Tortorella said it himself: "We played, probably, our best game of the series"
And it's true.
From the 10 minute mark of period one to the 15 minute mark of period three - the Rangers - finally - out shot - out hit - and thoroughly dominated the Devils - outscoring them 3-0 in that span.
They hung together, hung in there, and almost hung a catastrophic loss on the Devils. They came back from 3 goals down to tie the game at 3-3.
It was a great hockey game for what it's worth - with some great and terrible moments.
Brad Richards put the hardest shot on his own goal that I have ever seen in my life. Lundqvist had to make a high save - and he did - but what in the world was Brad doing? I still can't believe what I saw.
We had Callahan knocking the puck in the net (the right net this time) with his skate - causing all of us to contemplate what a "distinct kicking motion" is. Luckily the NHL review team in Toronto loves close games.
We had the fat Brodeur misplay the puck and have it end up in his own net - with help from Gaborik - to tie the score.
And - I have to mention - we had the worst of Henrik Lundqvist when we needed him most. 3 goals on 3 consecutive shots in the first period. Hank? How is that even possible?
And then the crushing number 4 with less than 5 minutes to play. In the end Lundqvist had a 0.750 save percentage - not good enough - but thje Devils did have some "puck luck" as coach Tortorella phrased it later.
Still - when the Rangers attacked - it exposed the Devils weak defense and aging goaltender. And as soon as they tied the score and started tightening their defense - the Devils regrouped and started gaining their advantage again.
Goals for Prust (like that guy), Callahan amd Gaborik. The return for Dubinsky.
But in the end - well, you know.
But if you want positives - 40 minutes of our best hockey of the series. And we're at full strength. And there's that history. The Friday game 6 will be exactly 18 years to the day after our historic game 6 win in New Jersey.
So keep your heads up Ranger Fans. The Devils can't beat us 3 games in a row. We just need to win game 6. And we can.
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