R1, G7: Guts Beget Glory

Perhaps my favourite photo of the year... hilarious.

On Monday night the Washington Capitals spent the first period of Game 7 hitting everything that moved. They forechecked, they backchecked, they tried to inflict as much pain as possible - Ovie even attempted a Claude-Lemieux-on-Kris-Draper-like head drive on Ryan McDonagh. But McD missed all of one shift, and the Blueshirts came out of the opening frame up 1-0.

The Rangers killed off the penalty incurred by their initial goal scorer, then potted a pair of goals over the next five minutes to kill any life left in the Capitals. And that was pretty much that. Two more goals were scored over the remaining 34 minutes and the series was settled: the real red, white and blue won 5-0 and advanced to a second round meeting with Boston.

The Blueshirts took the best that the Caps could throw at them and came away with a win, a familiar theme this year - the rope-a-dope the Ranger Pundit has often observed. It is an ugly way to play, it is an unsettling way to play, but it has allowed this team to find some wins.

And now they need just 12 more.

Late Hits (recycling the first two from last year):

*John Druce, wherever you are, I have one thing to say to you: this.

*You know what would have made the victory sweeter? Tom Poti on the ice. Pooooooooooooooottttttttttttiiiiiiiiiiii.

*Brassard, Moore, Dorsett, Zuccarello - all late-season acquisitions, all massive parts of the Ranger offense now that the main mercenaries have faded. Something they all share? Decisiveness. There is no hesitation, no clenching the stick too tight ... they keep moving, they make plays, they come up with results. Simply, they don't play John Tortorella's brand of lifeless, shot blocking, dump-n-chase, north-south hockey. We'll see how that fleshes out in the end, but they have been fun to watch for now.

*As with Boyle in Game 4, my tw-enemy Asham giveth and he (almost) taketh away. If not for Hank's heroics, Asham's goal would have been wiped out by the power play brought about by his unnecessary penalty.

*Interesting that the Caps cried about the penalty situation in Game 6 - none called on the Rangers - and Ovie wasn't busted for his boarding. In fact, nothing was called on Washington until it was a 4-0 game in the third period. The refs didn't want things to get out of hand so they brought out their whistles. But they had managed to call a penalty early on to give the Caps quite a chance to tie it. I'm one rarely given to accusing the refs for anything (aside from in the heat of the moment, at the game), but it was curious how things worked out.

*The injury theories on Nash were made to look foolish yet again as he skated hard enough to get a few great chances, which he blew. Thankfully he, like Richard$, found other ways to contribute. Seeing as the players aren't getting paid for the playoffs, technically they aren't wasting our money. So any contribution is a bonus, right?

*LOLtby. A mediocre netminder, nothing more. And exposed as such when the team in front of him utterly gave up. No heart.

*Best game of Steve Eminger's Ranger career, wouldn't you say? Nice timing.

*Brassard, Step and Richard$ - three of the four centers. Not a single shot on goal between them, not a complaint about their play to be had.

*Well, one ... all played on the power play and, yet again, there were no power play goals.

*Can you hear us? Loved the Ranger fan presence. Glad to see the True Blue travel so well and add insult to injury, especially as the bandwagon pulled out of the Phone Booth in the third period.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Arron Asham - one goal.
2-Derick Brassard - two assists.
1-Henrik Lundqvist - 35 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Brassard - Creative and confident. And just edging out Cally.
2-Hank - Your Conn Smythe-leading candidate.
1-McDonagh - Never give in.

R1, G6: One Was Enough

The Rangers succeeded in putting the puck past Braden Holtby once on Sunday afternoon and proceeded to cling to that lonely goal as the sun went down. The Blueshirts beat the Caps 1-0 to level the series at three games apiece, forcing Monday night's Game 7.

While the scrum broke out at the final buzzer, Henrik Lundqvist skated to the hash marks and proceeded to strike the iconic Ken Dryden pose. Hank perched his arms atop his stick as he watched the boys battle, resting after an hour of heroics. While Dryden rarely had to work even half as hard as Hank - playing behind the all-time greatest team - the two goaltenders are similar in that both were/are the best in the business. Sunday marked another simply stellar performance by our Swede and, if he can survive more onslaughts like this one, he'll be a shoo-in to join Dryden in the Hall of Fame.

Late Hits:

*What made Hank's performance even more impressive is how he made so many stops through screens, on shots he hardly saw and were redirected along the way to his paint. He definitely had some help at the end, as Cally, Boyle and Girardi were selfless throwing themselves in front of shots. Boyle clearly was exhausted and sore, struggling back to his skates, but that didn't stop him from trying. Kudos.

*It's a power play, morons, you're supposed to score on it. Sick of this nonsense, it's not funny anymore.

*That Caps fans are crying because they didn't get any man advantages is ridiculous. If you Washington whiners are out there, I'm not sure if you were watching but you spent most of regulation playing like you had a power play with free reign to skate into and around the Ranger end.

*How was Ovechkin not penalized for punching Anton Stralman - of all people - when he was being escorted off the ice after the final scrum? But, more importantly, it was clear that Ovie was frustrated and that can only be good for the Blueshirts.

*It is especially hard to label the lines (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th) right now as Torts is changing them seemingly shift by shift. But, you figure Arron Asham is on the fourth line and that makes Brad Richard$ a $12 million fourth line center - $20 million if you include his bonus (credit to @mavanco for that stat). Nine and a half minutes of icetime, four of which came on the power play. What an incredible waste.

*Rick Nash spent 3:52 of his 17:46 on the power play. Nash attempted two shots in the game, just one made it on net ... and it was at even strength. He's paid to shoot, he's paid to score. At least he was able to contribute by evading the defense and sliding into the slot on what would be Brassard's goal but he is one expensive screen. The claims of injuries detracting from his play are ridiculous, as he's trying a lot of the same stuff as he did during the regular season (didja catch that dangle of his?) but they aren't working with all the pressure.

*Yelling "Shoot the Puck!" when the Rangers are not in the offensive zone is just stupid. Chanting it ... ugh.

*Four minutes and five seconds of ice time for Chris Kreider. Why bother?

*Also on ice time: John Moore 12 minutes, Del Zaster 21 and a half. No surprise at all that it was Moore who assisted on the lone goal and NOT DZ. Perhaps Moore should have gotten more than zero seconds of power play time. Zero. Torts didn't give him a single second of power play time. Not one. Not even by accident.

*Moore, Brassard, Dorsett ... Marian who?

*Really hope John Amirante is alright, three Ranger playoff games and no performances by the Ranger institution.

*On the other side of the coin is Dancing Larry. Enough already. It was 1-0 in a must-win game with just over three minutes remaining in the third period and we had to watch that clown spaz out to a terrible tune from 20 years ago? Are you kidding me?

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Derek Dorsett - no goals or assists.
2-Derick Brassard - one goal.
1-Henrik Lundqvist - 27 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Hank
2-Hank
1-Hank

R1, G5: Failed Philosophy

The Blueshirts were sent to the brink on Friday night when they fell 2-1 in overtime to the Caps.

The first 60 minutes were full of mind-numbingly boring hockey, with the Rangers seemingly playing for a shootout that would never come. But once they hit the OT, things suddenly opened up and it was a edge-of-the-seat, heart attack-inducing, utterly terrifying sudden death stanza. And you know what? The Rangers were just fine. Hank made some big saves - he can do that, you know - and the boys were in it.

It was only when they went back to being Torts' team and followed his failed philosophies that they lost. They collapsed deep in their zone, clogged the middle, allowed the Washington point men time and space, and focused on blocking shots rather than pressing the action. They penalty killed at even strength and the NHL's top power play players took advantage.

Poor John Moore blocked a shot, found himself stranded and then out of position as Mike Ribeiro slid into the slot to slam home the game-winner. And now the Rangers return to MSG Sunday - at the odd time of 4:30 in the afternoon. I know I'm repeating the cliche: it's not over until the home team loses and if they lose Sunday, it's over.

Late Hits:

*Mentioned it after last game, how Clowe was taking a risk playing at less than 100%. Skating around with a bullseye on his head he was one hit away from trouble and he took that hit in the first period. The terms "upper body" and "lower body" were created to protect players because, in the playoffs, opponents would target weakness to knock them out. Everyone knew Clowe had a concussion so it is little surprise that one of Washington's warriors, Jason Chimera - would take advantage of that knowledge.

*Five games down, still no sign of Rick Nash. But I'm sure he'll show up again in October.

*Boyle giveth, Boyle taketh away. Another goal for, another mistake that led to a goal against. Credit due him for being more involved than he was during the regular season, I guess.

*Richard$ has been horrid but to put him with Asham and Pyatt? How can you spark a playmaker if you put him with guys who can't play?

*That being said, having Richie and DZ out on the power play is getting ridiculous. The team went 0-4, including virtually four straight minutes of man advantage time in the second period. The unit is slow, predictable and about as harmless as a puppy. All told, seven shots in eight power play minutes, none by Nash.

*Thought Dorsett skated well, he's slowly finding his fitness and should be terrific after a full training camp.

*Anton Stralman is too soft and incapable to be a useful second-pairing blueliner. That was him getting outmuscled by Troy Brouwer on the final play, allowing for the tip to Ribeiro. But at least he is better than Del Zaster, right?

*Guess I wasn't just being cruel when I pointed out DZ's various deficiencies? Or can he still play the age card? By the way, this was his 275th NHL game ...

*Why does it seem that Ryan Callahan and Carl Hagelin are often the only Rangers on the ice when they rush over the Washington blue line? Every attack appears to be one on three or one on four.

*Crazy numbers for Matt Hendricks: 9:12 of ice time - 3:29 of it was shorthanded - four hits and seven blocked shots. That's one helluva playoff performance.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Henrik Lundqvist - 33 saves.
2-Joel Ward - one goal.
1-Mike Ribeiro - one goal.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Ovie - Fifteen shot attempts, nine of which went on net. Damn.
2-Hank - Where Holtby was hardly tested, the King found himself under siege and can not be collectable for the loss.
1-Ribeiro - Won a ton of faceoffs and helped make Hank's life hard. 

R1, G4: Holding Serve

The Rangers did what they were supposed to on Wednesday, defeating Washington on home ice. In yet another uncomfortably close affair, the Blueshirts beat the Caps 4-3 at MSG to level the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.

As usual, the boys didn't make it easy - they blew a two-goal lead, grabbed another and let Washington to draw within one with plenty of time to go. Nerve-racking, fingernail-biting, orifice-tightening, ulcer-inducing time.

Seeing as there is little rest for the wicked and Game 5 is Friday night, here are just a few Late Hits:

*Step's eventual game-winner has to rank among the top five goals this season. What beautiful play between Cally, Hags and him. No surprise that they are all True Blue Rangers - not mercenaries - and have a degree of chemistry.

*That being said, that play really showed the difference between winners and losers. By now you've seen the Ovie "controller" gif showing his lack of interest in covering Step. Last week in Los Angeles, with the Kings up 1-0 with around five minutes to go, the Blues' Jordan Leopold had an empty net to shoot on and Justin Williams made an amazing dive to knock the puck away (wish I could find the video). That's why Williams has a Cup ring and Ovechkin is and will always be a loser.

*Rick Nash hasn't done anything to dispel my notion that he can't hack the playoffs. The overrated, overpaid showboat has been a virtual nonfactor four games in, easily covered by the Caps' mediocre collection of defensemen. Fancypants moves are great for Youtube but they don't get you Stanley nowadays. Nash has to figure out how to persevere despite the pressure.

*Nice to see Richard$ can score into an empty net. The tricky part will be for him to put the puck in one when there is a goalie there - even one as woeful as Holtby.

*Del Zaster, Stralman and Eminger ... oh, to have Staal, Sauer and Tyutin ... then we'd have Stanley.

*Astounding how quickly Torts goes back to his old habits, leaning hard on a precious few players. Even with elite athletes, the fuel is not infinite and quickly the returns will start diminishing. Half hour of play for McDonagh and Girardi, over 20 minutes for Brian Boyle? Not healthy for them, not healthy for the team.

*Anyone remember Varsity Blues, when Billy Bob asked about a play, saying "is this the one where I trot downfield and act like I'm lost?" I think of that most every time Boyle skates into the offensive zone.

*It is always hard to score goals in hockey. In the NHL it is almost impossible, that's why these players are well-paid professionals. But, in theory, when there are five of your guys and there are just three of the bad guys the odds to score should, in theory, go up. If having one less bad guy out there is called having an "advantage," then having two less bad guys must really be something wonderful. And it is, for everyone except the New York Rangers. Of course.

*Nice to see Clowe back on the ice but he clearly was not 100%. It is scary to think of the risk he is taking, especially when there are capable alternatives available for the amount of ice time available.

*I mentioned the "Any Given Sunday" 'one inch' speech in my wrap of Game 3 and MSG had a dead puck pump-up video to it in Game 4. Could be coincidence but perhaps someone's watching me ...

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Dan Girardi - one goal.
2-Derick Brassard - two assists.
1-Carl Hagelin - one goal and two assists.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Brassard - That skilled guy from Columbus keeps collecting points; no, the other one ...
2-Mathieu Perrault - A goal and an assist for this fast, persistent little pest.
1-Hagelin - Bork. Borkborkbork. Bork. So glad the Swede's hard work paid off, really love the hustle.

R1, G3: It Ain't Over Yet

Sadly a rough schedule demands this recap be quick - the Rangers defeated the Capitals 4-3 in Game 3 to cut their series deficit to 2-1.

There, gotta go.

More? Ok, a few Late Hits:

*This team can't do anything easy, can they?

*Funny how all of the Caps fans who responded to my trolling of Holtby earlier today were deathly silent after he gave up goals to Brian Boyle and Arron Asham. The truth hurts, their goaltender's success was due to the Rangers' ineptness - not by any showing of skill on his part.

*So the power play went 1-6. Brassard's goal aside, it was the same as it ever was - unimaginative, predictable and easy to stop. And, of course, after blowing the prime chance they were given with the man advantage in the opening minutes, the Rangers allowed Washington to score soonafter.

*Richard$ buyout seems all the more likely now that Derek Stepan, who is making more than $11 million less this season, has taken his top-line center spot. I believe that Richard$ is the lone player in this series with a Cup ring and he needs to show it. He has to play smarter and harder - even if his legs got washed out into the Atlantic with Sandy.

*Welcome back Staalsie. As a friend mentioned, the Ranger defense was actually used economically and, without overloading anyone's icetime, they were able to withstand the incredible pressure late in the third. Amazing how that works.

*Said it before but John Moore is terrific. He is playing like McD was last season, and is a massive help considering Del Zaster's inconsistency and Stralman's ... Stralman-ness.

*Also said that Rick Nash wasn't likely to perform in the playoffs and he has yet to prove me wrong. He looks disinterested half the time, often out of position and withering from the physical play the Caps are throwing his way. He deserves an attaboy for throwing the puck into the middle so Step could tip it home but it is hard to say if he did it intentionally or was just dumping the puck away as the defense closed on him.

*Boyle giveth, Boyle taketh away. He scored a goal that reminded everyone of why he was a first round draft pick way back when, then he blew a defensive zone faceoff cleanly, resulting in Jay Beagle's goal. (So glad they changed the credit to Beagle from Hillen, the ex-Islander ...)

*My Tw-enemy Asham potted a gimme thanks to Brassard's silky feed. Nice to see him do something aside from taking a bad penalty for once.

*There were plenty of bad penalties to be had, including the Richard$ slash on Ovie. Did Ovie sell it? Hell yeah. Was it a penalty? Absolutely.

*We may be in a bit of trouble if Ribeiro ever decides to start playing for Washington. He nearly keyed the game-tying goal in the final minutes, QBing the Caps power play.

*Loved the return of the 'Ovie Sucks' chant. Loved that he actually sucked even more.

*Hope Powe is ok but, if not, hope Miller can enter the lineup and do what Kreider did last spring.

*Hope John Amirante is ok. Important Ranger games just don't feel as important without him doing the anthem.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Ryan McDonagh - no points.
2-Brian Boyle - one goal and one assist.
1-Derick Brassard - one goal and two assists.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Nick Backstrom - The Swede's two-way play is incredibly underrated.
2-Girardi/Staal/McD - Can't pick just one when it was a group effort to completely render Ovie harmless.
1-Brassard - The change in scenery has certainly helped, that's for certain.

R1, G2: Disappointment in DC

Oh, what a difference an inch makes. Anton Stralman's shot four minutes into Game 2 is an inch lower and Saturday may have been quite different. While I am not about to go all Al Pacino over that inch, it proved to be quite important as it was the Blueshirts' closest scoring attempt in what was to be a 1-0 overtime loss to the Capitals.

But as old Al details in that classic speech from "Any Given Sunday", you've got to fight for that inch and the Rangers have yet to put that effort in. For all of his blustering and hysterics, Torts has never been able to get his team ready to play at puck drop so perhaps, perhaps - two games in - they will finally wake up for Game 3.

Perhaps getting out of that cesspool city they were in for the first two games will help. But, given how quiet the Garden has been this year, home ice may not be so much of an advantage. Plus, I saw that there are over two thousand tickets available between Stubhub and TicketsNow for Monday's match. Thanks to the insane prices set by Dolan's minions, plenty of True Blue are selling and it is impossible to blame them for it.

Either way, the games are won on the ice and not in the crowd. The saying goes that a playoff series isn't over until a team loses at home. So, at least we have that. For now.

Enough about Game 3, some Late Hits about 2:

*Three power plays, nothing. Guys standing around, taking bad shots that were easily blocked ... Ranger typical. Were they hosed on Alzner's puck into the crowd? Absolutely. But do you really think another power play really would have mattered?

*Braden Holtby - a goaltender who wouldn't even start on 28 other teams (figure he'd be an upgrade in Edmonton, maybe) - has barely been challenged, barely been disturbed. It's one thing to give the goalie wide berth if you are playing against a l33t tender, but Holtby has been given an easy ride by the lackluster Ranger attack.

*Here's a wild thought for the Rangers: don't shoot the puck at Holtby's chest.

*Wouldn't it be nice for the team to forecheck, to hold their own blue line, to carry the puck across the opposition's instead of dumping ... what wonderful team that would be to watch.

*The scorekeeper counted an insane 58 hits for the Rangers. Fifty-eight hits that resulted in just five takeaways. That's a problem. Hit for possession, hit for intimidation, don't hit just to hit.

*That was a big issue for DZ over the last few years (and still is) but the kid is putting together some of the best defensive shifts of his career. It is a shame that they are largely wasted as his partners are horrible and the two guys above him are so exhausted that they're making amateur mistakes.

*Speaking of amateur, John Tortorella. What kind of coach is so clueless, so incapable of motivating his players, so lacking in ideas that he has to juggle his lines in the second game of the playoffs? (Yes, I know he has done it all season long, it was rhetorical.)

*As for his decision to put Brian Boyle and Derek Dorsett in ... ridiculousness. Boyle, who's mere presence is a black hole in the lineup that makes the lines uneven, and a guy who is coming off an injury, has never played in the playoffs and never played for the organization before. And neither of them have any real hope of scoring goals, the prime problem of Game 1.

*It is a real shame that Torts has no faith in Chris Kreider. No idea why the bench boss has so much faith in Taylor Pyatt.

*That being said, no judgement on Dorsett's first game. He shouldn't have been inserted in the lineup cold turkey but he appeared to skate hard and was certainly willing to throw his recently-healed body around. We'll see what happens once Torts drains the life out of him.

*Previously made the comparison of Brian Boyle to Willie Huber before but now I want to issue an apology. Willie, wherever you are (he passed away in '10), I'm sorry. You were not nearly as useless.

*Zuccarello was all over the ice in the first period, then pretty much disappeared as Torts started his juggling act. Using him as the physical winger with a completely covered Nash and a legless Richard$ is pointless.

*John Carlson had seven shots on goal in 10 attempts for Washington. The entire Ranger defense had four shots on goal on 11 attempts. The Caps are capably clogging the middle, but the Blueshirts are taking far too long in their decision making.

*Best part of the series coming back to MSG? No stupid horn or morons incessantly banging on the glass. Man, are DC fans annoying or what?

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Braden Holtby - 24 saves.
2-Mike Green - one goal.
1-Henrik Lundqvist - 37 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Cally - The only Ranger skater who looked interested throughout the entire game, the only one who looked like he got angry. Woulda loved to hear what Hendricks said to him in that scrum.
2-Green - Saw his goal coming a mile away and it still beat Hank.
1-Hank - No King, no chance. This one woulda been five or six-zip, easily.

R1, G1: New Season, Same Rangers

The Blueshirts started the second season with a loss, falling in Game 1 against Washington 3-1 on Thursday night. They stumbled at the start, somehow came away with a 1-0 lead after one, then continued to underwhelm for another half hour or so before coming alive late. By then, it was too late and the Caps collected the victory.

Just going to jump right into the Late Hits: 

*It is just incredible to watch Step and Cally kill penalties, but it is just awful that they have to do it so often. The Rangers were the least penalized team in the NHL because of the lack of egregious infractions, not because they are any kind of disciplined. And it hurt them on this night. Frankly, we should consider ourselves lucky that Washington only had one man advantage goal, given the half dozen opportunities that were given to them. Or perhaps we are just lucky to have Lundqvist. Yeah, probably that.

*There's no blaming the refs for this one, as every call was justifiable. The Asham call was a clear infraction - he came in late, he came in high. It's a shame since he had an utterly fantastic, clean hit on Oleksy earlier the same shift. Guess you really can't fix stupid.

*Even though the King gave up one, if not two goals on the softer side, he kept his team in a game they had no right being in. Par for the course this season; no matter where you go, there you are. Call it the regular season or call it the playoffs, these guys are the same and they needed to be better.

*For all of the pushing and shoving, the Caps continually crowded Hank, Nash and Cally and yet Washington's top players had all the room in the world. Hitting Jay Beagle won't achieve much, running Ribeiro might.

*Brad Richard$ is abominable. He had luck on his side over the last week but the leprechaun went away and he was left with two tired legs and a crippling indecisiveness. That he is still on the power play is one of the many failings of the Ranger bench boss. Maybe if Richard$ waits longer with the puck his ridiculous contract will be over and we will be rid of him. I'm still holding out a tiny iota of hope a regular summer and training camp can revive him next season but this one has been written off.

*He was a huge reason why the power play failed time and time again with his slow decision making, soft shots and predictable passes. But he isn't the only reason, coaching is another factor. How they can think that standing in one spot is wise positioning is astounding - that five on three was just pathetic. Move, cycle, get the goalie going side to side, get the defensemen sliding back and forth ... make holes and drill the puck through. It's not rocket science, other teams do it to them all the time.

*Chris Kreider - zero seconds of power play time. At least he got more than five (8:23 to be precise) but there is still something very wrong there. Pyatt wasted two minutes of man advantage time.

*It was bad enough Anton Stralman waited too long with the puck and was taken down by Perreault with five minutes left in the second period. But then he got lost and confused with Zuke low helping him out. Stralman ended up watching the puck as Perreault rushed the crease and screened Hank, allowing Chimera's shot by. The Swede is a capable sixth defenseman, it is just sad he is running as the team's number four.

*Love John Moore. Put him with Staal, if Staal ever returns, and the Rangers finally have a solid second pairing. Moore scored that goal in the third period, sad that the NHL couldn't see it.

*And that was the best save Holtby made all game. The rest of the shots he had time and space to square and let hit him. It is simply astounding that only the two smallest guys on the roster - Zuke and Cally - are willing to spend any amount of time standing at the top of the blue paint.

*There's probably more but it's 6:30am and I need sleep so whatever. If you don't already, follow me on Twitter @scottyhockey for more ranting ...

*PHW Three Stars
3-Carl Hagelin - one goal.
2-Jason Chimera - one goal.
1-Braden Holtby - 35 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Holtby - No softies, an achievement.
2-Callahan - If only his teammates followed his example ...
1-Ovechkin - Maybe someone should cover him on a power play. Just a thought.

Peepin' Foes Playoff Edition: Washington Capitals

The Rangers made the playoffs by the skin of their collective teeth and somehow ended up securing the six spot, setting up yet another series against the Washington Capitals.

As most everyone has observed, it is the fourth time the teams have met over the last five postseasons. The Rangers lost the first two of those, before squeaking out a seven-game win last season. Historically they are 3-4 in series against the Caps with the name John Druce still haunting my dreams.

When Do We Play:
Game 1: Thursday, 7:30 p.m. at Washington
Game 2: Saturday, 12:30 p.m. at Washington
Game 3: May 6th, 7:30 p.m. at MSG
Game 4: May 8th, 7:30 p.m. at MSG
*Game 5: May 10th, 7:30 p.m. at Washington
*Game 6: May 12th, TBD at MSG
* Game 7: May 13th, TBD at Washington
* - if necessary

Where We Are: In the playoffs, can you believe it? The Rangers didn't exactly back in to the playoff spot but they didn't exactly show they wanted it until the very end. (Note: That is the same exact line I wrote in 2011.)

Where They Are: SouthLeast Division champs ended the season as one of the hottest teams in the league, tearing off 12-1-2 run to close out the asterisked year.

What Happened This Season: The Blueshirts went 2-0-1 against DC: Sunday. Feb 17th the Rangers won 2-1 at MSG, my recap. Sunday March 10th Rangers won 4-1 at the Phone Booth, my recap. And Sunday, March 24th Caps won 3-2 at MSG in a shootout, my recap.

What Happened Past Seasons: I'd rather not rehash John 'F-ing' Druce or the tumultuous Tortorella debacle in his debut season (for my original recaps of that awfulness, just check out April 2009). Last season's seven-game second round series between the teams bordered on torture. The Rangers dominated Game 1, slept through Game 2, played the most boring three OT game ever in Game 3, had a typical letdown in Game 4, got last-second heroics after a mostly morbid Game 5, gave up an early goal on the way to allowing DC to win Game 6 and, finally, finishing off the series in a solid Game 7.

Who To Watch For: Tom Poti ... no, he's out with a bad back. Wojtek Wolski ... no, he still stinks and rarely plays. The main man is Mike Green. Yeah, there is that Ovechkin guy and, sure, Nick Backstrom is a sweet Swede who abuses his fellow countryman Lundqvist with regularity, but Green makes the motor run. After the Caps lost to the Islanders on March 26th, Green racked up 18 points over the next 15 games and (as I mentioned above) Washington went 12-1-2. His defensive deficiencies are outweighed by his offensive prowess: he can pass, he can shoot, he can quarterback a power play and he can do it all at high speed. Basically, Green is a good version of Del Zaster. Also Brooks Laich, if he is deemed healthy enough to play - that guy is annoying to play against. GMGM ridiculously overpaid for Martin Erat at the deadline and Erat has contributed just one goal in nine games since. Doubt he will reward GMGM's faith with a top performance in this series but you never know.

What To Watch For: Aside from the obvious - the Rangers making Braden Holby look like a real goaltender by inflating his numbers with half-hearted shots - the special teams deserve scrutiny. The Rangers take bad penalties and have a terrible power play. The Caps power play is outstanding but their penalty kill is abominable. Something has got to give. Hank will have to make more saves like this, as the bad Ranger blueline is sure to let Ovie get that open every now and again (unless Staal comes back in time).

Also Check Out: The Caps have a big blogosphere - lotsa bored people in politics I guess - but, frankly, I just head to Japer's Rink for all my info. JP is the man. A few other options are Russian Machine Never Breaks, Caps Outsider, Caps Insider, Homer McFanboy, and On Frozen Blog. 

15-13-3: Familiar Failure

As the puck drops on yet another game in moments, a quickquickquick recap of the Rangers' 3-2 shootout loss to the Caps on Sunday. Sorry about the delay, life gets in the way... 

Slow start? Check.

Bad penalty? Check.

Give up the first goal? Check.

Make a bad goalie look good? Check. 

Rally to give us false hope? Check.

Disappointing loss to a poor opponent? Check.

To quote Battlestar Galactica: "All this has happened before, and will happen again. Again. Again. Again. Again ..."

Late Hits:

*My Twitter buddy Arron Asham returned from injury and scored a goal in his first game back. It was a easy wrister far side past Holtby's glove, just like Asham's first goal this year on the other awful Southeastern goalie Lindback. It also should have been a shot the Rangers scorers should have been throwing past LOLtby all night long. Good on Asham to finally decide to show up, let's see him do it again against a team he used to play for.

*Quite possibly the best defensive game Del Zaster has played in a Ranger uniform. He still made mistakes, but his positioning was better and he was relentless.

*I've been unable to re-watch the game a third time to check the numbers, but I can't imagine the official scorekeepers were accurate. Nine shots for Cally? Six hits for Boyle?

*It is so ludicrous that they call dives alongside the initial infractions.

*Amazing that Newbury was not one of those who took stupid penalties. But it is interesting that his presence created a comfort level for Kreider, in the same way John Mitchell helped Carl Hagelin last season.

*Keep thinking Matt Hendricks won't look that bad in a Blueshirt.

*Those Caps sweaters are beautiful, too bad they are constant reminders of John Druce.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Nicklas Backstrom - one goal and one assist.
2-Henrik Lundqvist - 22 saves.
1-Braden Holtby - 30 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Hank - Solid game by the King, hard to blame him for a goal deflected off Backstrom's chest and another was tipped by Ovie.
2-Ovechkin - Everything Gabby was not.
1-Backstrom - Everything Richard$ was not.

13-9-2: Too Close In The Capital

After sweating out their hangover on Sunday morning the Rangers collected themselves enough to defeat one of the worst teams in the NHL, the Washington Capitals. The 4-1 win should have been by double digits but, as we have seen time and time again, Tortorella's team would rather rest on a lead than extend it.

The way Washington was playing, the Blueshirts should have burned out the goal lamp. The Caps team defense was terrible, they weren't particularly physical and their offense was anemic to say the least. It was perhaps the most uninterested performance I've seen Ovechkin put on. Ever. It's like he's given up ...

Well, that is their problem. The Rangers are ours.

They need to find a killer instinct because good teams mount comebacks. Even this game against a bad team wasn't put to bed until there was a minute left thanks to that Richard$ goal. The Blueshirts have the benefit of playing in the LEast so they have a good shot at a spot in the playoffs. But, as we saw last season, this group isn't big on pressing the advantage which will mean another early, unfortunate exit - something that can not be accepted.

Late Hits:

*The Nash effect is being lauded around the NHL at this moment but the fact is that racking up points over this asterisked excuse for a regular season isn't much of an achievement ... Alex Zhamnov was second in points in '94-95. Nash has four postseason games under his belt and he underwhelmed. But he is not with that expansion afterthought anymore. How he will fare in May - in a real city, with a real chance to make a run - will be the biggest question mark going forward and no one should be anointing him savior until the real season starts.

*Lest ye be thinking I'm just crusading against our savior from Columbus, Nash's release on the power play goal was amazing. DZ's setup was to his back foot, forcing Nash to adjust and he twisted, ending up on his knee. Despite watching the replay roughly 16 times, still not sure how Cally got credit. Did it hit his leg?

*Nash also deserves notice by drawing the awful Washington defense on the fourth and final goal. Two Caps came towards him, a third came back to watch Hagelin's spin-shot and no one picked up Richard$.

*Interesting how the same people who cried out that 'Gabby was back!' after scoring that Callahan-screened goal against the Isles are the same ones lauding Brian Boyle now. One lucky shot past a poor goaltender does not mean much. Gaborik was all but invisible in this one, and Boyle's go-ahead goal came because Ovechkin embarrassed himself with a shotblock attempt.

*The one time Gabby was noticeable was on the Stepan goal, not because he got an assist for dropping the puck to him the second a Cap came near, but because Step was trying to pass the puck back and got lucky it hit of Holtby's skate. The NBC staff rambling about Ovechkin's skipped hit on Step in center ice was ridiculous as it had ZERO to do with the play.

*More dumb penalties. And ones taken by guys who get paid to kill them. Unacceptable.

*Marty Biron may be a nice guy but he is not a particularly good goaltender, not anymore at least. It is amazing how the stink of the Islanders still lingers over him as he botches easy stops and allows soft goals. The goal against was a marshmallow from the point and Marty made several saves look like wild adventures.

*On that soft goal Dan Girardi skated with Jason Chimera all the way up the boards, without laying a single hit on him. Really uncharacteristic of him.

*Hmm, Tom Poti or Matt Gilroy ... hmm ...

*The Ribero/Del Zaster exchange was quite amusing. DZ got a roughing call for being punched in the face. Tee hee.

*Despite winning 14 of 14 faceoffs (at least that's what the box score says) Backstrom was largely invisible. He had one nice dangle in the third period and nearly shocked Biron with a shot to the goaltender's neck. But he is definitely better as a complimentary player and there was no one out there with skills he could compliment.

*Wonder if Matt Hendricks would be available as a rental this season ... he'd be helpful, especially if Asham's 'back spasms' keeps him out of the lineup much longer.

*It is just infuriating that the Rangers let Washington, and that awful embryo of a goaltender of theirs, take them to seven games last spring. It's not like Alex Semin had any impact.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Steve Oleksy - one goal.
2-Ryan McDonagh - two assists.
1-Marty Biron - 28 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Hagelin - Bork! Swedish kid continues to contribute.
2-Nash - By far the most skilled player on the ice.
1-McDonagh - Best blueliner on Broadway, and he hasn't even played two full seasons in the NHL yet. Amazing. 

8-5-1: Selective Memory

The Rangers skated away from Sunday's 'matinee' match against the Capitals with two points. In the end, that is all that is important. Aside from the two outstanding tallies by the Blueshirts, most of the details of the one-goal win are not worth remembering.

The fact that they were taken to the wire by the worst team in the Eastern Conference, well, we need to forget about that. An inexcusable goal against on a wide open shot just over a minute in, Hank's good looks erase that. Sitting on a one-goal lead rather than trying to make it a two-goal lead? Slip it from your mind. Four poor penalties? Let 'em go. Darroll Powe getting knocked out by Matt Hendricks? Already ignored, no one bothered to avenge him anyway. Yet another occurrence of Braden Holtby-ism, a syndrome where the Rangers make the mediocre netminder look good by inflating his stats with easy saves? Definitely worth deleting from the memory bank.

Once all that is consigned to oblivion we can bask in the brilliance of the two goals scored by the Blueshirts and the two points they took for defeating the Caps. Beating Washington is always wonderful and, at the end of the day, that is what the boys in blue did. They triumphed over Ovie and improved to 5-1-1 in their last seven games. Selective memory is a wonderful thing.

Late Hits:

*A power play goal. By the Rangers. Really. And it was glorious. I felt like James Bond. Richard$ actually won a faceoff, Nash's fancy-pants move actually worked to pass it back, then tic-tac-toe Richard$ to Del Zaster to Stepan and we're winning.

*Step finished that play, and he started the game-tying tally. He hustled to the boards, pressuring Troy Brouwer into making a poor pass that McDonagh intercepted and fired deep. Hagelin then tipped Tom Poti's clearing attempt, allowing Rick Nash to get it and feed McDonagh for the shot that Hagelin redirected in. Bork, Bork, Bork!

*And Poti - of all the blueliners in all the world - Poti being the player to lose his cover ... simply spectacular. POOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTIIIIIIII, POOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTIIIIIIII, POOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTIIIIIIII. Peanut Butta Poti Time, Peanut Butta Poti Time! It is soooo much fun to revel in his mistakes, now that they aren't made while he's wearing a Ranger sweater.

*The current Blueshirt blueliner to draw my ire, Del Zaster, didn't suck. He saw way too much ice time, made a few blatant mistakes and took a terrible penalty, but he didn't suck. Maybe he just looked passable thanks to Poti being on the same ice ... yeah, that probably was it.

*DZ was one of several Rangers guilty of going down to try to block passes. Sure the play looks pretty, but it just shows how far out of position the player was.

*Bravo to NBC Sports for including the national anthem, which featured John Amirante. Sad they missed his trademark fist-pump, but still more than we get during MSG broadcasts. And no Micheletti, can't beat that.

*Sounded like a loud crowd on tv. It was helped that the 6pm start was the earliest of the season (pending the last two NBC games) and that it came on the eve of a holiday. Nice to see the Rangers recognized it with a give-away ... oh, wait, they didn't.

*Kinda sad to see that Ovechkin shaved his dastardly Van Dyke. Ah well, at least we know he's still evil.

*Cally tangling with Ovie? What a moment. And his honest, selfless work at the end of the game? It is getting hard to love our captain more.


*Not only does it appear that Adam Oates has no idea how to coach, but it looks like he had some bad plastic surgery too. Bet he scares all the children on Halloween. Loved that it was him, rather than our dynamic duo behind the bench, that got called for a too many men on the ice.

*Don't tell me Hendricks didn't nail Powe intentionally, I watched the replay a number of times and you can see him lower his right shoulder right before impact. He saw Powe coming and used it to his advantage. The only surprise is that it wasn't John Erskine who did it.

*Asham helped Powe off the ice, the first instance of him actually doing something positive for his Ranger teammates.

*PHW Three Stars:
3- Braden Holtby - 38 saves.
2- Rick Nash - one assist.
1- Carl Hagelin - one goal.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3- Hagelin - While he gives credit to Nash for making room for him, last season Hags had chance after chance last season that he couldn't capitalize upon. Now he's finishing.
2- Stepan - Some games Step looks amazing, others he disappears. Once he gains some consistency we will have ourselves one terrific second line center.
1- Callahan - The wind beneath our wings.

R2, G7: Saturday Night Success

As the final seconds ticked off last night I raised my arms and closed my eyes. Sweet, sweet victory. The buzzer sounded and I was high fived, punched, hugged, mugged, drenched in beer ... and even congratulated by a Flyer fan. What a moment, what a feeling.

And it was only the end of the second round.

The Rangers defeated the Capitals 2-1 on Saturday night to continue their ulcer-inducing run though the playoffs. They closed out the Caps series with their second-straight Game 7 win and earned an invite to the Conference Final dinner dance with the Devils. Outstanding.

Before we get our fingers bitten off by Brodeur at the buffet, a few Late Hits from this one:

*John Druce, wherever you are, I have one thing to say to you: this.

*You know what would have made the victory sweeter? Tom Poti on the losing end. Pooooooooooooooottttttttttttiiiiiiiiiiii.

*7-0 Fedotenko. Supposedly he is Ukrainian but with luck like that there must be some Irish in there. Joking aside, his success in Game 7s is a credit to his hard work. You could tell that he was going to fight until the final buzzer and he battled all night.

*As did Carl Hagelin, who had one of his best performances of the playoffs - if not the season. The Wolverine was outstanding, a forechecking fury that outhustled and outworked the Washington blueliners. Hopefully Kreider was still watching and learning.

*And thanks to Hagelin, Brad Richard$ came through with the game-opening goal just 92 seconds into the night. It was a great one-timer from Richard$, one that Holtby should have stopped - perhaps the minor leaguer expected Nick Backstrom to block it? Doesn't matter, it went in. And then the Rangers tried to cling to that advantage the rest of the night.

*Speaking of such, Marc Staal is really starting to look like the old Marc Staal. Nice timing.

*0-2 power play, New York typical. Although, to be fair, the second wasn't a full two minutes. But, still, the Rangers will have to start taking advantage of the man advantage in the next round.

*Saw the replay of the Boyle non-goal, bad call. Very glad it wasn't the margin of victory (or defeat).

*But, for all of the complaining from the Blue Bloods about the officiating this series, the Rangers got away with one when Del Zaster tripped Ovechkin to force the turnover that resulted in his goal.

*That goal came off of a perfect shot that sailed through Roman Hamrlik's legs and inside the stick-side post on Holtby. All credit given and due.

*Of course, plenty of blame is due to him on the Hamrlik goal 38 seconds later. The goal was not Step's fault, as I have heard. Mike Green was Step's man, and the Vespa-rider was still up-ice. Kreider was with Laich at the point, Cally closed with Chimera on the right wing boards and Staal was battling Brouwer in front. That left DZ to come out and close with Hamrlik. Del Zaster misread the Czech's rush and turned towards the boards - opening up the lane through the slot for the shot. Another example of DZ's defensive deficiencies (ones that he does not appear to be working on improving).

*Notes on the bad guys: Troy Brouwer and Matt Hendricks were worthy opponents in this series, real warriors who gave their all. Still don't like Brooks Laich but will admit he is underrated. Marcus Johansson has to be the Caps biggest disappointment. Sad to see the proud Mike Knuble spend so much time on the bench. Semin should make a lot of money in the KHL next season.

*Gabby finished the series with three goals and four assists. And he still has yet to play his best hockey.

*John Mitchell ... supposedly Mats Zuccarello is getting closer to returning so the Norwegian gnat can take over his spot on the power play.

*Poor Stu, less than three minutes of ice time while McDonagh saw nearly a half hour. Perhaps Bickel will get more ice time against New Jersey. Or not. Maybe he can start at center again one night ... ?

*"We Want The Cup" chants. Really. Really? Really. After being taken to the limit by the two bottom seeds. I can't even comprehend it.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Michael Del Zotto - one goal and one assist.
2-Brad Richards - one goal.
1-Henrik Lundqvist - 22 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Richard$ - Won some faceoffs, score a goal, no big thing for the former Conn Smythe winner.
2-Hank - The King only had to make a few big saves but he made them.
1-Hagelin - Bork!

R2, G6: Nothing Done In DC

As has been the tendency this season, the Rangers proved unable to decisively finish the task at hand. Throughout the year they would take a lead and cling on to it, rather than put the hammer down. And last night, with a chance to close the series against the Caps, they did not put the hammer down. In fact, they didn't even pick it up.

The Blueshirts secured Game 7 revenue for big boss Dolan by tanking Game 6, limply losing 2-1 to Washington in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the scoreline. That isn't to say that they lost intentionally, but their hearts clearly weren't into it - at least after the first 88 seconds. Just as a Brandon Prust fight in the first two minutes has ignited the team in the past, the penalty to Stralman and the ensuing Ovechkin goal extinguished any fire the Rangers may have had at puck drop. They went on to spend the game reacting instead of acting, working on the outskirts of the Washington zone, unwilling to pay the price to make things happen.

Having home ice will be the key to Game 7 on Saturday because there is no way the MSG crowd will allow the Rangers to sleepwalk their way to failure the way they did last night.

Late Hits:

*Dan O'Halloran handed the Blueshirts chance after chance after chance to get into the game. And, of course, the Ranger power play went 0-5, wasting 10 minutes of man advantage time. New York typical.

*The biggest factor in that failure was John Tortorella, of course. He has yet to figure out a power play lineup that works and a philosophy that breeds success. The goals that have been scored this season have come in lucky bursts, as they did in Game 5. Too often the team goes through painful slumps that cost them, as they did in Game 6.

*Del Zaster at the point simply does not work because he does not think quickly enough. Having just one player - Ryan Callahan - willing to plant his ass by the crease does not work. Putting John Mitchell on the ice is just ridiculous. The guy has played 235 career NHL games and has 13 power play points, one being an assist off of that fortuitous faceoff loss in Game 5. Mitch's last power play goal came for Toronto against Atlanta in December of 2010. Yeah. And yet he saw 2:31 of power play time while Kreider, Hagelin and Boyle saw none.

*Kreider, by the way, didn't attempt a single shot in his stellar six minutes of time. What is the point of even dressing this kid if he is not put in a position to succeed? A young scorer saddled with Mike Rupp is going nowhere.

*When shorthanded, there is inevitably going to be one member of the opposition that will be uncovered. The Rangers can not allow that one person to be Alexander Ovechkin. On the opening goal both Girardi and Cally went across to Wideman and the Caps moved the puck across. Cally fell and got caught in Wideman's feet while Girardi went back low to take Johansson (who was smartly screening Hank). Ovie was left wide open. Ugh.

*Brad Richard$, who was almost as awful as DZ on the power play, lollygagged around the Ranger end on the second Caps goal. He was too busy watching the puck to cover Jason Chimera and Chimera cut to the post and scored. And yet the NBC idiots blamed Stu Bickel for not being able to block the shot from Carlson. Perhaps they have spent too much time with Torts and have gotten used to making Stu the scapegoat. Love the look on Chimera's face, even he is shocked he was left alone.

*Washington's minor league netminder had another easy evening of number inflating. Holtby barely had to move the Rangers put the puck in his chest or in his waiting glove. That last-minute glove save was nothing special, as Hagelin did him a favour by skating out of the way so he could see the shot.

*The one puck that did get past Hershey's finest was a gift as Gabby's shot was way off the mark. It luckily hit off of Carlson's ass and ricocheted in. Ugly goals are still goals though ...

*PHW Three Stars
3-Jason Chimera - one goal.
2-Alex Ovechkin - one goal.
1-Braden Holtby - 30 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Alzner/Wideman/Carlson - The top three defenders for DC made things tough enough for the Rangers down low so the Blueshirts didn't even bother battling them.
2-Ovechkin - Yeah, so he's kinda good. Whatever.
1-Backstrom - The Swedish center played in all situations and set up both Washington goals.

R2, G5: Better Late Than Never

All of the Rangers' flaws and bad habits were on display for nearly 60 minutes on Monday night at Madison Square Garden. Their creative players didn't create. Their breakouts were abominable. They took terrible penalties. Their own power play was a joke. They inflated the numbers of the opposing netminder with poor shots. They skated past the crease without stopping. They left Hank out to dry. They took a lead and tried to hang on to it rather than add to it ... the list goes on and on, and yet the Rangers were able to escape the night with a 3-2 overtime win against Washington.

Will wonders never cease?

With the sands nearly gone, Blueshirts finally started listening to their own motto "The Right Way." They set out on that final minute man advantage and played the right way - they won a faceoff, they fought for position, they shot the puck and they kept digging until the job was done. If only they had decided to play like that at some point over the first 59:53.4!

Considering how the Caps controlled so much of that time, the Rangers need to get things done in Game 6 because a Game 7 against those guys (again) is just a scary proposition. You never know when a seemingly innocuous shot from Sergei Fedorov will deflect off of Wade Redden's stick to seal the series.

Late Hits:

*Joel Ward is probably the epitome of this year's series between the Rangers and Capitals: a fast skating, hard working, honest hockey player willing to do whatever it takes to win. He is not the most skilled player but he does all that he can to help his team. And his accidental high stick doomed his team on Monday to an ignominious defeat. Ya gotta feel for the guy.

*Getting hit by that high stick was the best thing Carl Hagelin did all game as he was manhandled to the margins by the Caps. He can do more and be more, not sure if it is the collegiate wall or a mental thing after the Alfredsson incident. But at least he is more active and visible than Washington's young Swede Marcus Johansson - that kid has been MIA.

*Hey Brad Richard$, 6.6 seconds? That must have felt like an eternity after scoring that winner against Phoenix with 0.1 remaining back in December.

*Anton Stralman showed why the Rangers need to work to get clean shots on goal - they happen to go in on this minor league netminder. Stralman went low and got a clean lane to fire a low percentage shot on net and it ended up being Holtby to open the evening's scoring.

*A key to Staal's goal, aside from the deflection on the shot? At the faceoff Arty shoved Karl Alzner into the linesman, stopping the defender from getting to the puck before John Mitchell could recover from his loss and send it back to the point.

*As with Tampa, if this team wins Tortorella will be underserving of much of the credit he receives. He puts together a line of Arty, Cally and Boyle - the first time this season that they have played as a regular unit (if I recall, they got a shot as he pulled names from a hat to 'ignite' the power play at one pont). Nothing like trying to figure out chemistry in Game #94. And I thought that the benching was Kreider's punishment for his turnover last game? Tonight Torts put the kid in the iron maiden, forcing him to skate with the plodders Rupp and Mitchell. Terrible.

*Dug the postgame fireworks.

*No, Del Zaster's secondary assist on the Richard$ goal wipe away another awful night. That was luck - for once one of his shots wasn't entirely blocked, only partially blocked. But the rest of the game he was just, well, Del Zastrous: bad penalties, bad passes, bad puck work, bad decisions ... the clueless kid has been horrific in these playoffs as all of his (many) faults have been exploited.

*Really wish Mike Sauer was around to be part of this success. He put in a lot of great, hard minutes filling in for Staal before his own head injury and to have the two of them together, in top shape on the Ranger blueline as a second pairing behind Girardi and McD would just be outstanding.

*Pruster was invisible.

*It seems every game there is a moment or three where Callahan does something that justifies his captaincy. Tonight was no different, as Cally put together a powerful third period shift that brought the building to their feet. Several folks called that the point when their hope was renewed.

*And finally, I know some Cap fans visit this space and I want to offer my apologies to them for the conduct of the Ranger fans, especially postgame. Saw several incidents where the Blue Bloods went overboard, drunk on victory (and booze) - screaming in Cap fans faces and being outright rude. It was unnecessary. Ovie sucks, yeah, we get it and I'm sure they do too. But the guy walking out alone wearing his beautiful throwback Al Iafrate sweater wasn't bothering anyone, there was no need to bother him. While I heard some Ranger fans faced the same kind of abuse down in DC, there is no need to sink to their level. We're better than that.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Braden Holtby - 35 saves.
2-Brad Richards - one goal.
1-Marc Staal - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-John Carlson - Wanted to put Jason Chimera here but Chimera wasn't on the ice for a single goal and played less than 11 minutes. That being said, his deceptive speed and hard-nosed play put the Rangers on their heels more than once. But Carlson gets the nod not just for being far better than Del Zaster (who was picked ahead of him in the draft) but for being a factor on both sides of the ice.
2-Cally - Running out of new things to say about our fair captain ... so, um, he's just swell.
1-Staal - Remember the years where a Ranger/Capital matchup was billed as Staal vs. Ovechkin? Yeah, he is back to that level.

R2, G4: Familiar Failings

The Rangers collected a huge triple overtime victory in Game 3 against the Capitals, the kind that should have all but secured their series. But, instead, the Blueshirts bungled Game 4, stumbling out of the gate on their way to a 3-2 fall.

Against Ottawa the Blueshirts won a convincing Game 1, looked terrible in Game 2, barely won a tough Game 3 and fell 3-2 in Game 4. Against Washington the Blueshirts won a convincing Game 1, looked terrible in Game 2, barely won a tough Game 3 and fell 3-2 in Game 4. Apparently Battlestar had it right when they said 'All Of This Has Happened Before And Will Happen Again.' Unfortunately, if the Rangers keep with the program, Washington will win Game 5 Monday ...

As that game is 24 hours away, let's just get into the Late Hits:

*For those that don't have twitter, my post-game rant: Remind me again how Torts is worthy of a Jack Adams Trophy when he can't get his team up to play a playoff game... Or how he can't get the power play to work. Or how he changes the lines incessantly so there is no chemistry. Or how he intimidates his players so they play weak and soft, afraid that their first mistake will be their last. Yeah, give that man a trophy.

*To only get 20 shots through to the minor league goaltender on the other end is inexcusable. The poor, predictable shot attempts from the edges of the offensive zone will not win games in the regular season, much less in the NHL playoffs.

*Often slam the various broadcasters (and for good reason, Joe Micheletti is atrocious) but in the middle of the first period Eddie Olczyk explained how Hank gets in the opposition's heads and they should just throw the puck on net with high shots. Alex Ovechkin just threw the puck on net with a high shot a few minutes later and scored the first goal of the game. Bravo Enzo.

*The point blank save by Hank on Ovechkin a few minutes earlier was absolutely one of the best of the King's career, a close second to my personal fav - the one on Marc Savard (maybe because I was actually at that one).

*The Ovie goal came thanks to two things - obviously Chris Kreider's foolish feed but also Brian Boyle's abandonment of his man. Boyle turned away from one of the most lethal scorers in the NHL, moving deeper into his own end and over towards the boards. The puck came out and he was left lost in the middle of nowhere. Whoops.

*Backstrom's tally was also the result of failed coverage. Torts had three of the youngest guys out there in Arty, Kreider and Hagelin - a group that had not been together to date - and not one of them bothered to pick up Backstrom in front. The feed from Chimera went though everyone to find the Swede utterly alone. Unacceptable.

*The Green power play goal completed the trifecta of defensive mistakes. The Ranger kill - which has been one of the absolute highlights of this season - failed by having three of their four players within a five foot span of the halfboards. They collapsed in and all it took was an observant Wideman to see that the rest of the ice was wide open for Green. There was no one in the passing lane, there was no one available to close on Caps defenseman.

*Plenty of people (correctly) complained about the call that brought that power play about but that wasn't the cause of the Ranger loss. There has been plenty of poor officiating on both sides of the ice throughout these playoffs and there will be plenty more. If the Blueshirts had scored on the cheap call on Joel Ward in the second period, they would have been up 2-1. Instead they blew the man advantage and Backstrom scored to put DC ahead.

*Gabby's game-tying goal? Sneaky, sneaky sir.

*Arty made a nice feed on that one after beating out an icing call - good hustle. The goal of his own earlier was just good fortune, as Brooks Laich doesn't make gaffes like that often. Offense aside, we've been saying for years now that the Russian needs more meat on his bones and Backstrom's goal proved it. Simply sad to see him go flying after attempting the initial hit. And then for him to give up on his man and go for another was just stupidity. A rookie mistake by a player with more than 250 NHL games to his name.

*Nice to see Stu play nearly twice as much as he did in Game 3, but he clearly was tentative. It has to be tough to play with an ax having over your head every second of every shift.

*Matt Hendricks has an amazing story, after getting drafted by Nashville he decided against signing with them and instead worked his way up from the Florida Everblades of the ECHL. Signed by Boston, traded to Colorado, played 60 games with the Avs, left Colorado and tried out for Washington. Solid defensively, physically strong and 9-0 at the dot in this one. Wow.

PHW Three Stars
3-Artem Anisimov - one goal and one assist.
2-Nicklas Backstrom - one goal.
1-Mike Green - one goal.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Arty - At least one Ranger forward realized where the Washington net was.
2-Green - He's no Tom Poti, but still worthy of loathing.
1-Ovie - The Cap captain came out flying and got his team going in the right direction. And he got away with trying to knock Girardi out of the series. Two minutes for a leaping head shot, it pays to be a superstar.

R2, G3: Triple OT Torture

Normally, the fact that Wednesday night's game between the Caps and the Rangers went to triple overtime would indicate a dramatic exhibition of the best that playoff hockey has to offer.

Sadly, that was not the case.

Instead, it was 115 minutes of boring back-and-forth between two teams trying not to lose. It was dull, safe hockey that only featured as many great scoring chances as there were periods. But the lack of excitement is ultimately allowable as the result was the right one - the Rangers prevailed 2-1. They made up for their Game 2 gaffes to regain home ice and, hopefully, earned the moral victory that comes from surviving a marathon ... one that could carry them to a series victory.

Late Hits:

*Marian Gaborik will never dominate shifts the way guys like Malkin and Kovalchuk and Datsyuk do but that doesn't matter when he can pop up in good spots. How he got open in the slot to score the winner was shocking and impressive. Sneaky, sneaky.

*Poor Stu. At least he didn't have to pay for a front row seat but surely he would have been more comfortable changing back into his suit to watch the final four periods.

*The only issue to be had with Mike Rupp's game was that he hit Brian Boyle's big butt when he had his chance to net the winner. He was very active and grinded well, shocking, right? That's what you're paid for Brayden.

*First hockey fans were subjected to the Malkins, now the Holtbys. Was it sweet that mom and dad were there to support their little boy? Awwwa, sure. Do I care what their reactions were to everything? No.

*At least it was better than the Game 4 double OT disaster between these teams that all-but-sealed last season. That one was so soul crushing.

*Torts seemed to sheltered the skill kids Kreider, Hagelin and Arty. They all played less than a half hour and, of the trio, Kreider looked best. Hagelin's invisibility has been troubling; he has no goals, one assist and one suspension so far these playoffs. In fact, he has a 19 game goal drought going. It is certainly (sadly) possible that he has hit the collegiate wall.

*Certainly think that the league should look at the Hendricks' hit on McDonagh. Hendricks lined him up, saw he was vulnerable and put shoulder to head. He even extended his elbow upon contact.

*Cally's goal aside, the Ranger power play looked terrible. But there is nothing new about that.

*Heard Pantera twice - "Walk" and "Goddamn Electric" - that is fantastic. \m/

*Anyone else laugh hysterically when, after Pierre thanked him for his commercial break interview, Torts said "my pleasure"??

*Twice in the first period I noticed the Rangers stop and set up their breakout only to blow it on the second touch - once they iced it, once they turned the puck over. Inexcusable.

*Love that Cap fans need to be prompted by a blaring horn to start chanting for their team. Or is the horn sounded to make sure the Beltway bandwagoners haven't fallen asleep?

*Hockey players = men. Girardi, Knuble, Boyle. Take the hit, bleed a bit and stay in the game. Outstanding.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Braden Holtby - 47 saves.
2-Henrik Lundqvist - 45 saves.
1-Marian Gaborik - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Cally - Not much left to say about our fair captain. Heart, guts, grit, ability ... all credit to the secret American lab that is churning out guys like him, Backes and Brown.
2-McDonagh - Hit in the head? No biggie. Fifty-three minutes of shutdown, physical defending. Staal had his struggles but McD was there to quiet a motivated Ovechkin.
1-Gaborik - Sneaky, sneaky sir.