Rangers Bring Momentum & A Mother's Day Winning Streak To DC For Game 6

After Friday’s exciting comeback win, the Rangers find themselves in familiar territory. It’s Mother’s Day. They’re down 3-2 in the series. In 2013, Lundqvist blanked the Caps at MSG to force a Game 7 where he’d post another goose egg to advance. Last year, Marty St. Louis led the way with an emotional first goal to help knot the series before knocking out the Pens. If they plan to build on their 12-3 record over their last 15 elimination games, they’ll have to do it in enemy territory this time – but with the way they ripped Game 5 from the hands of Washington fans counting down the seconds, momentum is now clearly with the Blueshirts.
Yes, Holtby has held NY to just a lone goal over 120 minutes at the Verizon Center this series. The Rangers have had all sorts of trouble scoring these playoffs but you’re not gonna find two more frustrating games than 3 & 4. They dominated puck possession with +37 Corsi & +32 scoring chance advantages yet couldn’t overcome the three gifts they gave the Caps. The Blueshirts literally put the decider in their own net Game 3 & two awful turnovers allowed a 20 year-old who hadn’t scored in almost 3 months to have the highlight night of his young career in Game 4. Despite the fancy stats, Holtby wasn’t really tested to make too many outstanding saves. Friday was much different. The Rangers threw 43 pucks at him & found a way around Caps defenders they peppered over 50 times in DC. They had more hits, didn’t get demolished on draws & did all the little things good teams do with their backs against the wall. We’ve been waiting for this team to break out all postseason & there’s no better time than tonight.
Trotz’ team should have a little confidence going back home with a shot at closing out the top seed – but they also have the pressure of knowing the last thing they want is to go back to MSG for all the marbles. Hank’s won 9 straight elimination games at home. He’s reeled off 5 straight Game 7 wins while allowing just 4 pucks past him – no more than 1 in each. Anything can happen if it gets there. Still, in a sense, it’s just as much an elimination game for the Caps. How will they handle it? Will Ovechkin continue to fade or will his team have to rely on the Beagles, Burakovsky’s & Glenncross’s to get the job done? Can Holtby stay sharp or is he due for another softie? The Rangers are the better team with momentum & experience on their side – getting the jump on the home squad will be huge in putting some doubt in their heads. This has “turning point” written all over it for NY, and when the final horn blows I not only expect the Mother’s Day streak to continue but this consecutive 1-goal game streak is gonna be snapped in the process.
VIVA LA BLUESHIRTS!!!