I Have No Nails Left

They were all bitten off, watching the Rangers/Capitals game this afternoon.

While all of the commentators are (rightfully) praising the play of Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist in backstopping his team's 1-0 win, I couldn't help but marvel at how many shots were blocked by players in the white jerseys, as well as the skill exhibited in keeping their heads as the Capitals kept pressing, late in the game. The final 3:03 on the clock went by without a single whistle, which is extremely strange in a close game like that. If nothing else, it's remarkable that the Rangers didn't ice the puck even once during that time. [For comparison, I just watched the end of Vancouver/St. Louis Game 3, with a 1-goal differential going into the final 3 minutes, in which there were 7 whistles!]

Of course, they also had several of the most anemic power plays that I've ever seen - I swear the Rangers looked much more outmatched on the power play than they did at even strength - and a few bad turnovers in the second half of the game. But as was the case in Game 1, they played just well enough to win, adding another 1-goal victory to their 2008/09 resume. Ryan Callahan had an incredible game, and I can certainly see why fans in the New York area are so high on him. It's nice to hear that coach Tortorella is willing to place so much faith in him.

The worst thing they could do now, though, is to feel overconfident heading home for two. The Caps could easily have won either or both of those games in Washington, and so the 2-0 series lead looks considerably more favourable to the Rangers than the play on the ice did. I didn't think that the best team won on Wednesday night (although I cheered the result nonetheless) and today was about a toss-up in that regard. The boys from Manhattan should feel very lucky right now and realize that they've still got their work cut out for them if they're to have any help of making it to the second round. I suspect that they'll have to play better still.