Game 3 Thoughts

It's sometime after the game is over and I think I only feel worse. I look back on the three games so far and I see so many opportunities that the Rangers missed out on. Today I think was the worst so far though. The Rangers had 4 straight penalties called and they didn't score once. A playoff team doesn't do that. The Rangers had problems during the season with their powerplay and it didn't look that bad against the Devils. Now it just looks horrendous. They couldn't get a real good chance during any of the powerplays they had and that really didn't help us much. The Pens have been taking advantage of their powerplays and that’s why they are up 3-0.

Another reason the Rangers are in this hole is because they haven't played a complete game this whole series. The first game the offense was on and the defense gave up the lead. The second game the Rangers played great defense and Henrik played spectacular. In that game the offense couldn't get a single goal. Now in the third game, the offense is on fire and playing with such determination but the defense completely falls apart. There were so many turnovers tonight and just overall bad decisions. I could go through them all but there is no point. Everyone that watched the game knows exactly what I am talking about. They made stupid mistakes and paid for them.

Now the offense wasn't perfect tonight to say the least. They were very determined and played physically and made a good comeback. They had so many missed opportunities as well though. Straka missed an open net and the puck flew through the front of the net plenty of times with no goal. That is the key; the Rangers have not capitalized on their opportunities or any Pens mistakes. The Pens have made every advantage count.

As for Henrik tonight, I don't know what to say. Some of those shots didn't seem very possible to save but he just didn't look that good. There was no crazy save or anything very impressive. I am not blaming him at all because the defense was worse and the offense had plenty of opportunities to win the game. He really just wasn't on tonight it seemed and unfortunately it was at the worst time possible.

Now of course this series isn't actually over. It’s possible that we could win 4 straight games, its been done before in hockey and other sports. This team just doesn't seem to be a team that can do it. They have to play a more complete game and hope the Pens start messing up a little bit. If the offense plays like they did tonight, and the defense like they did in Game 2 then yea maybe we have a chance. I'm not going to give up till they are done and buried so let's make history and make it to the Eastern Conference Finals. I still have hope and I hope every other Rangers fan does.