Today, fans in Boston prematurely celebrated the death of the New York Rangers (and the Ottawa Senators for that matter). How much does a hotel in Pittsburgh cost? What's the weather like in Pennsylvania in early June? How cool would it be if
Jarome Iginla nixed a trade to Boston only to get beaten by the Black-and-Gold in a series that'd send the legendary winger home instead of to his first Stanley Cup Final since 2004?
Excitement for the Bruins' second Eastern Conference Final in three years could hardly be contained, especially on social media outlets and sports radio shows, and it was a complete burying of the Blueshirts by those in the Hub. It was over. The Rangers were dead men walking. Their last meal was set for a seven o'clock puck-drop, and that'd be all she wrote on a team originally picked to be an all-out favorite for the Eastern Conference title.
But taking Madison Square Garden's ice looking to put the dagger in the heart of
Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers, it seemed as if everybody but
Claude Julien's squad considered the Blueshirts dead. Drawing to a scoreless opening frame, a Boston edge was finally established when
Nathan Horton struck with a second chance power-play marker for his fifth goal of the playoffs, and a 1-0 lead for the B's. Back to the power-play just a minute and a half later, the Bruins wasted no time in pounding the Rangers' weary penalty-kill, this time off an absolute laser from the 22-year-old
Torey Krug. Putting the Bruins on the board with their second power-play goal of the night, and giving the undrafted puck-mover his third goal of the series, the wheels seemed to be coming off the New York bus with just over 30 minutes left in a do-or-die battle on home-ice.
The Eastern Conference Finals were in sight.
Then things got strange.
In what would've been a ho-hum save from the Bruins'
Tuukka Rask, a slip on the ice led to a Rangers answering marker just 58 seconds later, as Rask couldn't even wave his stick at a coasting puck in time to stop
Carl Hagelin's third of the postseason.
Bringing a lifeless Garden crowd back to life, with chants and ovations ringing from the 400s on down to ice-level, with 40 minutes done and down by a goal, the Rangers were more alive than they had ever been in this series, and things only got stranger when the puck dropped for the third period of play on Broadway.
Taking the puck behind the net and rushing around Rask, the 6-foot-9
Zdeno Chara was simply picked off by the Rangers'
Derek Stepan, who capitalized on the B's captain's lazy play with an unassisted wraparound tally, his fourth of the playoffs.
Chara, a perennial Norris favorite and absolute beast throughout the series, was caught napping at the wheel in the third period of a game that saw the B's protecting a one-goal edge. Rask, a goaltender that was by all means outdueling the heavily favored Lundqvist through three plus, was equally to blame on the game-tying marker. The Garden was alive.
Strange times were here.
But when the Bruins were given yet another power-play, this time catching a much needed break when a New York surge was put to bed with
Ryan McDonagh's goaltender interference call, a strong push from the Bruins' power-play unit was capped two seconds after McDonagh left the box when the unbelievably snake-bitten
Tyler Seguin caught his own rebound to bury his first of the postseason from nearly behind the goal line.
Punching the glass, and forcing King Henrik to look towards the heavens in agony of knowing that his best efforts to stymie the Bruins' wickedly inconsistent power-play were for naught, the Rangers' backs were against the wall with just 12 minutes to go in their season. Of course, that was barring some late-game heroics from the Blueshirts' sans
Brad Richards power-play unit. So, how about Boston's own
Brian Boyle?
Capitalizing on a great feed from Stepan, and snapping home his third goal of the playoffs, good for the first New York power-play goal of the series, the Garden was once again brought back to life, and louder than ever. They weren't ready for summer just yet. Nor were their Blueshirts. For the third time in four games, this one was going to be decided by just one goal, and for the second time in the series that goal was going to come in an OT.
With the teams trading chances at each end -- the Rangers missing when they couldn't lift it by a down-and-out Rask and the Bruins countering with a
Chris Kelly deflection that barely missed the open cage -- a thunderous result came when New York power forward
Rick Nash was able to throw a fantastic pass towards the net and right to the blade of
Chris Kreider, who tipped home his first of the postseason, saving the Rangers from yet another premature postseason exit -- for now.
Bruins let Rangers off the hook at the eleventh hour
Tell me if you've heard this one before -- the Bruins had the chance to put the nail in a team's coffin and send them home for the summer and they simply let them off the hook.
Sound familiar? At this point, it's like hearing your relatives tell you about that time they saw Leonardo DiCaprio eating lunch at Subway during the filming of the Departed. You've heard it before, and you just can't get engaged in the story after the 19th time. At this point, the story just enrages you; DiCaprio and the Subway Club can go to hell, 'cause you just don't care. You want something fresh. I swear that pun wasn't intended, by the way.
Bruins fans want something fresh. (Now
that pun was intended.)
Following tonight's loss, the Bruins are 7-13 in closeout games under Claude Julien. They're 3-9 in non-Game 7 closeouts. It's still an obstacle. It's still alarming. It's still a nightmare.
There's really no other way to say it, sorry. At some point, this team
has to learn not to leave everything they do until the absolute last minute. And when's the last time that they've done that? 2011 against Philadelphia? My God, that was barely a challenge. 2010 against Philly? You know how that ended. You're essentially talking about a B's club that hasn't put a good team enough when they've held a series advantage since 2010's first round series against the Buffalo Sabres. And even that took a Game 5 loss in Buffalo before the Black-and-Gold snapped out of it to down the Sabres on Boston ice in six games.
Here's something you don't want to hear -- the New York Rangers are led by
Henrik Lundqvist. They bolster a stronger attack than you've seen through four games. They're evidently not a team that's going to lay down and die. The Bruins cannot, and I cannot emphasize this enough, afford to play this game of Jekyl and Hyde and send this one back to New York for a Game 6. There's just no way that it's ending there if they do.
It's not 2010, I know, but with another outright giveaway like tonight and it could bring some awful memories back to an already anxious Boston crowd.
For the B's, boils back down to a simple-yet-elusive concept: Capitalize on your chances.
Does Richards draw back into the series?
We have a series, folks.
Yes, the Rangers are still just one losing effort away from a second round elimination, but with a win to their name and with this one heading back to Boston, is it time for
John Tortorella to put the doghouse-living Brad Richards back into the equation?
In 15 games with his club facing elimination, the 33-year-old center has tallied seven goals and added nine assists, and while he's posted zeros in two such scenarios this spring, it's clear that the playmaker's got a reputation as a big time contributor when his team's down.
And with the Rangers down, and as they survived by the skin of their teeth tonight, it's simply undeniable that they could use his game in some capacity.
“Brad Richards a helluva hockey player that’s having a helluva time, so I need to make decisions for what I feel is right for a team to win, and that’s why I made that decision,” the always pleasant Tortorella told reporters after the Rangers' first win of the series. “This is a Conn Smythe winner, a guy I’ve grown up with, a guy that I love as a person and a player, but I have to make that decision regarding this.
"So kiss my ass if you want to run something different."
Tortorella had a point as he continued to explain his decision -- noting Richards' ineffectiveness as a fourth line center playing less than ten minutes a night -- but it certainly boils back to the point that he's simply not a fourth line center.
For instance, let's look at the night the slumping Chris Kreider had. Buried on the Rangers' fourth line throughout the playoffs, logging no more than 11:37 before tonight's near-14 minute showing, the 22-year-old Kreider was a ghost. But moved up on the New York depth chart with Torts' fourth line re-tooling, the 6-foot-3 Kreider struck with the overtime tally, and finished the game with three shots and a plus-2 rating in 18 shifts.
Shockingly, a skill player was put with skill players and produced.
Maybe it's time for Tortorella to give that same chance to Richards and stop kidding himself that Brian Boyle is a bonafide top-nine talent incapable of being moved down to the fourth line for a game or two in an effort to bolster the Rangers' inconsistent scoring through four.
Hamilton may have played last playoff game of spring
Inching his way towards a return, you may see a perhaps still slightly hobbled
Dennis Seidenberg in action when the puck drops on Saturday's bizarre 5:30 p.m. Game 5 start. Why? Well, 'cause the 19-year-old
Dougie Hamilton is a nightmare on skates.
Looking like a boy among men out there, Hamilton's playoff game has inspired little confidence, and with an absolute boatload of games to his name in 2012-12 between Niagara, Team Canada, and the B's, it's undoubtedly in the best interest of the Black-and-Gold's desire to close this one out if the 6-foot-4 blue-liner watches from the press box.
Noticeably upset following the loss, and on the ice for the game-winning goal, this isn't to harp on Hamilton's style (which came with an assist in the victory), but rather point out the fact that he's simply looked overmatched by the pace of playoff pace through seven playoff games dating back to the Toronto series.
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