Not Swept Away

I picked up tonight's Rangers/Penguins game late in the 1st period, with the game still scoreless. I'd decided that I needed to watch at least a good chunk of it, since it had the potential of being New York's last game of the year. I watched a very slow, plodding Rangers team go up 1-0 on a dazzling Jaromir Jagr goal - which ended with him being absolutely leveled by a Penguin - and then figuratively chewed my nails down to nubs while they tried to protect that lead for quite a long stretch. Eventually they secured a little breathing room for themselves on a Brandon Dubinsky goal on which he recovered from being tripped in front of the net (no call!), before finally collecting an empty-netter and a 3-0 victory, for Henrik Lundqvist's first shutout of this playoff year.

It was a huge relief that the Rangers didn't go out on the bitter end of a sweep, and it means that they won't finish the playoffs with a losing record, unless they advance beyond the second round, in each case. I'm much happier about their postseason performance now, regardless of what happens next.