WE’RE GOING TO THE GARDEN UP 2-0 BABY THE BOYS ARE EATING!!!!!!!!!!!

My lord, what a game. Not gonna lie, I got a little sweaty after the Devils netted that early goal. It made me think “Ok cool they made the adjustments they needed to, the young squad is settling down and the series is starting for real”. Nope. While the Devils did make some clear adjustments, it just didn’t work out. Vanecek looked a lot better tonight, five goals aside he really did. He made some big saves when he needed to, but as I’ve been pointing out, you can’t just rely on your goalie in the playoffs. Sure they can be the biggest crutch you have, but you need more. And tonight, tonight they didn’t have it.

Let’s start with MY CAPTAIN, 20. Quick rant, when Kreids didn’t get the C I was hurt as a fan. He is the last of the “Old Guard” so to speak ya know. A part of the core that almost got us to the promise land in 2014, drafted as a Ranger and has been here the whole time. He knows the team and how things work, he knows the fans and the building, he is a Ranger. I thought it was a no brainer after he handled the Tony D/Georgie issue the way a true veteran and captain does. No shade to Trouba at all, the man has really risen to the occasion after a slow start, but he’s still new blood ya know. Not that the C should automatically go to the most senior guy in the room, but CK has done nothing but prove his worth in his time on Broadway. 2 beautiful power play goals tonight and dubbed “The best active player to have in front of the net” by Kenny Albert (one of the best play by plays imo) Kreids is HIM. I started to make my argument about him being in the rafters once his time is done on here before, and tonight Rangers Twitter hopped in the convo agreeing with me. This is the last time you will ever see a #20 skate in red white and blue so enjoy it while it lasts.

The power play showed up tonight in full force. I mean how can they not, look at the names on PP1 – Kreider, Mika, Kane, Bread, and Fox. Now, running 4 forwards and one D man to me at least is a little nutty, but this works so so well as we saw both tonight and in game 1. 2 goals tonight, 2 goals Tuesday, I’ll be honest I’m not used to having a PP this elite I’m really not.

Speaking of the PP let talk showtime. “Patrick Kane is washed, he’s a shell of himself and will do the Rangers no good” blow me. 4 points in 2 games. We saw 88 net his first tonight of the playoffs as a Ranger and man was it a beauty. He would’ve had 2 if Kreider wasn’t the monster he is in front of the net. Like I said, Patrick Kane knows where he is and what needs to be done, there is no reason to believe he won’t be one of the main reasons we go as far as I’m planning on us going. I just hope he stays with us for years to come.

Not to beat a dead horse, but staying on dudes who are going to help us go as far as I’m planning, Big Daddy Vladdy does it again. Turns out, and I didn’t even realize this after the euphoria my body felt after a massive game 1 win, he only played 12 minutes Tuesday. GG made sure that wasn’t the case tonight and it showed. Vlad got us on the board and tied the game up early in the 2nd which lead to the avalanche to come. I can’t say this enough about these two, they’ve been here before they know what it takes and they’re gonna do it again. Vlad is in the same boat as Kane, when he got here everyone said this isn’t the same Vlad who won the cup. I beg to differ, he might even be better.

Igor looked rock solid tonight stopping 22/23. Even the one he gave up wasn’t on him, he made the first two saves but we need to make sure we’re taking out the trash. That can very much be a difference-maker moving forward and we’ve seen it bite us in the ass before.

Kakko put the nail in the coffin and you love to see it happen. KK is playing with the mean streak he typically (and by typically I mean last year) does during the playoffs. He just needs to figure out that we need this play year round from him and bang we have an elite #2 overall pick on our squad for years to come.

Things got really chippy towards the end of the night as they typically do to get a spark during the playoffs and the boys answered the bell. Schneider had a big tilt against Mcleod and I’m just happy we can defend ourselves without looking like assholes. The officiating tonight was spotty, it really looked like Bettman made a call saying hey we need this thing going longer than 4. While we definitely got our fair share of PPs, there were quite a few softer calls against us. Mainly the Fox roughing call at the end of the 1st. This is the playoffs man, you gotta let the boys go sometimes and keep the whistle in the pocket. Whatever, can’t complain given the final score.

We’re going back to the Garden up 2-0 and I couldn’t be happier. I don’t want to get the brooms out just yet cause we’re still taking this one game at a time and anything can happen, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t send out a few broom emojis to some close confidants with a ? next to it. The energy is there, and more importantly, the play is there to back it up. We could’ve easily turtled after going down 1-0 after a Devils hot start, but that’s not what great teams do. Great teams answer the bell and get momentum back just like we saw tonight. If they played as scared as they did in their own building during the first two games, lord knows they’re gonna shit their pants the minute they hear what MSG turns into during the postseason. Let’s have a great Friday and continue riding this high into Saturday afternoon, hit the music.