It was fitting that Marty would end it. He got robbed at least twice by the young kid from western Canada, Dustin Tokarski, and the winner was a similar shot, only more zest and more precision. So Martin St, Louis, the little engine that could, who suffered through a drought in the regular season has now scored his 6th playoff goal this season and his 4th career OT goal. So the Rangers go back to the former House Of Horrors with a chance to clinch and move on to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1994.
But it wasn't easy. The Rangers gave the Canadiens 8 power plays and Le Habs were successful once, a blast from the point by Subban that deflected past Lundqvist to tie the game at two with 18 minutes to go in the third. The Rangers were 0-3 on the power play. Boyle and Pouliot took two penalties each with Pouliot taking a horrendous holding the stick at the 30 second mark of the OT.
JT Miller, who subbed for Stepan, no Therrien, Stepan didn't make it back, took an early penalty and then was injured in the 2nd period when he was slammed into the goal by Andrei Markov. BTW, coach Therrien had a steady conversation going with the refs all night. It paid off for him. Did you see Subban give his best imitation of Dancing With The Stars, when he was nudged by Nash and another Ranger got the penalty?
So we will have another day of Face The Nations and then its back to hockey. The Rangers will have their work cut out for them but if they get back to basics, solid fore check, quick on the puck, strong D and solid goal tending we will be going to the Finals, BTW, Lundqvist was good with 27 saves, Tokarski had 26. Since the tragedy they hit St. Louis, the Rangers have won six of seven. Let's keep it going.
The NHL needs some revisions to their "rules"
1) If you injure a player you should be suspended the same amount of time the injured player misses games
2) During the playoffs if a penalty is missed by the officials Toronto should be able review it just like a goal is reviewed... limited to once or twice a game per team
3) If you embellish a high stick or trip the embellisher should be penalized 4 mins and the player who high sticked or trippee should be penalized 2 mins... this would be a good way to get rid of all the acting.... the NHL is starting to look like FIFA Soccer
Let's Go Rangers
Michael Donato- I always said that a player who injures another player should be suspended the same amount of time the player is injured but I have since changed my mind based on too many variables. One being that if the NHL is serious about cracking down on head shots- and we can all clearly see they are not but that's beside the point- then they should suspend the player regardless of injury or length of time missed. Another thing to consider is that if a player who has a history of concussion is hit, it is possible that player could miss months as a result of a hit that would have sidelined him for a much shorter period of time if it had been his first concussion. So IMO they need to put a tier system in place similar to the one we just learned they have in place for abuse of the officials. Three levels of severity: level one is 3 games, level 2 is 10 games and level 3 is 20 games. Then if the player is a repeat offender the number of games is doubled but must be greater than the number of games of the previous suspension so its a true punishment. Sounds way too complicated for the NHL, I know but if they can do it for one infraction, then why can't they do it for another? The answer is they don't want to but I will save that rant for another time lol.
I am good with Toronto reviewing penalties and having it limited to one or two reviews per game so the coaches can't just send everything to TO. Good one.
And the last one is my favorite. 4 minutes to the diver and two to the tripper... Brilliant. Too brilliant for the NHL though. They'll never figure that one out.
The game was the least enjoyable of the playoffs for me simply due to my emotional state. I was angry all night. Did the Rangers take too may penalties, yes obviously they did but the officiating was so biased and one sided it was unreal. They just kept calling every little thing they saw on the Rangers and ignored 90% of what the Canadians did. Honestly, I had no desire to see the Canadians short handed 8 times to match because one thing I really hate is over officiating, especially in the playoffs. But when you can clearly point out hooking, interference, TOO MANY MEN ON THE ICE, the shove from behind from Markov which led to losing JT Miller to injury, and not to mention the endless ballet of embellishment then you can certainly make a case for evening up the calls. If you want to call it tight then call it tight on both sides. Just so aggravating to me how incompetent these officials are. These same clear penalties that I have pointed out here on this post were also pointed out on Twitter by our old friend Kerry Fraser, who I believe to be the best referee in NHL history. He even replied to a tweeter who asked him if he was glad he retired: "Yes, I can't let so many things go uncalled." I love his honesty.
So the Rangers once again revisit their theme of "Above and Beyond" which turned out to be appropriate because they have risen above all kinds of adversity and they have gone beyond everyone's expectations and continue to do so as this journey now has them one win away from the Stanley Cup Finals. No one has punched their ticket. These guys are serious. They take care of business and let the Canadians embarrass themselves. They call Kreider dirty, then defend the Prust hit. They call Stepan's injury "fishy" essentially accusing him and our coaching staff of being untruthful then they take the ice and dive and embellish and fake it all over the ice. They call our integrity into question because they have none. The Rangers came back with the best revenge. We answered all of it. The Hockey Gods served up justice.. answered the officiating with a short handed goal. Derek Brassard who was injured on a late hit and verbally made a target by Therrien scored in his first game back and then Marty St. Louis delt the final blow in OT. I cried. But I also thanked God. Good karma. One more win and onto the right to play for the holy grail. Lets go Rangers.