Back to NYC we go.
Game 2: NY Rangers vs. Los Angeles.
I can't help but think that despite the hole the Rangers currently find themselves in, it's really not that bad.
I know, they're down 2-0 going back to MSG. Lundqvist has given up eight goals. The defense, especially Dan Girardi, is not up to snuff.
But come on. This series is dead even in every aspect excepts wins and losses.
People can bang the gloom & doom drum all they want, but if they do they're obviously ignoring the fundamental fact of this series: both games so far went into overtime. Game 2 went into double overtime. Do the Kings really have an advantage other than the even more obvious 2-0 lead?
They sure as hell don't.
There may have been questionable calls in Game 2. What I notice from watching the highlights is that the first and fourth Kings goals were awfully fluky.
Not only that, it's not like the Rangers packed up their tent when they led 4-2 in the second period. They had bonafide chances in the 3rd and both overtime periods. The puck just didn't go in the net.
This series so far has not been characterized by one team pummeling the other. It's been even. The Kings have made two plays, one in OT off a terrible turnover, and one fluke in double OT that just happened to go in.
It just so happens that those plays are the ones that determine that it's 2-0 for the Kings.
Of course, now it's incumbent on the Rangers to realize that, yes, they're still in the series.
I realize this is a bit of a swerve from a previous view in which I declared Montreal out of the series after going down 2-0. But let's face it, that series between the Rangers and Canadiens was not like this one.
At any rate, the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final have been incredible. I just hope they can keep up the pace in Games 3 & 4.
Los Angeles leads 2-0. Game 3 is Monday.
Another scheduling quirk: one day off between games when travel is involved, after a double OT game. Yeah, I don't get it either.
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