GAME 5 RECAP: RANGERS-SENATORS
GAME 5 RECAP: RANGERS-SENATORS
By: Matthew Blittner
Rangers 4, Senators 5 (OT): 5/6/17 Canadian Tire Centre
Well that was fast.
An 0-2 series became 2-2 after last night's 4-1 win by the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
Now, all of a sudden, a series in which the Rangers were left for dead by the media after their collapse in Game 2, has become tied as the teams prepare to play Game 5 in Ottawa tomorrow afternoon at 3pm.
A big difference in the past two games has been the level of play of the teams' goaltenders.
Henrik Lundqvist has rebounded in spectacular fashion from his Game 2 meltdown, to allow just a single goal in both Games 3 and 4. With his teammates making it a priority to allow him a clear line of sight on the opposition's shots, the King has been able to re-ascend to his throne.
Meanwhile, his counterpart Craig Anderson, has fallen further into the abyss as he has surrendered seven total goals over the two games at MSG. It hasn't been entirely Anderson's fault as his defense apart from Erik Karlsson, has hung him out to dry. It has gotten so bad, that Ottawa head coach Guy Boucher removed Anderson from Game 4 after two periods of play and three goals against.
Game 5, is now the ultimate swing game in this series, as the winner will be one win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The NHL's Public Relations Department, tells us that "Per Elias Sports: When a best-of-seven series is tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 owns an all-time series record of 196-54 (78.7%)."
An 0-2 series became 2-2 after last night's 4-1 win by the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
Now, all of a sudden, a series in which the Rangers were left for dead by the media after their collapse in Game 2, has become tied as the teams prepare to play Game 5 in Ottawa tomorrow afternoon at 3pm.
A big difference in the past two games has been the level of play of the teams' goaltenders.
Henrik Lundqvist has rebounded in spectacular fashion from his Game 2 meltdown, to allow just a single goal in both Games 3 and 4. With his teammates making it a priority to allow him a clear line of sight on the opposition's shots, the King has been able to re-ascend to his throne.
Meanwhile, his counterpart Craig Anderson, has fallen further into the abyss as he has surrendered seven total goals over the two games at MSG. It hasn't been entirely Anderson's fault as his defense apart from Erik Karlsson, has hung him out to dry. It has gotten so bad, that Ottawa head coach Guy Boucher removed Anderson from Game 4 after two periods of play and three goals against.
Game 5, is now the ultimate swing game in this series, as the winner will be one win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The NHL's Public Relations Department, tells us that "Per Elias Sports: When a best-of-seven series is tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 owns an all-time series record of 196-54 (78.7%)."
OVERVIEW:
Both teams came out fast and furious with plenty of hits to go around. Chris Neil was playing for the first time this series and it was evident early on that his presence would be key to this game.
Henrik Lundqvist made a great kick save at 3:07 of the first on Mark Stone.
Feeding off the energy of the crowd and their fellow players, the Rangers came on stronger still and off a 3-on-2 odd man situation in the Ottawa zone, Jesper Fast would bang home a shot into the empty net with Craig Anderson out of position for the first goal of the game at 4:07 of the first. The assists were given to Brendan Smith and Kevin Hayes.
Nick Holden then carried the puck over the blue line and into the Ottawa zone at 5:13 of the first and from just past the face-off dot, he fired a shot over Anderson's shoulder and off the goal post, but it bounded into the net for the 2-0 Rangers lead. Assisted by Jimmy Vesey.
Henrik Lundqvist then flubbed the puck by turning it over behind his net and couldn't get back into position in time, and Ottawa's Mark Stone put it in the vacated net at 6:03 of the first, assisted by Chris Wideman and Zack Smith, for the 2-1 score.
At 6:51 of the first, Bobby Ryan's shot knuckled after it hit the ice and broke to Lundqvist's right as he just got the pad on it to keep it out of the net.
Tanner Glass then took down Erik Karlsson on a clean play, which caused Karlsson to retaliate, giving the Rangers a power play at 7:44 of the first. Karlsson two minutes for elbowing.
Ottawa killed off the penalty without much difficulty.
Craig Anderson then made an early save of the game candidate when he stoned Michael Grabner by keeping his arm tight to his side, off a 2-on-1 odd man rush that saw Jesper Fast feed the puck to Grabner at 10:21 of the first.
A 4-on-2 back the other way led to Lundqvist having to come up big on Chris Wideman's shot at 10:36 of the first.
Dan Girardi was then called for cross-checking Clarke MacArthur at 10:37 for Ottawa's first power play of the game.
Lundqvist was forced to aggressively come out of his net to stop the shot from Kyle Turris at 11:45 of the first.
New York killed off the penalty but was then hemmed in their zone for a solid two minutes before finally being able to clear the zone.
After some fast paced action, New York had a glorious scoring chance with just under four minutes remaining in the opening frame, but Rick Nash had his stick lifted by an Ottawa defender at the side of the net to prevent him getting the shot off.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau was then called for interference at 16:43 on Brendan Smith as the Rangers got their second power play of the period.
Ottawa's penalty killers were aggressive to the point of causing Nick Holden to get called for slashing at 18:20 to bring an end to the Rangers power play as Ottawa was gifted their second power play of the period.
Both teams came out fast and furious exchanging chances. The action was filled with a nervous type of energy and that was evident from both teams having two power play chances apiece. Some hard hitting and fast action led to the Rangers having a 2-1 lead early, but Ottawa came on strong towards the end of the period, and would see part of their second power play carryover into the second period. The shots totals were 15-10 in favor of Ottawa.
The Rangers killed off the remainder of Ottawa's power play to begin the second period.
At 3:13 of the second period, Tanner Glass was called for interference on Dion Phaneuf and Chris Neil was then called for roughing Tanner Glass as the two teams would skate four aside. Chris Neil also received a 10-minute misconduct for his actions.
Henrik Lundqvist was forced to make a kick save on Viktor Stalberg at 3:54 on a strong scoring chance for Ottawa.
A few minutes after the four aside ended, Erik Karlsson led the Senators up the ice, and off a 3-on-2 odd man rush, Karlsson feed the puck to an uncovered Mike Hoffman who put it in the empty net to tie the score at 2, 8:17 into the second period. Assisted by Karlsson and Clarke MacArthur.
Henrik Lundqvist then folded like a house of cards when he let in the softest of soft goals at 8:50 as Tom Pyatt just threw the puck on net and it went right through Lundqvist's legs. Assisted by Zack Smith. 3-2 Ottawa.
New York then let their emotions get the best of them as Ryan McDonagh stupidly shot the puck right over the glass for a delay of game penalty at 9:45 of the second.
New York killed off the penalty.
Ryan McDonagh then made an incredible hip-check on Viktor Stalberg in the neutral zone.
As the clock ticked down towards the final few minutes of the second period, the Rangers finally woke from their daze and began to push back Ottawa.
The Rangers' push back then came to fruition when Michael Grabner cleaned up a loose puck in front of Anderson at 7:49 of the second and then went off of Ryan McDonagh to tie the score at 3 all. Assisted by Grabner and Dan Girardi.
At 18:34, Clarke MacArthur was then called for slashing Brendan Smith to send New York back to the power play.
Several momentum swings and a number of penalties on both sides led to a back and forth period. Ottawa would capitalize first by scoring tow goals in 33 seconds, to take a 3-2 lead, but a late period push back by New York led to the tying goal from Ryan McDonagh and a late period power play that would carryover into the third period for the Rangers ensured that the second would end 3-3.
After the whistle sounded to end the second period, Ryan McDonagh and Jean-Gabriel Pageau were both assessed penalties. McDonagh for unsportsmanlike conduct and Pageau for slashing as the penalties would take effect in the third period.
Ottawa killed of the remaining portion of the Blueshirts' power play to begin the third period.
Henrik Lundqvist then bailed out Marc Staal, who coughed up the puck to Bobby Ryan for a breakaway at 2:29 of the third period, but Lundqvist said no, and stopped the puck by squeezing his pads together.
Craig Anderson then saved his teammates with a huge pad save on JT Miller who was streaking down the middle of the ice at 8:07 of the third.
Anderson then out did himself when he stopped Chris Kreider on the breakaway at 9:02 of the final frame.
Kreider then attempted to make up for his short-coming by taking the puck deep into the Ottawa zone, and then fed it back to the trailer Mats Zuccarello who fired the shot on Anderson, but it was stopped by Anderson's glove at 11:52 of the third.
Jimmy Vesey then SCORED THE GOAL OF THE PLAYOFFS as he dived on the ice and tapped in the loose puck through the crease and just got it over the line before Craig Anderson's glove for the 4-3 lead at 12:48 of the third period. Assisted by Brady Skjei and Derek Stepan.
Both teams continued to push the pace as they fought down to the last second in this swing game, Game 5.
Lundqvist then choked as he allowed Ottawa to tie the game on a fluky goal at 18:34 by Derick Brassard.
And then they headed to overtime.
JT Miller rang one of the post just moments into overtime, but the puck stayed out.
Michael Grabner almost won the game, but was called for batting the puck with a high stick and the goal was taken away.
Kyle Turris then ended the game for Ottawa by skating past the Ranger defense and putting the puck past Lundqvist at 6:28 of overtime.
WHAT WENT WRONG:
1. HENRIK LUNDQVIST: He gave up three soft goals (1,3, and 4). And once again allowed the game-tying goal with under 90 seconds to go.
2. COACHING DECISIONS: Once again, Alain Vigneault has benched Brady Skjei for the final five minutes of the third period, and put Marc Staal on the ice in stead of McDonagh. He doesn't learn from his mistakes as it was the third time in this postseason that this exact situation has occurred.
HIGHLIGHTS:
BEST SAVE PERIOD 1: Craig Anderson made an early save of the game candidate when he stoned Michael Grabner by keeping his arm tight to his side, off a 2-on-1 odd man rush that saw Jesper Fast feed the puck to Grabner at 10:21 of the first.
BEST SAVE PERIOD 2: Henrik Lundqvist was forced to make a kick save on Viktor Stalberg at 3:54 on a strong scoring chance for Ottawa.
BEST SAVE PERIOD 3: Craig Anderson then saved his teammates with a huge pad save on JT Miller who was streaking down the middle of the ice at 8:07 of the third.
Anderson then out did himself when he stopped Chris Kreider on the breakaway at 9:02 of the final frame.
BEST SAVE OVERTIME: None.
BEST GOAL PERIOD 1: Feeding off the energy of the crowd and their fellow players, the Rangers came on stronger still and off a 3-on-2 odd man situation in the Ottawa zone, Jesper Fast would bang home a shot into the empty net with Craig Anderson out of position for the first goal of the game at 4:07 of the first. The assists were given to Brendan Smith and Kevin Hayes.
BEST GOAL PERIOD 2: As the clock ticked down towards the final few minutes of the second period, the Rangers finally woke from their daze and began to push back Ottawa.
The Rangers' push back then came to fruition when Michael Grabner cleaned up a loose puck in front of Anderson at 7:49 of the second and then went off of Ryan McDonagh to tie the score at 3 all. Assisted by Grabner and Dan Girardi.
BEST GOAL PERIOD 3: Jimmy Vesey then SCORED THE GOAL OF THE PLAYOFFS as he dived on the ice and tapped in the loose puck through the crease and just got it over the line before Craig Anderson's glove for the 4-3 lead at 12:48 of the third period. Assisted by Brady Skjei and Derek Stepan.
BEST GOAL OVERTIME: Kyle Turris then ended the game for Ottawa by skating past the Ranger defense and putting the puck past Lundqvist at 6:28 of overtime.
TURNING POINT:
Kyle Turris then ended the game for Ottawa by skating past the Ranger defense and putting the puck past Lundqvist at 6:28 of overtime.
WHAT THEY SAID:
NBC ANALYST JOE MICHELETTI: "Henrik Lundqvist is a very emotional player on the ice, his preparation and focus are second to none, but when he gets on the ice, he becomes a very emotional player."
(PRE-GAME) MIKA ZIBANEJAD: "Communication is key, we have to be able to hear each other out there, and trust that each guy is going to be where he needs to be."
MATTHEW BLITTNER: "PATHETIC"
COMING ATTRACTION: The Rangers' next game will be Game 6 of their Eastern Conference Second Round matchup against the Ottawa Senators at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday May 9th. Game Time: TBD TV: NBSCN.
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