By Ed Stein
"Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.… --- John Greenleaf Whittier
Vin Scully often uses this quote when explaining disappointment. It seems appropriate after last nights loss to the Kings in game one of the Stanley Cup Finals. It was a game that the Rangers should have won but didn't. Lets look at the details.
The Rangers started off like the proverbial house afire. The beat their opponent to the puck and forced the action. A good example was just over seven minutes in; when Derek Stepan shot the puck behind the net and Rick Nash beat everyone to it for a scoring chance to the right of the cage which Jarret Stoll just got a stick on to prevent the opening goal.
The Rangers again showed more jump on Benoit Pulliot's goal at 6:21 in the first period. He tipped the puck out of his own zone and out sprinted everyone else to a breakaway on Jonathan Quick.
Even shorthanded, a minute later, the Rangers looked like the faster squad. First when Carl Hagelin broke free and put the puck on Brian Boyle's stick for a great chance on Quick. Hagelin again came out his own zone to pick up a loose puck, beating everyone else for a breakaway shot and goal; which staked the Rangers to Stan Fischler's “dreaded two goal lead…. The knock will be that Hagelin didn't actually score the goal, Slava Voyonov kicked it in his own net off the rebound, but lets face it sometimes you make your own luck and this was one of those times.
I felt like the game changed for the Kings around the 17 minute mark when Mats Zuccarello, Martin St. Louis and Dominic Moore blew a three on two opportunity. MSL passed the puck behind Moore at the front of the net and the play went the other way.
Shortly thereafter Kyle Clifford stole the puck off a Derek Stepan gaff, put it behind the net and crashed the goal for a nifty return pass from Jeff Carter to score L.A.'s opening tally.
The ice continued to tilt in the Kings favor during period two. A little over three minutes in, Trevor Lewis missed the net on a Kings two on one with Marion Gaborik. I had the feeling that between periods the Kings told themselves, “We can win. We took their best punch and were still in this.…
Although the Rangers had some good puck movement and opportunities during an ensuing power play, L.A. looked like the better team. Their control of the game was never more evident then when Drew Doughty “bitchified… (I made that word up, but it fits) Derek Dorsett at 6:36 when he put the puck through his own legs for an open shot and score to tie it up at two all. If you look at Dorsett after the score, he resembled a pitcher that hung a breaking ball and watched it sail over the fence. In other words he knew he screwed up.
Nine seconds after the score Derick Brassard took a bad penalty when he hit King's captain Dustin Brown from behind (yet in front of the referee). The Blueshirts could have packed it in, but they played an inspired penalty kill holding their opposition to no shots. That was a great display of heart.
The Rangers continued to make their defensive stand in the third period. Gaborik drew an early penalty for the Kings, but the Rangers held them shot-less for the third straight power play. L.A. really took it to the Rangers all period long with an almost relentless onslaught. Lundqvist did just about everything he could to keep the Rangers in it. Even when Brian Boyle lumberjacked Dwight King's stick with just over 90 seconds left to play to earn a slashing penalty, the Rangers were not ready to yield. Hagelin almost had another shorthanded, break away goal. He then came all the way back to help stop a wrap around by Jeff Carter at the other end.
All in all L.A. outshot the Rangers 20-3 in third but couldn't take a lead. I thought the game analysis was spot on here. Pierre McGuire started talking about the Rangers, the way he did about Montreal late in games during the previous series. They were losing steam. Also Keith Jones talked about the Kings adjustment the Rangers puck cycling behind the net and that he noticed the Rangers were tiring as well. All of this lead up to overtime.
Throughout the extra period the Rangers had trouble clearing the puck from their own end. Girardi whiffed on the puck while attempting to clear it at 4:36 which led to Justin Williams game winner. Honestly, the play was inexcusable on Girardi's part and he deserves to wear the goat horns, but he wasn't the only one on the team that looked gassed at the end.
To sum it up, the Kings out-rangered the Rangers. They rolled four lines and three defensive pairings and were the fresher team all game. The Rangers had several opportunities to put the game away early but failed to do so. The game resembled Rocky- Clubber Lang II. The Kings took the Rangers best shot early and often then realized they “ain't so bad… and took the fight over.
Adjustments will have to be made in game two. Although the penalty kill played inspired hockey, some of the penalties the Rangers took were bad. At least four minutes of man down hockey shouldn't have happened. Also, scoring opportunities can't be squandered like they were last night. Maybe the Rangers can overcome one mulligan, but not two at this level of competition.
Finally condolences to NBC broadcaster Mike Emerick who missed last night's game due to a death in the family. I look forward to his return tomorrow night.