Quote from: EDjohnst1981 on Today at 11:42:03 AMI don't disagree but they knocked off the analytic darlings in six and are taking last SC runner up to at least 6.
I don't think the rangers get enough credit for their ability to absorb shots and then counter punch.
But Jess, I'm not digging your viewpoint out and respect it. They just aren't built to play the others do.
To your point, as well as Jess', there are a handful of teams the Rangers needed to stay away from in order to have a reasonably good crack at winning it all. Carolina was never on that list because the Rangers have their number when it counts; two playoff series in three seasons have validated that claim.
The two Florida teams have always been the top two teams on that handful. Tampa whipping the Rangers late in the season, en route to their march to the post-season, is a clear reminder what that team did two years ago, and what they would be doing to them if they took the place of Florida in this third round. In the Western Conference, Dallas would be tough but they can play with those guys. I'd rather play them than Edmonton, and sure glad neither Winnipeg, Nashville nor Vegas advanced because all three are Ranger headaches.
Though they didn't get in, Columbus, Philly and Pittsburgh and the Isles, who did make it, would all have caused problems for the Rangers; however, you would think they'd account for them, but you never know.
But here's the thing we know but don't give Florida their just due on. They are a hungry team who is in the process of writing a wrong which was falling short in the Cup Finals last year. They're going for broke right now and their game clearly shows that. The Rangers aren't at that level right now. It's clear that luck might buy them a win tomorrow, but the reality is that they're going to have to produce something different, in terms of countering Florida's all-out attacking, in order to have a chance. Nobody in the NHL has done that this season. That's the task at hand.
Blaming players at this point is futile. The Rangers have gotten this far, for better or worse, with the group we've followed since early October last year. No matter what happens tomorrow, they've taken this Ranger fan on one of the most memorable rides in the 45 years I've followed this team (less the era after the canceled season when I turned my back on the sport).
For those of you who lived and experienced the highs and lows of the 1993-94 season, honestly, respond to my message here with how you felt after the Devils crushed the Rangers at the Garden in Game Five and took a 2-0 lead in Game Six at the Brendan Byrne Arena. I will account for how I felt which was grave disappointment and why the hell was Messier running his mouth about a guaranteed win? At the end of that game, I sat wide-eyed, mouth open, jaw to the floor, stunned! Every time I watch the highlights of that game, and the subsequent Game Seven at the Garden, back in the days when we were dealing with The Curse on top of the opponent, you realized that something just happened from heaven above.
Again, not suggesting that they need one of those heaven-sent interventions, though that would be pretty cool if it happened, but if they have to succumb to defeat, do it fighting to the very end. If that's how it plays out, I'll be a little sad and disappointed; however, they certainly didn't embarrass themselves out there either. In the end, the matchup was bad, they fought the good fight with their capabilities.
Now, let's see how it plays out.
Peace!
P.S. Sorry for rambling today. Mixed reaction after the game but, in the end, I agree with files58 that the Rangers need to give #19 a and make him swallow his mouthpiece.