No Points for Almost, Rangers Headed to L.A. for Game 5

Yep. The Los Angeles Kings were this close to hoisting the Stanley Cup last night at MSG.

Twice...
To say that Game 4 was uncomfortably close would be an understatement. The Kings brought their A game but the Blueshirts were still able to steal one thanks to the unreal play of Henrik Lundqvist in yet another elimination game (11-2 in those since 2012), and some very friendly bounces around the net (see above).

But I don't want to let 2 close calls at the goal line overshadow the fact that the Rangers actually played a pretty solid must-win game at home in the Stanley Cup Final. They came out flying, scoring an early goal that might as well have been on the power play (2 seconds after), and hitting everything with a pulse. They showed the Kings that they were not gonna go down easy. Especially not at home.

Let's not forget that the man in charge deserves a HUGE assist on this win. AV did everything right in this situation. He had this team ready to play mentally, and he made the decisions on the ice that may have been the reason the boys are boarding a plane for Los Angeles today. Dan Carcillo was eligible to play last night after his 6 game suspension for assaulting an official, but Vigneault decided to stay with Dorsett, who has been playing the best hockey I've seen him play since he's been in New York. No brainer. More risky was the decision to start Brad Richards on the 4th line. Obviously you never know how a demotion will effect a player. Especially a superstar like Richards. But what I saw was a more motivated Brad Richards who seemed to understand the situation and accept the decision for the betterment of the team. Another great call by the first year coach who has this team playing at 150% of its potential right now.

Obviously the Rangers still have some work to do here if they want to have any chance at hoisting the cup in LA 6 days from now, but it had to start somewhere. For the optimists out there, you can look to the fact that the Kings played possibly their best hockey last night, and the team from New York managed to hang on, despite not being as sharp late as we've seen them. That's the way they have to look at things going forward. Take some confidence out of this game, but that's all. Friday night is another battle. This time in LA, where the home crowd will know what's in the building.




PS: It's all about Hank.

via NHL