It has been a long time coming for Marc Staal, but as the buzzer sounded last night after his slap shot found the back of the net in overtime, the smile on his face was irrepressible.
Staal had just played an exemplary game as his Rangers beat the Capitals, 3-2, in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series, which is now in favor of the Rangers, 3-2. The best-of-7 series shifts to Washington for Game 6 tomorrow night.
“We kept talking about it, plays that would open it up for us,” Staal said afterward. “We just kept trying to come at them.”
The goal came 1:35 into overtime with the Rangers still on the man-advantage that carried over from regulation, when Joel Ward was called for a high-stick on Carl Hagelin. Because Hagelin was bleeding from his mouth, the Rangers were awarded a four-minute power play, on which Brad Richards scored to tie the game 2-2 with 6.6 seconds left in regulation.
“You can’t say it was [Ward’s] fault,” Alex Ovechkin said. “We all lost the game. We win as a group and lose as a group.”
When the Rangers came out for the overtime, it seemed as if the unit that has been so mercurial all season was set for another disappointment. They had 1:57 to work a 5-on-4 in the extra period, and in the first 1:30, they got very little action toward the net.
Then there was a draw at the right circle, won by John Mitchell, and the puck ended up back on Staal’s stick.
“It wasn’t a set play or anything off the draw,” Staal said, “just a good clean draw and guys went to the net and he [Capitals’ goalie Braden Holtby] couldn’t see it.”
Staal’s shot rifled low through traffic, and the momentum of a season swung back in favor of the Rangers.
“Both [Capitals players] kind of came out so I just wanted to get between them and hit it as hard as I can,” Staal said. “I think it ended up going off one of them [Brooks Laich] and into the back of the net.”
Staal missed the first half of this season as he was still recovering from a concussion sustained on a hit from his brother Eric on Feb. 22, 2011. He made his return at the Winter Classic, played outdoors in Philadelphia on Jan. 2 and has shown steady improvement since then.Last night, Staal logged 24:05 of ice time, a far cry from what he was able to do when he first returned and was treated cautiously. Now, he feels as close to the All-Star player he was before the concussion than he ever has.
“It’s a tough situation,” Richards said. “No one understands that injury unless you’ve been through it. Benefit of the doubt always goes to him and he’s gotten nothing but better. He’s enjoying this fresh start in the playoffs and he’ll continue to get better.”
“I’ve certainly felt better and better as the year has gone on,” Staal said from under the Broadway Hat. “Then the playoffs are a lot of fun and I’m having fun with it.”