Talk about a win!
Well I said it before, if the Rangers can win at least one game here in Washington they will put all of the pressure onto the Capitals. And guess what? They did. It wasn’t the prettiest game, and it wasn’t the cleanest game (at least from our staying out of the box strategy) but they did it; and that’s all that matters. And they did it without Chris Drury, who is still out with an undisclosed injury. He must be really injured because I can’t see him not playing unless he physically couldn’t.
Scott Gomez had an unreal game with a goal and two assists. Antropov and Naslund had a goal and an assist. Mara and Redden each had an assist, while Dubinsky potted a—game winning—goal. Lundqvist was incredible, there really isn’t any other way to say it. Callahan was also incredible, even though you won’t see him on the score sheet. How about the 19th in the league power play? 2 for 4? I felt like I should run to a bomb shelter all game because the apocalypse is surely imminent. Avery caused all types of chaos, constantly pissing off the Capitals—especially Mike Green.
It wasn’t all good though. The Rangers took seven penalties, many of them taken just as the Rangers had gotten momentum. As for keeping Ovechkin in check, he had 13 shots on goal and probably 10 more wide of the net. He was insane, finishing the game with two assists and the number one star—although I feel as though that star was undeserved. The Capitals were pretty successful on the power play—going 2 for 7—but their players would stay out all two minutes; which made them tired as the game wore on.
Now everyone called me crazy when I said that I wanted to play Washington. But their defense and their goaltending was much worse off than Boston, and the Rangers exploited that.
Now the pressure is on the Capitals, especially since they don’t want to go down 2-0 before going back to New York. Now all of those eyes in the Verizon center will be on the Capitals, and they won’t be thinking sweep I can promise you that. Now we will see how that pressure affects them, especially since their bandwagon fans looked so disappointed and angry at the end of the game. Rock the red? Please, that was more to remind their fans what color Washington was wearing than a ploy to get fan support.
The Rangers weathered the storm, and they killed off their own mistakes. This is the type of game play you expect to see when the Rangers lose, but they pulled it off and they won. Now they have a chance to go 2-0 back into New York where the Garden will be so loud that those fair-weather fans in Washington will be able to hear what a real arena sounds like, miles and miles away. Let’s go Rangers! Let’s go Rangers! Let’s go Rangers! Believe. You just have to believe, and now God knows the Rangers do.
