Rangers’ backs to the wall again after losing Game 5

We should be getting used to this. The New York Rangers have their backs to the wall once again and head to Tampa for the their sixth elimination game of the playoffs. They have not lost one yet, so you cannot count this team out.

While the Rangers have shown unparalleled resilience and have proven that they are a team to be reckoned with, the simple fact is that they are being forced to go to the well too often and at some point they will come up empty.

This was a tough one to lose.  The game was heading to overtime when a seeing eye wrist shot from the blue line by Mikhail Sergachev deflected off Ondrej Palat and past Igor Shesterkin with 1:50 left.

Until that point, it was anyone’s game.

Gallant was philosophical about the loss saying “I thought we played a great game. The last game they played they really shut it down the neutral zone, I thought we did a lot of good things with dump-ins, we played a sound hockey game. It’s tough to lose like that at the end. It was a good hockey game that could  have gone either way.”

This was  game with three goals that were scored by improbable players on shots through traffic.  Ryan Lindgren scored the Rangers’ only goal when he threw the puck at the net and it eluded Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Sergachev tied the score on a similar goal that Shesterkin never saw through  a screen.  Ondrej Palat got credit for the winning goal, but it was another Sergachev shot that made the play.

Both teams had their chances, but the Rangers had the better scoring chances, especially in the third period.  The crusher was when Ryan Strome missed an empty net off a brilliant passing play from Andrew Copp and Artemi Panarin.

A goal at that point with only 5:48 left would have given the Rangers the lead very late in the game.

Andrei Vasilevsky and Igor Shesterkin were not challenged often, but the came up with the saves when they needed to.

The Tampa netminder was particularly strong in the third period.

While the Lindgren goal was one that probably should have been stopped, the two Tampa goals were through screens and Shesterkin really had very little chance of stopping either of them.

The game ended with fisticuffs as Steven Stamkos and Alexis Lafrenière fought each other after a scrum started when Kucherov took a shot at the Rangers goal with one second left in the game with the puck hitting Adam Fox.  It was a bush league move by Kucherov and the Rangers were not happy.

The Stamkos-Lafrenière bout was a heavyweight meeting and is another example of the maturing of the Rangers’ budding star.

Here’s a video recap of the game.

The officiating

It’s easy to blame the referees when you lose, but in this case, even Rangers Coach Gerard Gallant had issues.  The Rangers were called for two penalties, both a bit soft while the Blueshirts didn’t get a single power play off a hockey play. Their only power play was when the Lightning were called for too many men on the ice.  Guess what, in looking at the play, the penalty was called by the linesman.

It’s one of the few penalties that a linesman can actually call.  So, we can honestly say that the referees did not call a single penalty on the Lightning.

Four minutes into the third period, Tyler Motte and Nikita Kucherov were in a scrum near the benches when Steven Stamkos came in with a nasty cross check on Motte.  No call.

The worst non-call was with seven minutes left in the game when the Kid Line was cycling in the offensive zone and Jan Rutta grabbed Kaapo Kakko in a bear hug.  It could have been interference or a hold. No call.

When Gallant was asked if there should have been more calls, he was honest in his answer. “I did.  I really did.  But in saying that I thought they (the officials) did an excellent game, they let the teams play but I thought we could have had a couple more.”

That’s really as much as you will ever get from Gallant when it comes to criticizing the officials.

Here we go again

We’ve been down this road before.  Jacob Trouba said the same. “It definitely stings…the series isn’t over. We’ve been here before. We got to go there, win a game, come back here, win a game seven. That’s the goal now, take it one game at a time. Gotta go to Tampa and win a game.”

Ryan Lindgren echoed the sentiment.  “We’ve been in this situation before.  It seems like we play our best hockey when our backs are against the wall…just draw off those past experiences and go play our best hockey.”

Tampa Coach Jon Cooper also reminded everyone that it is still a close series. “In the end, we haven’t won the series. It’s just 3-2 The Rangers, if any team, have proven that they can wipe that out and we’re the first ones with our eyes wide open, knowing that can happen.”

But can they?  We have documented that the Rangers have played more games in fewer days than any NHL team in the playoffs in 30 years.  At times they looked like they were running on empty.  Yet, they were able to revive themselves for a legitimate push in the third period and Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren and Frank Vatrano all had prime scoring opportunities.  Let’s not even talk about the Strome whiff anymore.

Do they have enough in the tank to win two more elimination games?  As Jon Cooper said, they are the one team that has proven that they can do it.

No matter what the outcome on Saturday, this has been an amazing ride for a young team that came into the playoffs with no expectations. To be one of three teams still standing is a tribute to the team and their coach.