Monday, May 26, 2014

Rangers Win Another Great Game


It was another solid tilt in the Big Apple on Sunday evening, as the New York Rangers played host to the Montreal Canadiens in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Finals. Both teams had their chances, goalies were on the ball, no team really pulled away from the other and we found ourselves in extra time for the winner again. This series has been nothing short of entertaining, at least.

With the way these two teams have been playing, it should come as no surprise that the goals in this series, for the most part, have been coming by way of mistakes, either in coverage, turnovers or on the special teams (maybe even a combination of those mistakes).  Carl Hagelin opened the scoring with a shorthanded breakaway goal, thanks to some blown coverage; Francis Bouillon scored on an odd-man rush in the 2nd period to tie the game; Derrick Brassard exposed a passing lane up the middle and scored on a breakaway slapshot and P.K. Subban scored from the point on the power play to tie up the game in the 3rd period.  When the goaltenders were not hung out to dry, they played exceptionally well.

In the overtime period, play only lasted for about six minutes before Martin St. Louis slapped his second game-winner of the playoffs.  The Rangers finished the game with a 3-2 win and a 3-1 series lead, putting the Habs behind the 8-ball, heading back to Montreal for Game Five on Tuesday.

Notable scoring in Game Four... St. Louis had the winner for 2 points, Hagelin had a goal and an assist, Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves for the win and David Desharnais for the Habs had a pair of assists.

ImplicationsWith the Rangers' victory, both of Gus M.'s teams are now on top of the pool standings, thanks in large part to Lundqvist and company.  Dale B. continues to sit in the money, only 1 point out of 2nd place, while Corey M. still holds 4th spot, a couple points back of Dale.  Travis G. appears to be poised to take a money position here soon, only 1 point back of Corey, while John M. is trying to close the gap on the money teams, being one of the better teams in the Conference Finals.

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