2012 NHL Playoffs: Rangers Eliminated In Heartbreaking Game Six Overtime Loss
Well, it's officially over. The New York Rangers were eliminated from the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals in a dramatic game six overtime loss. While it was disappointing to see the Rangers eliminated from the playoffs, there was a lot of positives to come of this season.
First place in the Eastern Conference, 109 points, Atlantic Division Champions, and making it to the Eastern Conference Finals. Where did everyone else having us finishing? Nothing above fifth place in the Eastern Conference, and being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs. Mission accomplished in my books.
The Rangers are here to stay for years to come. They've used the homegrown route, and all of their players are young and still developing. If I wasn't a Ranger fan, I would honestly be scared to see this team next year, and the years to follow. This team is simply in it for the long haul, and will be better each and every single year.
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Now onto the recap. Things look exactly as they did in Game Five, with the Devils scored to goals in the first period, and everyone but the fans counted them out of this game. Marc Staal made a bad decision by pinching in, and it wound up creating an odd-man rush. Stephan Gionta got the initial shot off on a partial breakaway, and Ryan Carter came in to slam home the rebound.
Just three minutes later, the Rangers got into some penalty trouble, and it sent the Devils to the power play midway through the first period. After a sequence of pretty passing plays, Ilya Kovalchuk slammed it home under the blocker of Henrik Lundqvist, and just like that it was 2-0 Devils.
Much like last game, the Rangers wouldn't give up just yet. The Rangers would get two goals of their own coming from Ruslan Fedotenko and the captain, Ryan Callahan. On the first goal, Ryan McDonagh made a great play to get behind the net, and forced a pass out front in which Fedotenko was waiting on the doorstep to knock it home.
About four minutes later, Brandon Dubinsky won back an offensive zone faceoff, which went back to Ryan McDonagh. McDonagh slid it over to Dan Girardi who ripped a shot on net, and the puck would wind up going off of Ryan Callahan's skate. The puck would trickle its way off the post, and into the back of the net. The Rangers were back in it.
The third period was as nerve wracking as the entire playoffs in itself. However, no team was able to find the go ahead goal, and this came would take overtime to decide a winner. This game wouldn't take long to be decided as Adam Henrique would slam home a rebound that was loose in the crease, and the Devils would take the game 3-2 in overtime.
I just want to give one last shout out to all of our readers for supporting us through this amazing season. We broke unthinkable records in terms of viewership, and page hits. We really can't thank you enough. Don't worry though, this isn't a goodbye, it's just the beginning of something special for the New York Rangers.
Let's go Rangers!