RANGERS SEASON ON THE BRINK -- LOSE GAME 5 IN DEJA VU MOMENT

RANGERS SEASON ON THE BRINK -- LOSE GAME 5 IN DEJA VU MOMENT

By: Matthew Blittner

Having tied their series with Ottawa at two games apiece entering the swing game of Game 5, the Rangers were riding a wave of momentum.

Having outscored Ottawa 8-2 over Games 3 and 4 at Madison Square Garden, the Blueshirts looked to continue their surge towards the Eastern Conference Finals.

In the beginning, it looked like the Rangers would do just that. 

Goals by Jesper Fast and Nick Holden in the first 5:13 of the game gave the Blueshirts a quick 2-0 lead and they were looking for more.

Alas, Henrik Lundqvist did not have it on this day, as he 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 to trim the Ranger lead to 2-1.

Thankfully, the Blueshirts would hold the lead through the end of the first period and were 40 minutes away from a 3-2 lead in the series.

That lead would last until the 8:17 mark of the second period, when Erik Karlsson feed Mike Hoffman off a 3-on-2 odd man rush to knot the score at 2.

Ottawa would then capitalize on a visibly off his game Lundqvist, by throwing a harmless puck on net 33 seconds after tying the game, only to see the puck go through Lundqvist's legs for the 3-2 Ottawa lead.

A late period pushback saw the Rangers tie the score ahead of the third period when Ryan McDonagh had Michael Grabner's rebound shot go off his body and past Craig Anderson for the game-tying tally.

A strong third period from Jimmy Vesey would eventually net the rookie the go-ahead goal as he went diving on the ice and poked the loose puck past Craig Anderson for the 4-3 lead at the 12:48 mark of the final frame.

Armed with a lead, the Rangers just had to prevent Ottawa from scoring, and that was going according to plan until former Ranger Derick Brassard poked one past a sprawled out Lundqvist to tie the game at 4 with 1:26 remaining in regulation time.

For the Rangers this had to be like a never ending nightmare. For the third time this postseason, and second time this series, the Blueshirts would blow a lead with under 90 seconds remaining. 

Once again, Alain Vigneault was getting out-coached as he inexplicably benched Brady Skjei for the final five minutes of the game, and once again entrusted the final minute to Marc Staal. And for the third time, this move backfired as Vigneault refused to learn from his past mistakes.

There's an old saying, "those who fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it." Well, Vigneault has certainly failed to learn from his past as he's now repeated the same mistake, and in doing so once more cost his team the game.

With 90 seconds to go, and your team has given you the lead, it is your job as an all-star goalie to make that lead hold up, regardless of what situation comes your way. But Henrik Lundqvist has now decisively proven that he is no longer up to the task.

After that, it was just a matter of time, and just like the previous two times, the Rangers would lose the game in overtime, but not before throwing more salt on their wounds.

In the first minute of overtime, JT Miller rang one of the post, but the post kept the puck out of the Ottawa net. Then moments later, 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 would end the Rangers; misery by putting yet another soft goal by Lundqvist at the 6:28 mark of overtime to seal the win for Ottawa and send the Rangers home down 3-2 in the series for Game 6, which will played on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.