The Comeback Begins…
Image details: Pittsburgh Penguins v New York Rangers - Game Four served by picapp.com
Sure, the Rangers are still down 3-1, but all the fans who have yet to quit on their beloved Blueshirts can breathe easy, for a few days at least. The Rangers blanked the Pens 3-0 in Game 4.
The same reason the Rangers lost game 3 was the very reason we would come out on top tonight, the play of Henrik Lundqvist. He was absolutely brilliant tonight stopping all 29 shots he faced.
As for the offense, the first period was quiet as both teams were playing conservatively. More than half way through the game, the Rangers finally broke through via the Captain.
Jaromir Jagr made a great move and was able to beat Marc-Andre Fleury. It was Jagr’s 4th of the postseason and it came courtesy of Brandon Dubinsky and Fedor Tyutin. Jagr went down hard after scoring as he and Brooks Orpik crashed. It seemed like he was really hurt as trainers rushed to the ice, but he recovered and went back to the bench, I don’t think he missed a shift- he probably just got the wind knocked out of him.
Pens biggest chance in the second came when Evgeni Malkin had a penalty shot, in which he went in extremely slow and got denied by Henrik. My mind, the shot should have never occurred, looked like Malkin dove wen minimal contact was made by a stickless Dan Girardi, but this time, the controversy didn’t have a negative effect on the game, in fact it made it more exciting so I won’t complain.
Image details: Pittsburgh Penguins v New York Rangers - Game Four served by picapp.com
I also figured that would be the biggest “tempers-flaring” moment of the night would be the Orpik/Jagr collision , but that would come in the final minutes.
The Rangers started the 3rd period with a little over a minute remaining on a Power Play, 0-for what felt like eternity on the man-advantage, they broke through when Dubinsky beat Fleury (assists to Straka and Jagr). The Pens got a taste of their own medicine as they were banking on Henrik Lundqvist going down early and biting on their moves, exactly what Fleury did here. This was clearly a “soft” goal that should have been stopped by a guy who has been nothing short of brilliant this postseason.
Jagr added an empty netter to seal the deal.
Here’s where tempers and frustration set in for a Pittsburh team that had yet to lose in the Playoffs. Malkin took a pair of cheap shots on Paul Mara while play was going on, which boiled over into a whistle, where everyone in Blue seemed to be going after everyone in White and vice versa. Mara and Malkin each got 10-minute misconducts and Mara got an additional 2 for Roughing. It appeared that Sergei Gonchar and Michal Rozsival should have gotten booked as well- Gonchar looked like he threw a punch at Rozie, after which they both dropped the gloves, no penalties called.
Jarkko Ruutu was given a 2 minute roughing call and a 10-minute misconduct after the final horn sounded for roughing Chris Drury, who played great despite being injured in game 3.
3 Stars of the Game:
3- Dubinsky
2- Jagr
1-Lundqvist
Great win for the Rangers who will, hopefully bring some momentum when they play game 5 on Sunday afternoon at the Igloo (2pm, NBC).
Tonight’s Headlines:
“Oldie but Goodie”- Jaromir Jagr played like he did when he was on the Pens in the ’90’s winning Cups with Lemieux and co. He and Henrik were the catalysts in tonight’s win, a trend that will need to continue if fans want to see more hockey at the Garden this year.
“King’s Court”- Henrik Lundqvist shrugged off his awful performance in game 3 with one of his best playoff wins ever. Tonight, he showed just how hard is is to top a butterfly goalie when he is on his game.
“Young Guns”- Versus’ Mike Emrick continuously pointed out that the Rangers have 4 rookies who are all contributing, Dubinsky, Dawes, Callahan and Staal will hopefully be mainstays on Broadway for years to come. There is a lot of potential in all these guys, especially Duby- who many think can be a superstar in the game for years to come.
“Playing Through Pain“- Exactly what Chris Drury did tonight, Tom Renney made the decision to play Drury only 2 hours prior to game time, and the call paid off. He exceeded all expectations for the night and showed that in the playoffs, you have to put it all on the line.
“Too Hurt To Go”- Drury played, Blair Betts and Sean Avery did not. Not sure if Betts will go on Sunday but Avery will not, he will remain in the ICU until the bleeding from his lacerated spleen stops… Shame on anyone who reported that he was unconscious and possibly had a heart attack, Avery showed how gutsy he was by playing through the whole game hurt, from what I understand he walked into the hospital on his own power along with trainers. Thankfully, the injury wasn’t as serious as initially thought.
Final Thoughts: Finally, a game in this series where we saw Rangers Hockey. We played our game tonight and won as a result, if we play like this again on Sunday it should be tough to lose. Tom Renney knows that the task he was given is far from easy, I can only hope he sends the right message before game 5.
For more news on the Blueshirts, check out RANGER NATION-
For Pens updates check out Tony Ferrante’s MVN Blog, The Confluence of the Three Rivers
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6 Responses to “The Comeback Begins…”
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:57 am
3 more,…………………..henrik was hot, duby was his usual self, jagr decides to show up. was a great win. garden ice looked like hell with the puck bouncing, i thought rangers were loosing there edges a bit and then realized the pens keep kickin the skates out. thst crap on mara at the end has gone on to some extent all series.
when did sid become god ? he has talent but i have lost respect for him as an all around player, any time he gets bumped he looks around as …..” u cant hit me”. FUCK HIM !!!!!!!! run his ass all nite just like they do jagr.
lets start game 5 the way game 4 ended ,
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:35 am
*ahem* They weren’t loosing edges, they were losing them; simple grade school stuff. I really didn’t think that many people were illiterate until I started trolling forums. It’s a sad state of affairs . . . This comment also caught me off guard: “jagr decides to show up.” Excuse me again but *ahem* Jagr has played brilliant all series. Out of the four games Henry and Jagr have been NY’s best players.
But the series, like I thought it would, comes down to how many times Henry could steal games when the Rangers weren’t shut out. He finally stole one.
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:40 am
they really did a great job of going at crosby, even malkin and hossa were getting hit…
i loved watching orr take that run at crosby, too bad he missed– would have been an amazing hit.
henrik finally has momentum in this series, hopefully he rides it sunday.
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:35 pm
a hey mitch kiss my illiterate ass,………..jagr took all fuckin season off, 4 games dont make a year. and if henry was there best player in game 3 u watched another game “ahem”.
this isnt school u wanna be a bitch and correct grammer get a life and troll somewhere with someone that might care
yes the run at crosby was awesome, he’ll get him next game. sids not untouchable, he thinks he is but not.
henrik was sharp, still kinda amused at the penalty shot,………no trip no hook, just a push…….then malkin looked stoned taking it. lets get thru sunday with a chance to get even at MSG
May 4th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
and the comeback is over, nice try though. If you think about losing the series 4 games to 1 isn’t that bad.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:08 am
Jay, hope you and the Rangers have a great offseason
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