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Rangers Vs. Penguins Game 4 Recap: Whatever the Heck That Was

I’m going to keep this one sort and to the point because, well, the New York Rangers have went into a full tailspin since winning the first game in overtime. I don’t know if the hockey gods suddenly hate us for scoring twice in overtime, or whatever the heck it could be. All I know is, the Rangers have dug themselves into a huge, huge hole, and if they plan on getting out of it, they’re going to have to dig pretty deep.

I know this has been spreading around like a wildfire, but simply put, the Rangers as a whole are not stepping up right now. The scheduling sucks, I know, but at some point they need to show some life. Their power play continues to be an absolute mess, and finally hit an all new low tonight by giving up a shorthanded goal to Brandon Sutter. Couple that with the bizarre amount of blind passes through the middle, and it’s recipe for disaster.

I’ll finish this one off with a few things that stuck out to me throughout these last few games, and tonight.

  • Henrik Lundqvist has been standing on his head these entire playoffs, and he’s not getting enough recognition for the stuff he’s had to deal with. Everyone is so quick to blame Lundqvist, but at the same time, none of this is really his fault. He’s having his defensemen breakdown in front of him, and his forwards turning over the puck in the middle of the ice. He can only do so much, so cut the guy some slack, at least he’s showing up.

  • As great as it was to get Ryan McDonagh back in time for the playoffs, I think it’s pretty evident that he’s still hurt. You could tell just by the way he played the 1-on-1 tonight with Lee Stempniak, as he was faked out of his shorts, and looked like a pee-wee defenseman. McDonagh rarely gets beat like that on an off night, so something is obviously going on there.

  • Rick Nash on the other hand, man, does he have some crappy luck or what? There is a whole lot of hate going around for him, but it’s surely not for a lack of effort. You’ve heard our full stance on Nash, so I’ll save you the time, and just leave it there.

  • The Rangers apparently had a closed door meeting following that disaster, or maybe it was just Henrik Lundqvist enacting some revenge on his team. Who knows, but, with the way the last two games have gone, you can only hope they’ve hit their lowest point, right? Right?
  • Game 5 is set for Friday evening back in Pittsburgh./

Talking Points