The Rangers jumped on Pittsburgh early Sunday, building off the emotion from Friday's Game 5 victory. The quick start helped enliven what has been a moribund MSG crowd, raising them to heights not seen this postseason. Beyond the two quick goals, especially the first one by Martin St. Louis, this victory belonged to Henrik Lundqvist, who stopped 36 shots in building on his already impressive elimination game resume.
I will make this blog relatively brief, as much of this has been discussed in the comments and elsewhere, but giving my take on a few items:
If you haven’t read it, Rick Carpinello's recap is a must. He summarizes much of what transpired on the ice beautifully while leaving you room for your own views.
St. Louis' goal had to have divine intervention, as it's too perfect of an occurrence. As mentioned previously, I dislike saying this story is a driving force but it's almost become impossible not to view and believe it to be so. New York is clearly getting a boost from the tragedy as they rallying around the grieving St. Louis, For him to score on Mothers Day with his family in the crowd with everyone aware of the situation, kind of hard not to view it as something bigger is at play here.
Getting under Sidney Crosby's skin. Let me first state that I have always been a Crosby fan. I know the perception of him, which is proving to be the reality this series, but his talent level is undeniable. Granted, as others have mentioned, Evgeni Malkin when healthy is his equal and maybe has surpassed him due to the constant bellyaching by Crosby, while Malkin has mainly just played and used his physical presence to create space. That "whining" has been noticed by the local and national media. If Crosby fails to win Game 7 or at least has a herculean effort in defeat, his reputation will have taken from which it will be hard to fully rebound, regardless of what he does.
New York is double-teaming him, chipping him as he goes through the neutral and offensive zone with a backchecking forward and a defenseman. You want to say Marc Staal went over the line, hard to argue with you. Other than that, Crosby has instigated a good portion of what has gone on as a response to the physical play. Brandon Dubinsky started it in the Columbus series while Dominic Moore has continued it. In addition, Dan Girardi and others have made sure to hit him every chance they get to slow him down. You want the benefits that come with being the offensive weapon you are, then you need to be ready for the slings and arrows, literally at times, that come your way. Responding with the spear and the slewfoot , yet expecting absolution is taking it a bit too far even for Crosby. For NY, the more Crosby and others are off their game, the slight advantage that is gained because the Penguins focus shifts from solely worrying about outscoring the Rangers to other less important items.
Lundqvist. It seems almost impossible to overstate his importance to NY, then you look at his elimination numbers and you wonder if we have been understating it. His last 11 elimination game numbers: 9-2, 1.35 GAA, .955 SV%. Last 7 at MSG, 7-0, 0.98 GAA, .967 SV%. Those are just numbers that pop off the page. But when you watch the game and see the shorthanded saves he made on Marcel Goc (shoulder) and Brian Gibbons (squeezing pads on five-hole), then consider the situations each were made in with the score at the time, you realize just how big of a weapon he is.
Derick Brassard. Big-goal and game Derick should be his name. He did it last year against Boston. This year, he came up big in Game 1 of the series and then Game 5 as well. Brassard's marker yesterday restored a two-goal lead and showed tremendous, glove, skate, stick coordination. The Pouliot-Brassard-Zuccarello line continues to be the Rangers' best, and while much of the focus has rightly been on Zucc, Brassy has been huge as well.
Chris Kreider. Was the no-goal call the right one, probably. There is no question he was pushed by Kris Letang, but the raising of the shoulder got him the penalty. Maybe make it incidental contact and no goal, but eventually there needs to be some form of consistency on the call. So is it if he going full speed, gets bumped and yet he has no real time to stop, it's no call, but if he hits the painted area with a perception of time to stop, there is one? Would it matter of you are 5-7, 170-pounds like St. Louis versus someone Kreider's size? Carp asks a great question: they need to start punishing the guy who makes the original push, and then try to judge if the pushed player makes an attempt to avoid contact? That call could have loomed big if Pitt used the PP to come back, but fortunately it didn't come to that. On the positive, boy has Kreider made a diff. Not just his speed, size and skill, but he has rebalanced the top-two lines and seems to have rejuvenated Derek Stepan, who has looked much better lately.
We can sit here and wax poetically or rail against the perceived cheap shots for hours but 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. Go into Pittsburgh, play like you did in Games 1 and 5 or Game 6 and make history. Erase some of the painful memories and beat the Penguins for the first time ever in the playoffs. In addition, complete the comeback from 3-1 for the first time as well. All that matters is find a way and win Game 7.
Let's Go Rangers!!!