Thrilling Game 5 Comeback for the Rangers
Well, a playoff game doesn’t get much more exciting than the New York Rangers’ 2-1 overtime win against the Washington Capitals. (Not to mention that EVERY GAME in the series has been a one goal win.)
New York trailed by one goal in an elimination game. And then with 1:41 left in the third, Chris Kreider finds the net to send the game into overtime. And Ryan McDonagh finished off an OT victory with a wrist shot between the circles.
Game 6 is back in Washington tonight.
Can New York bring this back home for Game 7?
Joe Fortunato at Blueshirt Banter shares this:
But the funny thing about playoff hockey is death is always a bounce away. And in an elimination game that edge is even sharper, because for the Rangers the prize might have been another game to survive but the punishment was death. And when the lines are painted so clearly on the ground, and the options are so black and white, simplicity takes over as both sides look for a goal only one team will be allowed to find. And my God is it exciting, in the moment, to dance with death. And horrifying. And heart stopping. And exhilarating. It’s the difference between the corridors outside Madison Square Garden exploding as you leave the game or walking through the halls in eerie silence, your footsteps and a thousand others making the only noise as they echo off the high walls.
Why all the poetry? Because I truly believe winning a game like THAT is the best thing that could have happened, no matter how much it sucked to get to the screaming, “Let’s Go Rangers!” chanting corridors outside of Madison Square Garden. To tie the game with so little time left and then to win in overtime? Washington needs to think about that the rest of tonight. And the Rangers finally have a bounce that went their way as they prepare for Sunday.
And you know what? I love this hockey team. I love how crazy Kreider is and the faces he makes after he scores a goal. I love Mats Zuccarello dressing like a dolphin and a ninja turtle on Halloween. I love Kevin Hayes’ stupid Boston accent. I love “Yeah, Carlos!” I love how much they love each other. We might not be in the locker room but this team is so much fun and tight knit that you really do feel like you’re a part of it even as a fan. And like it or not when they die we die with them. No season and no team is ever the same. Although the core of this group? They are. And I feel like we’ve grown up together. And I’m not ready for that to end.
Photo credits to Anna Enriquez.
