Rangers Give It All But Come Up Short - Trail Caps 3-1 In Series.

You know – we’re not playing all that badly. 

But we’re up against a red hot goaltender.  And we’re facing a team that is blocking shots and hustling and has all the momentum right now. 

What we need is a couple of goals.  Something to get the team going again.  Because momentum is a funny thing.  It’s something the Capitals have – until they lose it.

Our hockey life has gotten very simple now.  Win at home.  On Friday.  Or go home.

Can we do it?  Of course we can.  We have the defense.  We have the goaltender.  We have the offense.  At least we used to.  We just need to pull all of that together for one more night at the Garden. 

The Capitals may be playing like an unbeatable team.  But they’re human.  Well maybe Ovechkin is sub-human, but as a team they are not invincible.  They can lose a friggin hockey game. 

All we have to do is get started.  All we have to do is score – stay ahead – win and then we take it from there.

Another strong first period showed the Rangers with 13 shots – but no goals against Holtby.

In the second – a nice flip pass out of the zone by Nash to St. Louis who headed up ice and fed Brassard with a perfect pass – which the Ranger center shot over Holtby’s shoulder and into the net.  It was 1-0 – the Ranger’s first lead since game two.  And for a few minutes they dominated but simply could not get that precious second goal.

And so, a pair of goals by Andre Burakofsky – the 2^nd one just 24 seconds into the third period – provided the series’ first lead change and the Rangers defeat.

Along the way there was a penalty shot by Carl Hagelin that ended up as just another Holtby save.

Now – we were down 3-1 in the second round last year and rallied.  We can do it again.  But it all starts Friday.  Win.  Or go home.

What Did We Learn?  That the Capitals are playing really well right now.

Uh, a little help?:   Assists for Nash and St. Louis. 

Did Special Teams Determine The Outcome Of This Game?  Well, the refs don’t call penalties anymore so we only had one powerplay each.  We stopped them on theirs – we didn’t score on ours – and Hagelin missed on his penalty shot.  So yes – our special teams failed us when we needed them the most.

Where Do We Stand?  Barely standing at all.  Trailing 3-1 in round 2.

Oh My - What Will Happen Next?  Friday night at the World’s Most Famous Arena.

Non-Sequitur of the day: Let’s go Mets?