There comes a moment during a hockey game where you just know who is going to win. No matter what the score is, no matter who the opponent is, you just know, you are either going to win, or lose. During the second period Henrik Lundqvist had a goal mouth scramble where he made 5….count em 5 SPECTACULAR saves on one flurry. It was right then that I knew we were going to win this game. It may have been 0-0, the Devils may have been carrying the play, but you knew, the King was going to lead his troops to victory come hell or high water. It therefore didnt surprise me that we won this game. When your goalie plays that friggin good, you are going to win 9 times out of 10. On the flip side Uncle Daddy was not that bad, even though a slight bump from Colin White sent him forward as if he was run over (it was barely a touch, I guess the dramatic actor needed to get his money’s worth on that one) led to a goal, and even though he was beaten cleanly on a wrister from the slot by Sean Avery you have to give him credit, he was solid.
But do you remember what I said when I did my series preview? Solid wasn’t going to be near good enough for Uncle Daddy. He had to play God-like to give his team any shot at winning this one. So far through 2 games, he has been far from God-like, one might call him Weekes-like at this point. Though we still have at least 2 more games to go, I can safely say the goaltending matchup has not played out like expected. Henrik has clearly dominated the flopper from start to finish…really he has dominated him throughout his career sans one injured playoff series.
Regarding the 2 “questionable” calls. They got the penalty right on the Devils, but they also definitely got the penalty wrong on Betts. That was definitely interference, and he should have been called. But as a Rangers fan who has gotten shafted more times than not, particularly when playing against the swamp rats, it is good to get a little ref-retribution. We are more than due, and we got it in the form of 3 badly missed calls (the Betts play, an Avery play earlier, and a play by Jagr). Don’t expect that to continue. Sutter has made it known they blew the calls, the refs will be told to even it up, and we will have to fight through some reffing from here on out. But the end result is the same, we are up 2-0 going into our building where we had the second best record in the East (home record that is). There is no way this team loses 2 of 3 at home, and the remaining 2 of 2 on the road. It just ain’t gonna happen. This series is over.
Now, while I can be a cocky bastard, and say it is over, the players sure as hell better not get cocky, as long as they continue to play their game, they will win this series. Tom now has the last change to get our offense on the ice under favorable matchups, and he has the most passionate fans in the world to cheer his team on.
One final note. Was it just me, or did Chris Draper Drury lose just about every draw in the 3rd period? John Madden was on a friggin mission, he won every faceoff cleanly against Drury. I couldn’t figure it out, were talking about one of the best faceoff guys in the world. How the hell did that happen?!
Eh, see you on Sunday.
