3 down......13 to go

Enough Bluephoria, enough patting each other on the back, enough talk about being up 3-1, time to look forward to game 5, take a look at what's going on around the league, and see what lies in store in our Ranger's Crystal Ball.

Some questions that need to be answered for Game 5:

1) How many awkward man hugs do we think a drunk Dave Pucks had at Game 4 with random strangers? I am going with at least 3, but under 6.

2) Can the Rangers possibly win another game where they get ABSOLUTELY DOMINATED? So far in the series they are being outshot 149 to 99! 50 shots, over 4 games, so between 12-13 extra shots a game for the Caps. Can't remember ever seeing a shot descrepency like that where a series was even tied, let alone the team that was outshootin the other by a 3-2 margin is TRAILING 3 games to 1?

3) Can we get just ONE dynamic offensive performance this series, just one, please? Gomez was a force in game one (3 points, tying goal) but since has been relatively quiet. Other than that, we have just had moments where antropov had a great shift, callahan had a great period, Drury sucked it up and threw a great shot on goal, but can't we get just one magical night where a Zherdev scores TWO goals, has 2 assists and puts this game away for Hank on his own? (I wouldn't count on Zherdev because Torts is not giving him much ice time against the Caps. He knows Zherdev might be the Rangers best offensive counter punch to the Ovechkin line, but at the same time, if Zherdev does one of his lazy behind the back passes, he could set up a 3 on 1 rush, two or three times during a game, and the Rangers might never recover)

4) At what point does the unstoppable force finally move the immovable object? The Capitals started this series 2 for 5 against the Rangers vaunted penalty kill. The best power play vs the best penalty kill, an intriguing matchup, and through two periods of game 1, the Caps were at 40%, had two goals, and looked like they were going to decimate the Rangers greatest "weapon". Since then, the Caps have gone 2 for 17 the last ten periods (11.7%), which other than Hank, is the difference in the series. The Rangers have won 3 games by ONE goal. Two of their wins they scored 1 goal, and 2 goals total. For the series the Caps power play 4 for 22 is at 18.18%, a full ten percent (or in this case, 2 goals) less than there season average. Can the Rangers keep it up for one more game? Will Sean Avery allow them to?

5) Can the Rangers really beat arguably the best home team in the Eastern Conference, THREE times in their building? The Capitals played near .750 hockey at home, losing only nine times in regulation all season long, and the Rangers are looking to go 3 for 3 in their building, is this possible? The Rangers were a below .500 road team, one that during one stretch, went over a MONTH without a victory on the road.

Answers coming Friday at 7 pm

Some Rosen Comments from Last night I am not letting go:

Some fan bases grow to love their announcers over time. Their announcers remind them of their childhood, great victories, they find their voices to be calming like a parent (assuming you didn't grow up in a broken home, or aren't irish). This is not the case for me with Rosen. I have always found his voice to be annoying, and while I do respect how hard it must be to call a hockey game, I have always thought he has floundered. Not to mention that the man is just horrific to look at. Every time they do a close up of him, my freshly made grilled chicken sandwich, or my delicious steak that I've been waiting all day for has to get put aside, because my appetite is surely gone. Which leads me to drink. So yes, I blame Rosen and his Penguin Profile for my drinking. That said, I usually give him a pass on his ridiculous comments, but I decided a few last night needed reprimand. Here's what you missed Dave:

1) "Good shot, but it missed the net."

It's a Rosen classic, I have just chosen now to attack it. Explain to me how a "good" shot ever misses the net? Are there "shots" that intentionally miss the net, bounce off the boards, and end up directly on someone's stick for a goal? Yes, they are called "passes". Was that what happened in this case? No, Paul Mara rifled a shot well wide of the net, which went out of the zone on the other side, and led to an odd man rush for the Capitals. Almost every shot that has missed the net this series for rangers defenseman has led to a rush the other way for the Capitals. By definition, a shot can't be good, unless it is on net. I guess Rosen just gets impressed with the power that these guys can drive the puck? Well, I am sure Hank wouldn't mind seeing 100 GREAT shots on net in Game 5, as long as all of them missed the net.

2) "Boy if callahan could play non-stop all game, he'd be amazing."

Remarkable. I mean, it is a true statement. If Ryan Callahan could play for 60 straight minutes, that would be pretty amazing. He'd be the only player in NHL history outside a goalie to play 60 straight minutes, that's pretty cool. He'd also be playing more than 3 times as much as he does normally, so his stats would probably triple, so I guess we can give him around 66 goals on the season, leading the league, that's pretty amazing. He'd also be some sort of cyborg with lungs and a heart twice the size of Rosen's penguin nose, enabling him to never understand the concept of "tired". Rosen might be right on this one, if Ryan Callahan could play non-stop all game, he'd be devestating. I was wrong.

Some Things to Look Ahead for: (Dave, hang on to your chickens)

- Does past playoff history mean that much in the present? Nope, in fact it almost always means nothing. But when the past playoff history is the PREVIOUS YEAR, and the current team has a similar makeup? It might be slightly more relevant. The Rangers won 2 road games in jersey last year, lost a game 3 at home, pulled out a one goal victory in game four, and then went to Jersey for Game 5 in the same situation they will be in friday night, and they got the job done in game 5. A lot of guys on this team were on that team, they know the importance of finishing this series as soon as possible.

- That said, this young Caps team, outside of Theodore (who is no longer a factor) and Federov, have very little playoff experience, but the experience they do have is falling behind the Flyers 3-1 in the first round last year. They then rallied to force a Game 7, and then overtime in Game 7, but ended up losing. We'll see which team harps more on last years experience and is able to repeat history.

- Rangers lead this series 3-1. They have had a 3-1 lead 11 times in their history. They are 11-0.

- Boston waits: Heading into the playoffs we talked about the potential prophetic nightmare journey the Rangers might have to make to go to a stanley cup (Washington-Boston-Pittsburgh-Detroit), well so far in the first round, it appears the Rangers potential next 3 opponents are all advancing, so its time for the Rangers to get it done. Boston wrapped up a dominating performance over Montreal last night in Montreal. A series that really was never close at any point. Now Boston waits, snug in their fair weather sports loving town. An entire new generation of hockey fans with fresh pipes screaming for their team, ready to collapse at the first sign of adversity, or a home loss. I am not going to spend too much time looking forward to Boston, but let me say this: The Caps have maybe the most explosive offense in the NHL....Boston scored more goals than them in the regular season...and allowed less. It's a different type of attack, with a slew of 20+ goal scorers on every line. Where as the Rangers went into this series with a goalie edge, statistically there will be none in Boston. But the biggest thing the Rangers have to take into account, outside of Brasheer and Ovechkin (who looks to hit everything he possibly can), the Capitals are not a very physical team. They are just skating the Rangers to death, exhausting them on every shift. The Bruins score as many goal as the caps, and are a VERY physical team. It would not be wise to head into Boston with the Bruins having a week's rest, and the Rangers coming off a hard fought 7 game series. They know this. They have to end it Friday night.

- Very good article from Pierre LeBrun on ESPN.com that I have provided the link to here and at the end of this post. For those hockey fans out there wondering if they had ever seen a performance like this one from Hank before (it's not just the plays he is making, but it is the scorers he's doing it against), LeBrun makes an excellent comparison between Hank vs. these Caps, and Roy vs. The Nordiques (soon to be Avalanche) in the 1993 Stanley Cup Playoffs (which montreal went on to win, their last cup). From the article:

The way in which the high-flying Caps are down 3-1 to the New York Rangers in their Eastern Conference quarterfinals series following Wednesday night's 2-1 loss at Madison Square Garden brings back memories of that '93 first-round matchup between the ubertalented Nordiques and rival Montreal Canadiens.

The Nordiques were loaded with 21-year-old Mats Sundin, 23-year-old Joe Sakic, 20-year-old Mike Ricci, 20-year-old Owen Nolan and 21-year-old Adam Foote. But what they didn't have was Patrick Roy. He was in the Montreal net and single-handedly stole the series away from the more talented Nordiques; the Habs were outshot and outchanced, but not outscored, during their six-game victory.

Feel like you've seen this movie before?

The Caps have the 23-year-old Ovechkin, 21-year-old Nicklas Backstrom, 25-year-old Brooks Laich, 25-year-old Alexander Semin and 23-year-old Mike Green. But what they don't have is Henrik Lundqvist. Sure, Capitals rookie goalie Simeon Varlamov played another solid game, stopping 19 of 21 shots. But like Roy in '93, Lundqvist is in the process of stealing this series.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/news?columnist=lebrun_pierre&id=4090811

What A Night!

Friends - I'm posting this Thursday - but I am writing it around midnight on Wednesday. I'm exhausted and elated. What a great night of hockey. The Garden was packed, noisy, and rocking. We rose to our feet over and over again to exhort our heroes to hang in there - stay with the Caps as best they could and find a way to win. And somehow - they did it.

They gave us each these cool towels (see left) that we waved all night - and sometimes hid our heads in when it became too hard to watch.

And to continue one a theme - I've never been less comfortable with a 3-1 series lead than I am against this Capitals team. I don't know how else to put it - they are better than we are - they may be the best team in Hockey with Varlamov in goal - but we have Hank and a will to win and somehow we're leading 3-1.

We're leading 3-1 even though:

• We've been outshot by a wide margin in the series


• We've been outscored in the series.


• Ovechkin has been launching an unbelievable number of shots at Hank


• The Caps Goalie shut us out for more than 120 consecutive minutes of ice time. that's more than 2 full games.


• We can't score on the Powerplay (other than in game one)


• We've only scored 3 goals or more once in the series.

So how are we winning this series 3-1? And can we capture one more game somehow to advance to round 2?


I also want to thank Nugman for adding some expert analysis as a much-needed counterpoint to my semi-coherent blogs from inside the loud and chaotic Garden. I'm not sure my posts amount to much more than "Yay Rangers" - but Nugman as usual added some substance to keep the blog afloat.

I'm sorry to have reported the wrong goal scorer twice on the same goal - but the PA announcer changed it twice. It took him three tries to get the right goal scorer - and that's with only 5 players on the ice (besides Henrik).

Anyway - I followed Nugman's example and drank heavily as the proper response to Ranger wins (and losses). So it's well past my bedtime and I'll turn in for the night. I'll post this Thursday - after I can spell check and translate the text into "sober".

Great win. I just hope we can find a way to get one more.

RANGERS WIN! 2-1!

Survival. That's the only word that comes to mind after that game. The Rangers didn't so much win, as they did survive. I think we can put Dave Puck's misguided Alex Ovechkin/Ryan Callahan comparison's to bed. Ovechkin, after setting up pretty much all the offense for the Caps leading into game 4, but without a goal, was amazing. 11 shots on goal, including his first goal of the series, in the third period to half the Rangers lead, 2-1. I think I heard a collective, "Oh f*ck" come out of Madison Square Garden at that exact moment. Anyone who says they weren't terrified every time Ovechkin touched the puck this game is in serious denial. One group I am sure will admit it, the Rangers defense. Every time Ovechkin got the puck, including the goal he scored on a great individual effort, the Rangers defense just back pedaled, were back on their heels, and refuse to challenge him for fear of him burning them and getting a break away. He abused every Ranger one on one all game, and with a lesser goalie could have had 3 goals tonight. (Not including the post he hit on a shot that badly beat Hank, and the crossbar he set up for Federov)

The Rangers owned the first 5 minutes, they played even the next ten, and then the Caps dominated the final 45 minutes of the game. The Caps out shot the Rangers THIRTY to TEN the final 40 minutes of the game. The play was always in the Rangers zone, and the Rangers just couldn't get off the ice. Washington's second to last power play, with about 10 minutes left in the game, the Rangers penalty kill unit was on the ice the ENTIRE TWO MINUTES for the second time this game. At the end the puck slowly trickled to Callahan who had an easy clearing chance, except he couldn't lift his arms to move his stick, he tried to kick the puck and almost fell down. So exhausted he COULD NOT MOVE HIS STICK.

How did the Capitals not destroy the Rangers? The same way they were down 2-1 coming in...Hank. The guy just keeps getting better every game. The announcers can give all the credit they want to the Rangers defense, and blocking shots, but the fact is, the caps are getting 35 or more shots every single game, and 10-15 of them are ELITE shots. The guy is being attacked back there start to stop of every game, and has been amazing. Against potentially the best offense in the NHL, and against what I believe is the NHL's best player, certainly it's most dangerous, and he has held them to 8 goals in 4 games (2 per game). 8 goals on 149 SHOTS! A .947 Save percentage, that is absurd, especially against THESE guys, under THIS pressure ALL GAME...EVERY GAME. If the Rangers pull out game 5, all hank has to do is show up the rest of the way and he prob already has the Con Smythe wrapped up. (Not trying to get too far ahead)

Stars of the Game: (Only talking Rangers here, forget the Caps)

1) Do I need to say it? Hank, 38 saves (career playoff high) on 39 shots. There is a difference between being a up and coming young goalie playing very well (Varlamov) and being potentially the greatest goalie on the planet, in Hank. That difference showed tonight. There is only one King. Said Star #2, Doobie, of Hank, "He's like Tina Turner. He's simply the best." Said Paul Mara, "He's awesome. We love him. He's the King."

2) Doobie. He picked up an assist tonight, but his game was so much bigger than that. With Drury's wrist damaged, someone has to step up on the faceoffs and Doobie did that winning 15 of 17 faceoffs! He also played an incredibly strong defensive game, having the best legs of any of the Rangers forward who were incredibly gassed.

3) Drury. Scores the game winning goal, the guy clearly has a bum wrist but comes up big in the biggest game of the season.

4) Redden had an incredibly strong defensive game. Probably for the second time this series was the Rangers best defender. He was in great body position all game, he was consistently clearing the puck, made good first passes out of the zone, he was the champion of the rangers "bend but don't break" defense.

5) Penalty Kill Unit: Unbelievable effort, killing SIX washington power plays, 6 for 6. Hank was the star but great effort by these guys as well, next to Hank, they were the difference in the game.

Things I didn't like at all tonight/Bonehead players/plays:

1) The rangers can't stop ovechkin from doing whatever he wants. They just can't stop him. The defenders look terrified of him. He does whatever he wants, whenever he wants. At some point, if Hank slips up AT ALL, ovechkin is gonna score 3 goals in a period. It's Hank vs Ovechkin, and hank is winning, but I give the defense little to no credit, Ovechkin is just running them over.

2) Avery (should have known the game that the experts at CNNSI and ESPN spotlight Avery as the "key" to the rangers winning, he is their worst player)...the rangers have played great with him since his arrival in New York. Partly because he brings so much energy, partly because he's a very good skater, and partly because he has been an agitator, but not taken stupid penalties, tonight may have been his worst game as a ranger. Two absolutely brutal penalties in the third. The refs weren't singling him out. The refs actually tried hard all game to let chippy play go, ignoring at least a handful of penalties on each side, but in a one goal game, where the Rangers defense was EXHAUSTED, how do you PUNCH A GUY IN THE FACE? How do you then hack another guy in the head with your stick?!?! Avery had no control of his skating, his emotions, or his game, and could/should have cost the Rangers the game tonight. I can't imagine he will be seeing too much ice time in Game 5.

3) Torts, has had a very strong playoffs behind the bench, but I need to get an explanation for why with just 3 minutes left, the Rangers most reckless player all night, Avery, is on the ice? Now it is possible he was the only one of the forwards with any legs left, maybe, but unless the other guys are dead, you can't have avery, in the state he was in, on the ice then.

Talk more about around the league stuff, ridiculous rosen comments, and a preview for the rest of this series later, gonna take a little breather and try and reflect on how the Rangers have been badly out played for 4 games, outscored by a goal overall, and are up 3 games to 1.

Dave Pucks Take LIVE from MSG:

Well the best team lost tonight and I could not be happier. The Rangers were outplayed at every position except one - but Hank dominated - stopping an incredible 38 shots on goal. The Rangers hung in against a relentless Capitals attack. Scrapping - fighting - clawing - and willing their way to victory.

I haven't yelled so much since - well - since the Giants beat the Patriots.

Great game Nugs. Wish you were here. I still can't quite believe it.

And still - we've got to win another one somehow.

Another BRUTAL penalty on Avery

With less than 3 minutes left in the game, Avery takes a swing at a capitals player, hitting him in the neck. 2 minutes for high sticking. The exausted Rangers penalty kill....one more time

The Caps are owning the 3rd

The caps come out and dominate the first 7 minutes of the third period again, including the first goal scored of the series for Alex Ovechkin, who is screaming, jumping, doing everything to breathe life into his team.

The rangers missed a golden chance when scott gomez had a puck on the doorstep of what appeared to be an open net but he shot it wide. That was a goal the rangers had to have. They can't miss, the Caps are too good.

Avery just took what I would count as his 4th "stupid" penalty of the series. The Rangers finally controlled 2 minutes of play, and were starting to slow the Capitals rush, and avery punches a Caps player in the face. Another power play for Washinton.

Vortex scores

Ovechkin - the human puck vortex - finally scored a playoff goal - a nasty rising shot the beat Lundqvist and suddenly we're in a one goal game.

So far it's exactly like the series - we go up 2-0 and the Caps make it 2-1.

Hang on boys.

Posted live by Dave Pucks from Madison Square Garden

Rangers get ABSOLUTELY DOMINATED in the 2nd....

...all except Hank.

Wow. You will rarely see one playoff team absolutely destroy another one, like the Capitals just did to the Rangers. Even more rare, seeing the team that got destroyed win the period 1-0.

Drury's goal was the only one of the period, the Rangers lead 2-0 heading to the third, but it feels like they are down 5-2.

In the second period, the opening minute you knew the Rangers were in a LOT of trouble. There power play didn't move the puck, they turned it over twice in their own zone, and from there on out, the Capitals just dominated. The rangers went TWELVE MINUTES in the second period without a shot on goal. And the vast majority of that time, they were lucky to get the puck past center ice and to the Caps side. The Caps completely took over, controlled the puck, and did whatever they wanted...except scoring. Hank stood on his head again, making NINETEEN second period saves, giving him 28 thru two periods. I guess the Caps didn't enjoy getting outshot in the first, outshooting the Rangers 19 to.....5.

They had odd man rushes, they had two more power plays, two power plays that lasted an eternity. The second one, the rangers couldn't get a line change. Their players were so exhausted, they couldn't get a clear, had to take an icing, and torts had to use the only timeout to try and give them a breather, but to no avail, the Caps kept the pressure on and wouldn't let the puck out of the zone.

One other thing that killed the Rangers in the second period, as the home team, they had the long distance to go on all their changes. So to change a line the Rangers need to dump ALL THE WAY DOWN to the Caps end, and they just weren't able to, the play was always in the Rangers zone. The Rangers were just not able to get off the ice. A lot of long shifts, they should get some help by switching sides for the third period, and getting the shorter change, but the Rangers have a LONG twenty minutes to go. They have to be completely exhausted, the question is how much to the Caps, and Hank, have left in the tank.

Another Huge PK

Again the Rangers slience one of the best PPs in hockey.

Good use of the time out.

Posted live by Dave Pucks from Madison Square Garden

The Captain Delivers!

Wow, Chris Drury is really hurt. Either he intentionally through a changeup at Varlamov, as Michelleti claims, or his wrist really is f*cked, but f*cked wrist or not, Drury still has heart. He followed the puck to the net, found a rebound, and roofed it over Varlamov to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead. (47th career playoff goal for drury)

Rangers, despite that play, have actually been a lot worse so far this period. There play has been sloppy, and right after Drury scored Mara took an awful penalty, to give the Caps their third power play of the game. Hank came up huge on the power play, a shot that Rosen completely missed and Michelleti glossed over, but semin tried to center a pass, it went off roszivals skate, acting as a perfect deflection, and Hank made the save of the game so far, kicking it out with the right blocker.

Rangers have to pick up their play, because despite the score, the Caps absolutely have picked up their level of intensity from the first period.

From Dave at the Garden:

"Huge Playoff Goal by Drury - followed by a clutch PK. 2-0. Gotta keep it up."

No - its Mara

They have changed the goal scorer again. This time to Mara. Only 5 skaters on the ice and 3 of them have been credited with the same goal.

Anyway - 1-0 after one. Rangers hold an 11-9 shot lead. The Caps have tended to fade as the game does on - they give a lot of ice time to Ovechkin and their other offensive stars - and it wears them down.

But I don't think one goal is going to win this.

Period 1 goes to the Rangers

In their best first period of the series, the Rangers score the only goal to take a 1-0 lead on the caps at the first intermission.

The rangers came out flying in the opening minutes of the game. They weren't just controlling the puck, and keeping it away from the Caps, but they were also very physical, knocking the caps off the puck. 6 minutes into the game, the high scoring Caps still didn't have a shot on goal. (For a team that has averaged about 38 shots a game)

But the Caps did end up getting some quality chances, created by Ovechkin. Hank had to come up big on 3 saves in the first period, all on Ovechkin, and he did. Alexander the Great did set up Federov for a blast that got by a screened Hank, but the crossbar took care of that for us.

On offense the Rangers played a strong period, but still were unable to create too many chances. But in a very un-Ranger moment, Paul Mara pulled an ovechkin and just fired a slap shot into traffic and at the net, it went off a capitals defenseman, and passed the rookie Varlamov. This broke a 120+ minute drought against the rookie goalie, huge lift for the Rangers.

In their best first period of the series, Rangers out shot the Caps 11-9. But they have to stay out of the box. Took two penalties, but were able to kill off both, drawing penalties at the end of each kill to end the Capital powerplay.

I mean - Dubinsky!

It was Dooby! Either way I'll take it.

Nugman Edit: It was actually Mara, Don't blame Dave, they have changed the scoring twice, announcing 3 different guys

Naslund!

Finally - after the russian kid shuts us out for the equivalent of 2 entire hockey games - we're back on the board.

1-0 but a LONG way to go.

Posted live by Dave Pucks from Madison Square Garden

First PK successful

We held - in a Penalty kill shortened by the Caps committing a penalty of their own. Shots even at 6

Posted live by Dave Pucks from Madison Square Garden

5 min - NO SHOTS ON GOAL

More than 5 minutes in and the Rangers have not given up one shot on goal.

Very impressive. We can't solve the russian kid though.

Posted live by Dave Pucks from Madison Square Garden

The Garden is Rockin!

Nugman - the place is going wild as we get ready for the opening face off.

Varlamov looks confused by the national anthem.

Posted live by Dave Pucks from Madison Square Garden

Game 4....on fumes

With Dave at the game, I hope he is able to provide some valuable insight, because I just sat through a 5 hour, 481 pitch, 14 inning Yankee marathon of a game (where they won), and I got little left in the tank.

Too much to ask that the rangers score 4 first period goals and put the game on ice, so to speak?

Here's Why We Can Win Tonight

"Huge game" is a phrase we've been tossing around here at Blueshirt Brothers for quite some time. And it's always been true. As we head into playoff season every game is huge - and every game is just a little "huger" (more huge?) than the last one. So when we say that tonight we're facing a monumentally huge game - we once again mean it.

In case you're confused between Simeon Varlamov (the Capital's Rookie Goalie who has shut us out for the last 112 minutes of ice time) and the Harry Potter Villain Lord Voldemort - we've helped sort it out in the handy picture above.

The argument can be made that with the Caps shift to Simeon Varlamov the rookie goalie (their coaching doesn't look so dumb now - does it?) and the way the kid is playing - that Washington is suddenly the best team the East (if not all of hockey). They always could score. If they can score and shut teams out - well - look out.

While the Capitals looked to many of us like sleeping dogs in games one and two, they're certainly awake now. And for some - the 4-0 blowout on Monday was the first tolling of the death-knoll of the Ranger season (and no, I'm not sure exactly what that phrase means either). But I don't think so - I'm still picking the Rangers to beat the Capitals.

When this all started - my modest prediction was that the Rangers would win the series - and would win twice in Washington - and would lose once at home. Honestly, I never thought this would all happen in the first three games - or that Theodore (3-or-more) would not be in the Caps goal (probably forever now) or that we'd see three straight road wins - but there it is.

When the ice chips have been cleared - Our Rangers - through grit and goaltending - are still up a home ice service-break with a chance to go up 3-1 tonight. And I think they have a good opportunity to do exactly that.

Here's why I think we're going to win tonight:

I think Tortorella and the Rangers miscalculated their strategy a little in game three. I think Coach's thinking was like this:

There's no way the kid goalie can be up to the task. He got a free ride in game 2 because the Rangers couldn't mount much offense. So in game three - I think Torts sent the lines out there with the mission - Shoot The Puck - Shoot The Puck Again - and then Shoot It Some More. I think we tried to really pressure Varlamov early and often - in hopes that he'd crack under the pressure of his 2nd NHL playoff start.

But that thinking backfired. It played into the Cap's hands. We were running and gunning with Ovechkin and company. And the home ice adrenaline made it worse as the Rangers tried to act like an offensive juggernaut (when we're more of a jugger-NOT) and they pressed - got too loose - out of position - and well - you just can't do that against the Caps.

In Game 4 - I think - Coach Tortorella will try to go back to what worked in games 1 and 2. The Caps will tire themselves out if we can just hold them down - or stay close. We need to keep possession of the puck - not even to score as much as to keep it away from Washington. We need to play smart - with aggressive defense when needed - and basically - survive period one. The longer the game stays close - the more pressure and exhaustion the Caps will feel - and this is how we can beat them.

That's all for now. Assuming the official Dave Pucks Blueshirt Brothers Blackberry is functioning inside Madison Square Garden - I'll have a little reporting for you later on from the front lines...

Around the league....wow

Penguins take control of their Philly series, and that prediction looks all but locked up. Philly is now going to have to win the next three, including two on the road.... meaning.... blair betts should get an assist on ending their season.

For the Devils....WOW. You won't see a worse playoff loss/beat.....EVER. The team was up 2 games to 1, on the road, they win this game and they go home with a chance to clinch, but not just game 5, they would have 3 games, 2 at home, needing only one win to avoid the upset most are predicting. They come out and get absolutely dominated for most of the first two periods, and get down 3-0. Comebacks from 3 goals down in the NHL playoffs occur about as often as Ovechkin NOT celebrating a goal. Somehow, the devils do it though, they come back to tie the game at 3. The Carolina crowd is dead. The game looks like it is going to go to OT with all the momentum in Jersey's favor, the clock is ticking down, 3....2....1...the puck is at the BLUE LINE, Dennis Seidenberg takes a last second slap shot at brodeur, and Jussi Jokinen deflects it in front of the net, the puck goes in right as the clock hits zero!

They had to review it, because the NHL is not like the NBA or NFL. There, you only need one second to get a play off, but that play could then run for a thousand seconds past zero on the clock, and it still counts. In the NHL, the puck has to be across the goal line before zero, or it doesn't count. The review shows, the puck was totally across the goal line....with 0.2 seconds left in the game! The devils come back from 3 goals down, and on the verge of OT give up a goal with less than ONE SECOND LEFT! What an awful loss, they return to Jersey now 2-2, and it's a best of 3 series, looking like it may go 7.

Dave Pucks At The Garden for Game Four

Okay folks. Dave Pucks - your faithful reporter - has decided to take matters into his own hands and will cheer our heroes (hopefully) on to victory IN PERSON tomorrow night.

Thanks to the kindness of a very good friend (and great Ranger Fan) I will be attending game four on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

And to keep you all (and Nugman) company - if we can work out the technical logistics - I will be blogging to you tomorrow directly from the Worlds Most Famous Arena - a Blueshirt Brothers First.

Looking forward to the game itself - I'm reaching for positives here. The Caps have some history of getting overconfident and sloppy and then really pulling together when the pressure is on. If so - there is the chance they now think they have the series won and will come in sky high and wild - giving the Rangers the chance to take advantage.

The other observation - the Caps tend to exhaust themselves. The key for the Rangers is to hang on early - through the first few minutes - through the first period - for as long as they can. If the Caps don't go up early they will start to get more and more frustrated.

So here's hoping our guys can pull this off. But honestly - have you ever felt worse about a 2-1 series lead than you do about this one?