Eastern Conference Finals!!!
Following a comeback that three games ago seemed improbable, then went to possible and on to probable and finally, actually occurring, the Rangers advanced for the second time in three years to the Eastern Conference Finals with a 2-1 win over the Penguins. The series win was one for the history books. It was the first time in 17 tries New York rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win the series. It was the first time in franchise history that the Rangers beat the Penguins in the playoffs. Lastly, Brad Richards became the first player to go 7-0 in Game 7 contests while Henrik Lundqvist is the first goalie to win five straight Game 7s, during which he has posted a 0.80 GAA and ,973 save percentage. In addition, his save percentage in Games 5-7, a tidy .971.
Game Highlights
In my Game 7 preview blog, I highlighted five keys, let's see how I did:
First goal matters. I wrote that all series long, the team that scored first has won. That proved true again Tuesday. Following a solid defensive play by Brian Boyle on Matt Niskanen, the fourth line came up ice 4-on-2, as Pitt was slow in retreating. Derek Dorsett took a hit and got the puck over to Dominic Moore, who fed Boyle and he beat Marc-Andre Fleury through the five-hole for a 1-0 lead just 5:25 into the game.
Be the road warriors. The Rangers won 25 games on the road this year, one of the best marks in the league. This series, they won Games 1 and 5 and in winning Tuesday, ended up taking three of four on the road.
Momentum. The game was series of ebbs-and-flows. New York was strong early but Pittsburgh rallied after the Boyle goal to carry play, but Lundqvist was up to the task.The Rangers finished the first strong to take a 1-0 lead to the locker room. In the second, the Penguins took play to the Rangers early and were rewarded by Jussi Joiknen's goal off a rebound to knot the game at 1. Just 3:41 later, on the power play, Brad Richards netted the game-winner. The play started with a miss on a short-handed attempt by Pittsburgh and the Rangers quickly transitioned through the neutral zone, led by Chris Kreider, who got the puck to Martin St. Louis. St. Louis dished it Derek Stepan whose attempted feed across was blocked but St. Louis pounced on the puck behind the net, made a blind, backhanded feed to the slot to Richards, who beat Fleury up high.
Richards PPG
Then it was up to the opponents' momentum squasher, Lundqvist. Pittsburgh started to tilt the ice. First, it was save off a Chris Kunitz deflection. Then it was James Neal alone in the slot. As the second end, you knew that this would be the most difficult 20 minutes of the season. That turned out to be true, as it seemed like the whole period was in the Rangers end of the ice. Lundqvist was brilliant, making save after improbable save. Shots from slot, point, in front, all were gobbled up by Lundqvist. He was most impressive over a two minute stretch late in the game, where he made a saves on Neal and then a Kris Letang shot was blocked, but especially on the backhander by Paul Martin, whose shot hit a stick sitting in the slot and Lundqvist, who finished with 35 saves, was able to track the puck and squeeze it between his arm and body The Penguins continued to press as NY was content to just chip the puck and the Rangers had just enough to hold on for the win.
Lundqvist Spectacular Save on Martin
Stay out of the penalty box. Just one penalty, this one by Kreider in the neutral zone. On it, a big block by who else, Boyle, to help kill. I know many of you have been on him, while I have indicated time and again his value to the team. At $1.7 mil for the faceoff wins, penalty kills, willingness to take the body and block shots - five and four, respectively, tonight - even if he doesn't score, though he did in Game 7, that's great value. Pittsburgh was just 1-for-20 this series on the man advantage. On the flip side, NY converted on their one full PPG, and that weakness turned into a major strength Tuesday.
Line combinations and match ups. Dan Byslma shock things up a bit, moving Evgeni Malkin to the second line and Brian Gibbons up to the first. In addition, Beau Bennett sat while Tanner Glass played. New York danced with who got them there. When Pitt trailed, as I said in my Game 7 preview, Crosby and Malkin were double-shifted, in addition to them playing together. The Rangers six D all had a big hand in the win, as each pairing were on against Crosby and Malkin. Ryan McDonagh showed late he wouldn't take any garbage, roughing up Malkin when he was jabbing at the puck late, as the whole defense was strong.
The two others I wrote the last three games were:
Screw history. As noted in my first paragraph, those boxes can clearly be checked..
Heart. That one was mentioned a lot by the Rangers in the locker room and post-game interviews. The unfortunate passing of St. Louis mother, France, ended up being a galvanizing moment for the squad. It forced them to come together even more as a team, rallying around their grieving teammate. It would have been easy to throw in the towel at 3-1, but they showed heart and fortitude and pride to rally and win the series.
New York now gets a few days off before playing the winner of the Boston-Montreal series on the road, which is expected to be on Saturday. Boston is big, strong, solid between the pipes and good in the faceoff circle. Montreal is a bit speedier and also has solid goaltending. At this point, it doesn't matter who the opponent is. Boston would allow NY to get some revenge from last year while Montreal enables Hank to exorcise his demons at the Bell Centre. Regardless of which team it is, the Rangers are in the Eastern Conference Finals, let that sink in and enjoy it for a while.