Captain Clutch Does It Again!

Let me tell you something. I only got to watch the last 20 minutes of this game. The Rangers looked a bit sloppy and gave up a bad tying goal with half a period to go. But they played on. They survived the Pittsburgh onslaught with less than a minute to go in the period. Lundqvist stayed sharp and denied the likes of Hossa and Malkin. Actually, the King was sharp the whole game from what I saw from the highlight reel, even if he didn't face many shots.

The overtime had me worried. The Pens are a dangerous club when you give them space, which 4-on-4 hockey always creates. But the Rangers responded with good rushes, and a strong play by Jagr drew a penalty. I thought, "Another power play? We couldn't score on the power play if we were Sean Avery in a dirty Manhattan motel." But a 4-on-3 creates big openings on the ice. They pissed away their first few chances, but when it came time to get shit going, they put the puck to the net, and who else but Chris Drury drove it home.

This win was more important than it may seem. It was another huge goal by Drury, who had been a bit cold lately. It catapulted us into a tie with the Devils for 4th place. More importantly, it got us out of the logjam tie for 6th. A loss tonight would have really put us behind the 8 ball with 3 games to go. 9th place was beginning to creep up on us a bit. But these guys delivered when it was important, and that's what excited me the most. Well, maybe getting to celebrate the OT winner while sitting next to my Penguins-loving father pumped me up the most. In any case, this was a great win. Now if only they could learn to do it in regulation....

A quick sidenote I forgot to mention yesterday. How fucking awesome is the music in The Igloo? I've never heard an arena play "Raining Blood" by Slayer and "Sweating Bullets" by Megadeth in the same death. Come to think of it, when's the last time we heard Slayer or 'Deth in the Garden? Probably the same game where we didn't hear shit by Creed or My Chemical Romance.