May 28, 2014

2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Day 39

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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