Just when all hope appeared to be lost, along came a Ranger riding on a white steer. No, not that Ranger, but in this case it was Brad Richards rescuing the damsel in distress. In addition, since Richards did not want to be a Lone Ranger, he was joined shortly thereafter by Marc Staal, who gave the Rangers a 3-2 overtime win and 3-2 series lead heading back to Washington. Forgive the attempt at poetic license, but wow, what a win.
If the triple-overtime, game-winner wasn't enough to get your blood pumping, tonight's thrilling comeback should have taken a few years off every Rangers fans' life. The Rangers refused to lose. Even when all hope appeared to be lost, they kept driving, fueled by an MSG crowd that wasn't ready to go home just yet. It's almost impossible to express the emotions, exhilaration, relief that all of us felt when that puck by Richards crossed the goal time. It was a truly magical moment at MSG, one that almost made the game-winner in Game 3 pale by comparison, given the dire situation the team appeared to be in. Never say die, the motto of the 2011-12 New York Rangers.
There was a number of unsung plays on the game-tying and game-winning goals that should be pointed out. On the game-tying goal, the face-off win by Richards and play by Ryan Callahan to keep control of the puck. Hagelin getting to the puck on the side of the net. The pass by Hagelin to Girardi and then Girardi to Del Zotto. Del Zotto's shot pass to Callahan, whose tip was saved by Holtby, but Callahan stuck with it, getting two more whacks before Richards lifted the puck off the inside of the wide post and into the net.
On the game-winner, there were two key plays. First, the face-off win by John Mitchell, who as Bob McKenzie pointed out, went 4-for-4 on face-offs in the game. Then, the dual screen in front by Stepan and Anisimov, preventing Holtby from even seeing the puck as it whistled past him off the stick of Staal after getting deflected by Laich. Staal had a rough game early, but made a few big plays, especially on a 3-on-1 in the third and then netted the game-winner.
Game Five started like Game 4 did for the Caps, with the home team dominating action but unable to breakthrough. The Rangers had a huge first period. but were repeatedly turned aside by Braden Holtby. The only goal came on a bad angle shot through the legs of Wideman and Holtby by Anton Stralman, who overall, may be the Rangers' best offensive defenseman this series. Washington turned up the pressure in the second and netted the tying goal after some good work to keep the puck in the Rangers zone. A pass from Alexander Ovechkin went off Brian Boyle's stick, rebounding to Brooks Laich in the slot, who beat Lundqvist and quieted the MSG crowd.
The third period started and the question was who would made the first mistake. In this case, it was the Rangers and Mike Rupp, who hooked Joel Ward giving Washington a PP. The Capitals put on tremendous pressure, and after several saves by Hank and shots on net, John Carlson beat Lundqvist for a 2-1 lead. Now, it was clock-watching time. Despite all the great work by the Gaborik-Richards-Hagelin line, it remained 2-1. A last minute draw resulted in a loose puck, and Ward, who had just two penalties in his last 29 games, got his stick up on Hagelin, drawing blood, which resulted in the four-minute PP and the rest as we all know is history.
I wonder if there will be a call for Girardi's hit on Green to be reviewed, as like Ovechkin, he did leave his feet to hit him. The difference here is that Girardi was right near the puck, he turned his body to avoid making full contact and he didn't hit him in the head, but a penalty could have been called, which would have negated the PP. I am obviously glad it wasn't, but could see calls for a review being made.
In 2007, it was Chris Drury breaking the Rangers' hearts by scoring with 7.7 seconds left in regulation to tie it in Game 5 with the Sabres scoring early in OT to get the victory. Tonight, hopefully the demons were exorcised, as it was Richards who scored with 6.6 to go to tie it with Staal scoring 1:35 into overtime to win it. Now, ride that high and find a way to win Game 6 to send the team back home for their next game to be in the Eastern Conference Finals.
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