And so, finally.
After facing a confederation of second- and third-seed goalkeepers in their seven wins over the Penguins and Hurricanes, the Rangers faced goalie No. 1 on Wednesday in the opening finals of the Garden Conference.
And it wasn’t just goalkeeper number one, it was NHL goalkeeper number one, Andrey Vassilevsky of Lightning.
Guess what? The Rangers seemed almost unnoticed, shooting reigning winner Conn Smythe and beating him six times with 34 shots in that 6-2 win in Match 1, giving the Blueshirts their first series lead in the tournament.
Yes, that’s true. The Blue Shirts are in mode every other day, while Lightning and their netminder have been ruled out since finishing the Panthers’ cleanup on May 23 … a four-match break in which the Puddy Tats scored three goals.
It took the Blueshirts, who scored a combined 11 goals against Carolina to take 6 and 7 games, after scoring nine in the first five games of the second round, 35:43, to surpass Florida’s total.
“I told them to open it,” joked head coach Gerard Galant. “No, I think that if you compete hard in defense, you get opportunities, as we did tonight, two against one, goals in the power game.
Rangers celebrate their goal against Lightning goalkeeper Andrei Vassilevsky. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
It really was as unexpected as it gets. Not that the Rangers won. This should come as no surprise at this point. However, it was shocking to see Vassilevski look like almost every other goalkeeper.
Look at this. While Igor Shesterkin received recognition for his record of 7-3, .939 percent saves and 2.09 goals – against the average, starting with game 5 of the first round, Vassilevski was 42-17 with a saving percentage of .932 and 1.96 GAA, starting with the first of the two championships for the Tampa Bay Cup in 2020.
“Obviously it’s good for your confidence to score some goals,” said Mika Zibanedjad, who set Chris Crider for the first goal of the game just 1:11 in the game before adding the last goal in a powerful game early in the third period. “But it was a game, there will be another one on Friday and we have to take the positives from that and work on things we can improve.
The Rangers were somewhat lucky to go through the first period in a 1-1 draw after doing too much stick checking in the first 20 minutes. But they came to their game in the second period, dominating the walls, while winning a significant number of head-to-head matches and seizing the time-of-possession advantage.
In fact, the Rangers managed to make two complete changes while controlling the puck, before Philip Chittil’s second goal of the evening increased the lead to 4-2 at the end of the second period.
Tampa Bay had little response from either the Blueshirts or Kid Line strikers. But maybe that’s unnecessary. For Alexis Lafreniere-Chytil-Kaapo, the Kakko division was once again magnetic, with Chytil increasing its total to seven goals in 15 playoffs.
During the regular season, he scored eight goals in 67 games.
You say you need a hero?
The Rangers seem to come up with one every night.
Andrei Vassilevski missed a goal against Rangers on Wednesday. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Apparently Lightning were affected by their nine-day break. But it’s all part of him. Tampa Bay definitely felt no need to apologize after beating the Islanders 8-2 in Game 1 of the 2020 Balloon Semifinals in Edmonton, after the New York team was forced to fly from Toronto just a day before the game. The Islanders clawed, but never made up for it before losing in six games.
The expected goal-scoring duel between Vasilevski and Igor Shesterkin never took place. Vassilevski did not receive much support, but also scored several goals in the first shots without a screen. When Frank Vatrano sent a 40-foot shot from the top of the lap to break a 1-1 draw at 7:50 a second, it was the kind of goal that could have led Luis Domingo or Anti Raanta to pull.
However, Shesterkin kept his end of the deal with 37 saves, in which he faced 17 hits in the third period. He swung around the net and made a habit of swallowing loose puck around the crease. He made several big stops for Nikita Kucherov while the game was tense.
The audience noted.
Songs of “Igor is better! Igor is better! ” fill the Garden.
It will take three more of them for the “blue shirts” to advance to the Stanley Cup final. Keep in mind that Lightning have not lost two consecutive playoff games since being knocked out of the first round of 2019 by Columbus. Keep in mind that they will not be rusty for game 2 on Friday night.
Rangers won that. No excuses. They scored six times against Vassilevski.
Who is the next?
Add Comment