Here they come again, inconsistent to the end.
Game 5: NY Rangers vs. Montreal.
With a chance to close out the series in five games, what do the Rangers do?
It's hard to imagine the Canadiens scoring seven goals in a single game. We already know the Rangers can do it, but the more playing time Tokarski gets, the more he looks like a guy who can take the starting job away from the overrated, non-"elite" Carey Price.
So the inconsistent Rangers are suddenly back, although this time they put up four goals in a valiant effort, through two periods, at least. The third period was where it fell apart, but given the circumstances, I'm not terribly surprised about it.
I guess it's a little weird that they were failed by their goaltending. Lundqvist gave up four on 19 shots and Cam Talbot wasn't much better, giving up two more on 8 shots. What I don't like is that Talbot was saddled with the loss; even though he allowed the fifth and sixth goals (the seventh was an empty-netter), they wouldn't have been in that position had Lundqvist not allowed four and gotten pulled in the first place. Not quite fair, but that's how it goes, I guess.
Chris Kreider tied it up at 4 with a pretty goal off of a great pass by Ryan McDonagh. McDonagh in particular has been very good in the series, putting up points left and right. Derek Stepan came back from his broken jaw wearing a mask to cover it and scored two goals with little problem.
Of course, the player of the game was Montreal's Rene Bourque. He had a hat trick on four shots. He also got into it with the Rangers' Derek Dorsett at the end of the game and was assessed a game misconduct penalty in addition to a major for cross checking.
Tokarski was the other bright spot for the Canadiens. Once they went up 5-4, he held firm. Giving up four goals isn't the best way to go out, but hey, he won the game and has been solid since Game 3.
NY Rangers lead 3-2. Game 6 is Thursday.
Later today, Game 5 in Chicago. With a win, Los Angeles moves on to the Stanley Cup Final.
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