Rangers battle back - take lead - lose lead - and lose in OT to Avalanche

Oy – that 3-3 tying goal.  It’s haunting my dreams.

The Rangers had battled back from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 to bring a 3-2 lead into the third period.  And then – 8 minutes in to the third - the powerplay shot from Nathan MacKinnon.  It came at Lundqvist low along the ice.  And Hank had his stick down and the blade caught the shot cleanly. 

Except….

Hank keeps his stick at and angle to the ice – so that hard shott will defelect up And over the net.  And also – I guess – because if you hold the stick out in front of you and press it to the ice – it’s at an angle,  So the puck hits Hank’s stick and pops up over it.  Still looking harmless. 

Except….

The puck is headed five-hole.  It’s going directly between The King’s legs.  Hank is hip to this as well and pulls the leg pads together.

Except…

The puck slips through – and crosses the goal line. 

Tie game.  Overtime.  And then the shootout.  And despite a shootout goal by the Derek Stepan – the Rangers lose the shootout 2-1, and the game 4-3.

So our heroes lose.  But at least they got a point for the regulation tie – their 6^th overtime game in 16 contests.

No goals for Nasher tonight but he did get an assist.  Goals for Hayes – Stepan (plus his shoot out goal) and Girardi (the first for a Ranger defenseman not named Kevin Klein).

Additional assists by Moore, Stepan, Zuccarello, and Hunwick.  Hank’s save percentage was just under .900.  Tanner Glass did some general punching.  Dan Boyle returned - looked a bit rusty - but played better as the contest went on.   

Did Special teams decide this contest?  Yes, unfortunately.  Rangers were 0-3 on the powerplay while giving up the tying goal going 2-3 on the penalty kill. 

And I’ll mention that the Avalanche Goalie Varlamov has been a Ranger nemesis for years.  If you recall – back in April of 2009 we showed the following visual comparison (look to the left).  Old "Volde" may come up a bit short in the nasal department - but he's definitely less scary to Ranger fans than the other guy. 

Rough night in Ranger town.  But we keep on with the scoring.  I like that.  And the defense is gradually getting healthier – but we’ll be even better once our captain returns.  Dave Pucks Out - and thanks for reading.