There's always hope
Apr 27, 2006
To paraphrase Socrates, Confucius, Yogi Berra and myself – nothing is in the bag until it’s IN the bag.
At this moment, the New Jersey Devils’ bag is three-quarters full.
The New York Rangers’ bag remains empty.
On Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden, the Broadway Blueshirts will get yet another chance to put something in the bag.
If not, Lou Lamoriello’s amazing sextet will move on to the second playoff round.
In the meantime, it’s three-zip, New Jersey, in a series which I predicted would go seven games. (Note, to everyone, it still could!)
Am I amazed? Absolutely, particularly when you consider that the Devils now have won 14 consecutive games.
Think about that for a moment. We’re talking about a team that last month was struggling just to sneak in to a playoff berth. Fourteen straight wins; that’s in the realm of miraculous.
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There’s one obvious – yet most important – pattern followed in each of the three playoff games; the Devils score first.
This was especially pertinent in Game One because the Rangers presented two formidable challenges – Jaromir Jagr up front and Henrik Lundqvist in goal.
Lundqvist claimed he was healthy and confident, while Jagr was prepared to lead his club out of their end-of-season funk.
Furthermore, the Rangers entered the series with a better penalty-killing and power play percentage than their Meadowlands counterparts.
What we soon learned was that regular season performance and playoff execution are about as similar as ham and puffed wheat (or rice, if you will.).
In Game One, Patrik Elias, Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez – among other Devils – executed brilliantly on the power play.
New Jersey got the first goal – proving that Lundqvist wasn’t invincible. The power play goal by Elias was a devastatingly hard and accurate shot. Nevertheless, the Rangers counterattacked and tied the match on a Jagr to Petr Prucha pass-to-goal that momentarily galvanized the Rangers.
But it would be their last goal of the afternoon. The Devils soon regained the lead and never relinquished it. Final score, 6-1.
Several important developments in Game One would set the tone for the next two games.
COLIN WHITE
He was the Devils’ big defenseman who was designated to “shadow” Jagr. Because of a groin injury, White exited early in the game never to return. New Jersey went with only five defensemen, each of whom played capably. In Games Two and Three, White was replaced by David Hale, who was rock solid.
JAROMIR JAGR
Apart from setting up Prucha, the Rangers’ ace was successfully shadowed by Jay Pandolfo. Jagr’s shots were all nullified and as the game drifted out of the Rangers’ reach, Jagr became frustrated. He then committed what would be viewed as an egregious sin; an attempted “check” on Gomez. The lunge not only failed but somehow injured Jaromir’s shoulder. He would miss Game Two and return for Game Three, a shadow of his former threatening self.
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Far from being “King of the Crease,” Henny was thoroughly vulnerable and certainly not aided by a shaky defense. The erstwhile “Number One” goalie would be replaced by Kevin Weekes in Game Two. As we would learn, the second match was totally different from the first.
Except for one thing; the Devils once again scored first. The difference being that Weekes was in goal. He looked good until 7:47 of the first.
This time New Jersey took some foolish penalties but it was the penalty-killers who boomeranged the Rangers.
Neutralizing the Blueshirts’ power play, Brian Rafalski sped up ice, flanked by John Madden on his left. The two-on-one culminated with a radar pass from the defenseman to his center. Madden’s shot was hard, true and beat Weekes' lunge.
Only this time, the Rangers didn’t come back to tie the match as they had in Game One. Playing without Jagr, as well as Martin Rucinsky, Darius Kasparaitis and Jason Ward, the Blueshirts managed to keep it close – until 14:13 of the first.
On the power play, Paul Martin delivered an ideal, deflect-able shot on goal which Gionta converted, enabling New Jersey to take the first period break with a two-goal advantage.
The second period was a good one – at least physically – for New York. The Rangers played hard, cycled well in the enemy zone and forced the Devils to take penalties that appeared to turn the game – and possibly the series – in the Blueshirts’ favor.
Given an enormous five-on-three advantage, the Rangers pressed their double-edged power play – a full two-minutes – only to be foiled in the most alarming manner.
Sensational penalty-killing by Rafalski, Martin, Gionta, Pandolfo, et. al. eventually resulted in a Pandolfo clearing attempt coinciding with Madden’s emergence from the penalty box.
Johnny-On-The-Spot raced to the puck inside the Rangers’ zone, cut in on Weekes – some critics believe that he should have skated out and cleared the rubber ahead of Madden – and stuffed it at the goalie’s pads.
The puck trickled to the goal line and stopped. Madden couldn’t reach it but defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh could and accidentally tipped it past the red line with 5.9 seconds left in the period.
To the Rangers credit, they counterattacked in the third period, finally beating Martin Brodeur at 5:41. Blair Betts delivered a wicked, angled shot that sailed past Marty’s mitt.
The Rangers kept trying, but Brodeur – looking better by the game – was in championship form. So, was Madden. Taking a perfect pass from Grant Marshall, Madden whipped in his hat trick goal at 12:46 effectively burying the Rangers.
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Game Three could have been re-titled “Manhattan Melodrama.”
At center stage was Jagr making an eleventh-hour decision to play along with Rucinsky. Lundqvist returned to the nets while coach Tom Renney tried to arouse his lads with some semi-subtle potshots at his foes.
The Garden crowd responded to the passionate play – as well as the plays within the play – with suitable fervor before the opening face-off and in the first moments of play.
Responding to the crowd, Jagr led his Rangers into the Devils’ zone for what appeared to be the first of several assaults. However, nothing tangible developed and, soon, New Jersey counterattacked.
With stealthy swiftness, the Devils swept to center ice with Rafalski launching the drive. The puck went to Elias who, in turn, delivered a pass to Jamie Langenbrunner on the left. His shot beat lunging Lundqvist at 1:08.
When Hale went off for tripping at 2:31, it was time for Jagr to show his stuff. Hampered by his shoulder injury, Jaromir could only pass the puck and, thus, several potential scoring thrusts were nullified. The Devils escaped without harm and then silenced the crowd for a second time at 9:20 when a Hale-Langenbrunner combine led to an Elias attempt in front of the goal.
Lundqvist made the save but booted the puck right back to Elias who neatly tucked it in and once again the Devils exited with a two-goal lead.
Unquestionably, the killer goal came in the second. It started innocently enough in the Rangers’ zone. The Dipsy-Doodle Twins, Gomez and Gionta, played with the rubber inside New York’s blue line.
When Gionta regained control, the Third Man, Zach Parise, headed toward the net. Gionta’s shot-pass was accurately deflected past Lundqvist at 2:48.
From then on, the Rangers had one more major opportunity; a power play at 16:07 which amounted, again, to nothing.
Brodeur was splendid – he stopped all 25 shots, Lundqvist only 17 of 20 – once more. The 3-0 result was Marty’s 21st playoff shutout.
So, it’s on to Game Four.
Do the Rangers have a hope?
Of course, they do. It’s still a best-of-seven series and the Devils have not yet won Game Four.
What remains to be seen is what the leadership produces in the coach’s room and among the “captains” among the players.
A victory on Saturday would stop the Devils 14-game winning streak; including the three playoff games. Often, it’s not easy to resume a win streak after such a run. Plus, the teams would be right back in action on Sunday at the Meadowlands.
The Rangers must score first, get better goaltending from Lundqvist and better defense. Ozolinsh has been a debit on defense. Perhaps he’ll be benched and replaced by a younger, yet steadier backliner. Perhaps more reliable Kasparaitis will return.
“We can’t think about winning four games,” says Jagr. “We have to go out on Saturday and get that one goal. We’re almost dead. We have nothing to lose.”
As for New Jersey, Lamoriello expresses some degree of satisfaction. Analyzing his team’s third win, the Devils’ boss says, “I don’t think we have ever played perfect hockey. But I thought that Game Three was the best of our three.”
Three out of three in the bag ain’t bad.
But it’s the fourth one that really matters and that hasn’t happened yet.
Stay tuned!
