the second and it was like your team had a 15 minute power play. But only Parise's shorthanded bids were dangerous thanks to Girardi's booboo. They probably attempted 30 shots. 11 got throught. And the rest were blocked or wide.
I kinda figured our team would be tired. And they were. Your forecheck is better than any we've faced. Should be a good series.
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