The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Au Revoir Ottawa

The Rangers and Senators played a gritty round 1.  It made my palms sweat, and I’m sure it gave many a Rangers fan a good case of agita. The magic of the win is still settling in, so let’s roll with it, eh?

The Good:

• The Rangers came back from deficit after deficit more hungry each time. In the playoffs they are now 3-0 when leading after the 2^nd period.
• Kreider. Need I say more? This kid has been a very pleasant surprise.  He’s skilled and patient, not to mention he’s got some wheels on him.
• Stepan’s reemergence.  He’s played considerably better over the past few games.  This is a welcome change from his past performances this season.
• Lundqvist has been beyond stellar.  He made some spectacular saves in games 6 and 7.  Game saving saves at that.  He’s a big part of why the Rangers are where they are now.
• The overall team chemistry is amazing. Tortorella has done a superb job with coaching and motivating the team.
• The Rangers seem to play better with a smaller lead.  Tonight’s one goal lead confirmed that for me.  I was weary if they made the game 3-1 as the team tends to sit back on 2 goal leads.

The Bad:

• Dropping 2 goal leads.  The Rangers seem to sit back on leads, and have a mental lapse.  This isn’t something that they want to continue to do.  A 2 goal lead is insurance, not a cause to sit back.
• The power play still has kinks it has to work out.
• The Rangers dropped a lead in the series and had to battle back to stay alive.

The Ugly:

Rather than focus on the ‘ugly’,  let’s look at a few more bright points…

• The Rangers played disciplined when the Senators attempted to lure them into shenanigans.
• The Rangers abysmal faceoff percentage increased a bit as the series progressed. Lost key faceoffs were a big thorn in the Rangers side this series.
• When the Rangers were down, they refused to be put out.  They played like a team that was determined to win.  Many of the players stepped their games up enough to produce.

The Rangers are slated to go against the Capitals in round 2, starting Saturday at 3pm.  Let’s hope this feeling continues into game 1.