Game 7.
(Part of below is what I wrote before Game 7 last year against Pittsburgh with some modifications for this series)
Just let those two words linger for a while. It's a contest that really needs no hype, no hyperbole, no setting the scene, because everything is right in front of you. It's a game where memories are made that last a lifetime. It's a game where careers can be made and broken, reputations built and torn down and the spot light can shine either fairly or unfairly.
New York looked washed up and left for carrion just a few short days ago. But they now sit on the precipice of rallying for a second straight season from a 3-1 series deficit.. But the job isn't done. It'll only be completed if they can finish the comeback. If they only get to this point and lose, as nice as the rally was, it will leave a hollow taste in all of our mouths. Who will be the hero tonight? Will it be Rick Nash cementing his role in Rangers lore? Will it be Martin St. Louis turning back the clock? Will it be Henrik Lundqvist with another stellar performance in an elimination game? Will be Dominic Moore, who scored the game-winner in Game 6 vs. Montreal last season? Will Keith Yandle have his moment in the spotlight? Will Kevin Klein score another big goal, as he did so many times this season? All that matters is someone, anyone, steps up and plays the hero. It doesn't matter who.
A few keys from me tonight:
First goal matters. In Games 1-3 and 6, the team that scored first has won. Getting a lead at home would allow the crowd to even further into into it and maybe add to the doubt in Washington's mind. The two comebacks in this series after not scoring the first goal - which occurred in Games 4 and 5 - both came on home ice.
Leather Lunged Faithful. The Rangers were road warriors all season, but this is why you play all season to win a Presidents' Trophy. Home ice in a Game 7 in front of your fans. Dave Maloney urged the fans to get loud. Hopefully, the Blue Seated faithful will be their usual loud selves while the corporate contingent does the same. Make MSG a really hostile place Wednesday.
Momentum. In baseball, momentum is as good as today's starting pitcher. In hockey, there is some carryover but that too can be obviated. Washington looked to have the momentum after scoring with 1.3 seconds left to win Game 1 but lost Game 2. Then Washington came back to win Games 3 and 4. New York got a goal with 101 seconds left to tie Game 5, which they won in OT. They then held off a furious Capitals rush to win game 6. Does New York have the momentum from winning Games 5 and 6? Does Washington have the momentum from outshooting New York 32-0 the last 14:46 and scoring twice? To get the momentum and keep it, the Rangers will have to play as they did the first period Sunday. Get an early lead and maintain it.
Stay out of the penalty box. While the penalty kill has been good, 11-for-12 overall, 10-for-their-last-10, the Caps PP is still dangerous. Alexander Ovechkin has the howitzer of a shot and why give Washington a man-advantage, where they usually excel. Staying out of the box should help maintain the momentum I mentioned above and not allow the Capitals to score on the man-advantage and capture that momentum. Of course, it could go in the other direction. You don't want to rely on stopping a PP, but nice to know that the Rangers have been so good in that regard this series.
Line combinations and match ups. The Rangers will have the last change. That could be huge in making sure the right players on against a revamped Caps first line with Johansson skating with Ovi and Backstrom as well as the second line of Chimera-Kuznetsov-Ward. Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi will be one pair but it remains to be seen if Marc Staal will be paired with Dan Boyle or Klein with the other paired with Yandle. I could see either happening, as Staal with Boyle enables a solid d-man in Klein to be paired with Yandle. But putting Klein with Staal really bolsters the second pairing but weakens the third, leaving it vulnerable in this critical Game 7. I expect Ovi to get tons of ice-time with AV mixing-and-matching throughout the game.
History. If the Rangers win, everyone will say that it's history repeating itself as expected. If Washington wins, it will be how history was waiting to be re-written. All history is on the side of the Rangers. When the puck drops tonight, none of that matters. Action on ice will decide it not history.
Whoever wins faces Tampa Bay next with the series expected to start Saturday afternoon. The subplots almost write the blogs itself but that's for down the road after Game 7. The good news is that Tampa only has one extra days rest and may be without Ryan Callahan, one of the subplot members, due to his appendectomy.
In case you needed some more motivation for Game 7:
Hoosiers:
Game 7 - Penguins-Rangers - 2014
This is what I wrote after Game 6 against Pittsburgh last year, I think it fits here:
All that matters is that our team, the one that after Game 4 looked washed up and down for the year, has found a way to extend the series to Game 7. You can say we are playing with house money and that's right. But you know what, to extend it to Game 7 and lose might be more painful than going out in five. Look at the 1939 Rangers. How would you have liked to been a fan and see your team win Games 5 and 6 only to lose Game 7 in triple-OT? Heartbreaking. They have done parts one and two. To make it complete, do part three.Heart. It's the willingness to take a hit to move the puck or score a goal. Heart. It's what makes the name on the front of the jersey more than the one of the back. Heart. It's what New Yorkers love to see in their athletes. It's rising over trying circumstances. It's carrying a team or a teammate on your backs when needed. Heart. It can overcome talent when talent doesn't have or use it. Heart. It's what needs to be on display Wednesday when We Are All Rangers.
To quote Boomer Esiason and it's something I have said a lot, win one shift, then another, then another. Then win one period and another.
I said I would run this until the series ends because it's how I feel, so here you go.
If you are a fan, you are a fan through good and bad. If not, then you aren't a true fan. You can be pissed and angry and disappointed and disenfranchised and wanting to toss it all in, but you don't because you are a fan. Even if your belief is shattered to the core, as it is for many of us, you are a fan and that's what keeps you here. You're a fan because of the name on the front of the jersey, not the back.
I close the blog repeating what I wrote the last few days:
It's in your heart and in your soul. It's part of your life blood. It never ever goes away, regardless of what happens. It's why this sucks and hurts down to your core. That's a fan and that's why we watch and root and pray and hope to the hockey gods. We are Rangers fans, and no matter what happens, you know and I know and we all know that will never stop regardless of the end result. WE ARE ALL RANGERS!!!
Tonight, win or lose, We Are All Rangers!!!