The Los Angeles Kings have come back from a two-goal deficit four times now in this series. After two games. And yes, I’m aware that’s a little misleading, because they didn’t actually come back to tie the game each time. Instead the Rangers played catch and release, taking a 2-0 lead, then a 3-1 lead, then a 4-2 lead, and each time letting the Kings score the next goal. Although granted, a number of people might say the Kings shouldn’t have been given that third goal.
But regardless, after letting a 2 goal lead disappear in Game 1, and letting multiple 2 goal leads result in another overtime loss in Game 2, the Rangers must be ruing their inability to close out games. And they are. That and blaming Brad Richards for everything that’s ever gone wrong in the history of ever. It must have been a lot more fun being a writer for the Kings on Saturday night, as they were able to joke about Dustin Brown diving and acknowledge Dwight King not interfering with Henrik Lundqvist. If unbiased is your thing though, then this is a better one for ya. However, regardless of which color glasses you view these games with (victory green, thank you very much), there’s one thing we can all agree on.
The Rangers are [fandangoed].
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The Texas Stars won! A 6-3 win over the St. John’s IceCaps. Fun times all around, as our old friend Dustin Jeffrey had three assists, Travis Morin had two goals, and Scott Glennie very nearly had a double Gordie Howe hat trick, with 2 goals, 2 assists, and a fight. [100 Degree Hockey]
No rest for the wicked however, as Game 2 is tonight. Keep an eye on DBD for the Gamethread this evening. [100 Degree Hockey]
Fitting time for this, seeing as the Calder Cup Finals are now in full swing, and many of these guys are playing in them. The Dallas Stars prospect awards. [Hockey’s Future]
Apparently the free agent field is on the weak side this year. Time for some trades to start going down? [CBC]
Aww man. Seattle’s chances of landing an as-yet-unannounced NHL franchise take a blow. [Puck Daddy]
Yay! More Joe Thornton rumors! [Toronto Sun]
Cory Schneider would like some sort of guarantee that he will be a starting netminder in the years to come. Small thing to ask for really, seeing as he should have been a starting goaltender for about four years by now. [NJ.com]
Baseball teams, sporting old school hockey jerseys? Brilliant. Go North Stars! [Puck Daddy]
Fancy statisticians, get excited. Plus/minus gets roasted. [Arctic Ice Hockey]
Some serious analysis of Lundqvist’s and Quick’s play in Game 2. [NHL.com]
And lastly, Darryl Sutter stars in Down Goes Brown’s Grab Bag. And, because it made me laugh out loud at least once, a second feature from DGB today. A walkthrough of best-selling adventure game, NHL Playoff Quest! [Grantland]