Dan Bylsma, Penguins coach, announced that Tomas Vokoun will replace Marc Angre Fleury in the nets tonight in Pittsburgh against the Islanders. Coach Adam Oates of the Caps may be contemplating the same thing following last night's game at the Garden. Cap goalie Braden Holtby gave a good imitation of Fleury as the Rangers got four by him in a 4-3 win at MSG that sends the series back to Washington with the Rangers the clear favorites here to win this series. Michal Neuvrith is the backup and chances are low that he will be in the net tomorrow night.
Meanwhile, Henrik Lundqvist, after giving up a deflected goal to Perreault with twelve-and-a-half left in the game, bringing the Caps to within one, shut the door the rest of the way. Lundqvist made 27 saves as the Caps launched 82 shots toward Henrik. Thirty-three were blocked and nineteen missed the net. In turn the Rangers launched sixty-two shots at Holtby with twenty being blocked. Ryan Callahan was his usual one man wrecking crew with an assist, a plus one, six shots, five hits and seven blocked shots. It's rumored he sold programs during the intermission.
The goal scorers for the Rangers were Richards, Hagelin, Girardi and Stepan. Stepan continues to 'step up' and be a big game player for the Rangers. Definitely a star of the future. Rick Nash was all but invisible. I have got to believe that Rick is hurt. Reminds me of what Gaborik went through last year. Of course with the secrecy and intrigue that surrounds the Rangers we will never get the true story. Marc Stall, not feeling well, sat out.
ICINGS: Henrik Lundqvist is one of three finalists for the Vezina Trophy. The other two are Sergei Bobrovsky of Columbus and Antti Niemi of San Jose. Getting to be a great habit for Lundqvist. Long live the King!
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Don't jump the gun here pundit. These two games have been as even as they get. Ranger fans are all happy happy joy joy which they should absolutely not be in my opinion. We've played well, yes. But Holtby is an incredibly calm goaltender and he will not let that 1st goal blunder get to him. That is in one ear and out the other for that kid. Very risilient goalie, much like king henrik.
It takes one shot for Ovi to take the series over, just as it does with Lundqvist to make one save to take the series over. Flip the coin and hope it says New York!
Have to agree with Andy. I don't feel like the Rangers are clear favorites. Matter of fact I was saying last night that usually after a team wins two games it feels like momentum is in their favor but I don't feel that at this time. The first half of the game was all Rangers. I was so happy to see them come out strong. As I said in my last post I didn't know what to expect because there were so many occasions this season where they followed up a big win with a big flop. The good start made all the difference as the Rangers were never behind. It was the Caps who had to chase the game but I give them credit because they don't mail it in. They come on really strong when they decide to turn it on. For them, it was too little too late. As the game went on the Caps were slowly turning the game in their favor and as usual Henrik had to hold us in at the end as we were under fire. This time we had the added bonus of a PP goal after Chimera was dumb enough to cross check Stralman into the net right in front of the ref. A terrible offensive zone penalty which would have had him riding the pine had he been playing for the other side. But instead he played all night on the Caps best line and his coach decided that his contributions outweighed his mistakes and let him go right back at it. Did you catch Oates presser after the game? He said that Holtby made a mistake but mistakes happen and they trust him. That attitude from a coach promotes confidence and allows players to use their instincts and take risks. High risk high reward. Sometimes mistakes happen but that's the meaning of the word risk. The rewards are well worth it. Adam Oates is a first class guy and the opposite of the loser we are stuck with. A great example happened today when Andrew gross blogged: "Ryan McDonagh talked about Staal's "honest and humble decision to opt out of the lineup rather than put the Rangers in jeopardy because he was unable to play at a level that was acceptable . McDonagh said Staal's decision "took a lot of guts." Asked to react to that and whether he agreed Staal's decision showed "guts" and was "humble and honest", Tortorella replied, "Mac should shut up." - Words cannot express how I despise this miserable excuse for a human being that we are stuck with. I am sick of his disrespect for players, fans and media. He has no class and no guts himself so how can he possibly comment on such a show of leadership, honesty and class on the part of Staal and McDonagh? It boils my blood.
So we are tied and on our way back to DC and i can't tell you who's going to win. I'm so happy the Rangers tied it and are making a series out of it. They're halfway there.
Fonzie is an a**hole, as usual...
My favorite is Lundqvist, I think he will play well. But the Rangers as a team will not lure me take out my wallet and put money on them.
Fonzie has a penchant for becoming unglued in D.C.. Torts totally blew it back in April 2009 in D.C. when with the Rangers rolling he benched Avery to send a message (the wrong one). Then he had a game 6 suspension after losing his cool to a fan. The Rangers lost in 7 games after having a 3-1 lead in the series. It still makes me sick to my stomach.
Video: John Tortorella vs Fan - Rangers Capitals Game 5 - Apr 24 09