McEnroe's Boys Down 3-0

You can't say that the New York Rangers haven't had their chances in these Stanley Cup Finals, but through perseverance, the Los Angeles Kings have not only done away with the chances that the Rangers had, they have put together dominating results and after Monday night's game in New York, the Kings now have a 3-0 series lead.

Monday night's chances stemmed from returning back to home-ice, after a tough pair of games on the West Coast.  A tight 1st period, which included a late Rangers power play, didn't garner much for offensive opportunity.  It wasn't until the last few ticks of the clock until Jeff Carter broke in the Rangers zone and snapped a quick wrist shot, taking a slight deflection off a defender down to block the shot and past Henrik Lundqvist with less than a tick left on the clock.  Goals in the first minute or the last minute of the period, right?

The 2nd period had a lot of Rangers pressure on the Kings net, but it was the Kings who had the last laughs.  The Rangers outshot the Kings, 17-8, in the middle frame, as Jonathan Quick stood tall, while Jake Muzzin capitalized on a power play to make it 2-0 and Mike Richards made the most of some puck luck on a 2-on-1 for a 3-0 lead.

The 3rd period was all about the desperation of the Rangers, as they didn't want to fall down 3-0 in the series, but Quick did his best to stonewall those hopes and dreams.  The Kings keeper made another 11 stops in the final frame, but New York could not break through and the final buzzer went with a 3-0 Los Angeles final, forcing a 3-0 series lead at the same time.

Quick was by far the player of the game, making 32 saves for the shutout and picking up the 4 points.  Jeff Carter got his first bonus point of the playoffs, acting as the only other notable player in the pool.

Well, the shutout for Quick and the lack of overall scoring in Game Three changed the face of the money places for the hockey pool, as Travis G. was able to jump up into a 2-point lead on Corey M. and Gus M.'s first team.

Travis leads the pool with 259 points, followed by Corey & Gus at 257 points, while Gus' second team jumped back into the money, over top of Wes M., with 252 points to 251.  Dale B. and John M. are also nice and close, both teams with 250 points to tail off the contending teams.

The big win for the Kings meant that John M. usurped the lead in the series, as his team now has 18 points to lead the pool in the Finals.  Both of Gus' teams rank 2nd and 3rd, with 16 & 15 points, thanks in large part to the shutout.

Game Four of the series will go on Wednesday night, again at Madison Square Gardens and the Rangers are now heavily behind the 8-ball.

The task that his ahead of the Broadway Blueshirts is something not unlike what the Kings had to do to the Sharks in the opening round of the playoffs... no wait, it is exactly that scenario.  Sure, the Kings pulled off the complete 4-game comeback from being down 3-0 in their series, but for how rare that feat is, it remains highly improbable that the Rangers will be able to turn the tides in this series.

To the Rangers credit, they haven't played badly in this series, but small mistakes have added up and the bounces just haven't been going their way, which has to be draining on the morale of the team.  It is time for the entire book of hockey cliches to make its way into the Rangers dressing room, but they will need a lot more than a few quotes and quips to beat Jonathan Quick and the Kings.