No one is going to pat the Rangers on their collective backs for a good try. No one is going to be understanding about lessons perhaps learned by youth. No one is going to give the Blueshirts a pass on this one.
This isn’t the Knicks losing in Boston two nights ago.
The Rangers blew it, blew a 3-0 lead after two periods, blew Game 4 at the Garden.
Black-and-Blueshirts Red-Faced all over.
They handed it over, one by one by one, before handing a 4-3 Game 4 and a 3-1 series edge to Washington on Jason Chimera’s goal at 12:36 of the second overtime when Marian Gaborik incredibly chipped the puck away from Henrik Lundqvist just as the goaltender was about to cover it in front of the crease.
“It’s just unfortunate to have that [happen] in overtime,” said a heroic and disconsolate Lundqvist, who made 49 saves that included a spectacular glove stop on an Alexander Ovechkin breakaway with 8:59 to go in the first overtime. “A lot of times that’s what happens . . . a quick play . . . before you realize it, it is over.”
It might not be all over for the Rangers, who will play Game 5 Saturday afternoon in Washington, but it should never have come to this. Never. They had control and they yielded it. They had a three-goal lead after two periods, this team that went 29-0 during the regular season when leading after 40 minutes and they lost.
But then, the Capitals rallied to tie the Rangers at 13:44 of the third period in their 2-1, Game 1 overtime win, and the Capitals rallied to tie the Rangers at 14:48 of the third period in Game 3 before the Blueshirts won it on Brandon Dubinsky’s goal.
Last night, the Rangers wanted to keep it going after the second period ended in an explosion of noise with the Garden in full throat, taunting Washington coach Bruce Boudreau with cries of “Can you hear us?” They wanted to play their style, the Rangers did, they wanted to get the puck in deep and keep the Capitals pinned.
Ah, but the road to playoff extinction is paved with good intentions.
“We talked about all the things we wanted to do, about jumping and being on our toes and playing in their zone, but we didn’t do any of it,” Chris Drury said. “It was almost like we were in a situation we might not have been comfortable with and went, ‘Oh, bleep, what do we do now?’
“And we got a little tight,” he said. “At least that’s what I think happened. We never really could make the play or put the couple of shifts together to get it back.”
Even with a 3-0 lead gained on second-period scores by Artem Anisimov, Gaborik and Brandon Dubinsky, the latter two coming seven seconds apart at 13:40 and 13:47, respectively, the Rangers had failed to stomp on the Capitals’ throats. They failed on all seven power plays, one more dysfunctional than the one preceding it.
And when the Rangers did nothing with the man-advantage for the first 1:16 of the third, Washington was in the game. Its talent took control.
The Rangers backed up. The Rangers were on their heels. The Rangers chased. The Rangers were suddenly up by only 3-2 on goals by Alex Semin at 2:47 and Marcus Johansson at 3:44 following a pair of egregious defensive zone breakdowns. Johansson tied it at 12:07.
“We gave them two free ones,” coach John Tortorella said. “We looked nervous, we struggled a bit, and yes, we [looked tight]. They surged, we couldn’t make a play.”
The Capitals surged. The Rangers collapsed.
“I’m shocked,” Dubinsky said.
He was not alone.