LOS ANGELES — Through two games of the Stanley Cup finals, two games and 155:01 of often chaotic hockey, the Rangers have not trailed for even a second.
And yet, as they prepare for Game 3 at the Garden on Monday night following Sunday’s cross-country flight, the Blueshirts are trailing 2-0 in the series.
Somehow it doesn’t seem fair.
But then, one could just as easily argue the Rangers have gotten just what they deserved in the wake of their inability to hold three two-goal leads — three!! — in Saturday’s 5-4 double-overtime defeat decided on Dustin Brown’s deflection at 10:26 of the second OT.
The night was filled with mistakes committed not only by both teams but by the referee tandem of Wes McCauley and Dan O’Halloran who failed to call an obvious goaltender’s interference penalty on Dwight King at 1:26 of the third period when the L.A. winger went to the crease — into the crease — and thus prevented Henrik Lundqvist from being able to make a play on Matt Greene’s shot from the right point.
It was King the King — not King Henrik — who got a piece of the puck to score at 1:58 of the third to cut the Blueshirts’ lead to 4-3. It was a textbook Rule 69.1 call — “Goals should be disallowed [only] if an attacking player, either by his positioning or by contact, impairs the goalkeeper’s ability to move freely within his crease or defend his goal” — that was not called.
It was an inexplicably horrendous mistake. It’s not about the league’s policy not to review potential goaltender interference calls, not per se, because video review often fails to settle the issue on kicked-in goals. It’s about the guys on the ice getting it right.
Of course, it’s about the Rangers on the ice getting it right, too.
Because neither official was to blame for the Blueshirts’ inability to shake it off. Neither official was to blame when L.A. — who rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win Game 1 in OT by 3-2 — tied the score 4-4 at 7:36 of the period on a goal in front from Marian Gaborik, as willing now as he was willing as a Blueshirt to go to the front into the dirty areas.
Always willing was Gaborik.
And neither official was to blame for the Rangers’ inability to capitalize on numerous glorious opportunities the rest of the way against Jonathan Quick, who blanked the Blueshirts for the final 55:36 of play.
Two games, two games with a sum of four, two-goal leads, and nothing to show for it for the Blueshirts, who must now win four of the next five games in order to get to the Canyon of Heroes.
Two games, never behind once, but now behind by two games are the Rangers, who will try to become the third team in the last six years to overcome a 2-0 deficit, who will try to duplicate what the 2009 Penguins did to the Red Wings and what the 2011 Bruins did to Alain Vigneault’s Canucks.
The Rangers’ heart is not at question. Nor is their resilience. The Blueshirts did respond to Vigneault’s clarion call to elevate their games following the opening defeat. But the team’s execution did not match its effort. And as such, the Blueshirts are two defeats away from their own execution.
It’s difficult to believe Lundqvist could play so well and still yield five goals, yet that was his fate on a night when the Rangers could not clear the front of the crease and could not tie up men or sticks in front.
The Rangers used their speed to get in on the forecheck all night long and force the Kings into 33 giveaways as opposed to only 15 of their own. But the Blueshirts never found a way to settle the game down at any point when leading. They could not maintain their defensive structure.
There are issues for Vigneault to confront on his and his team’s trip home, and among them is Brad Richards, who struggled all over the ice, was on the ice for the deciding goal and finished the match a minus-three.
Rick Nash played an imposing game, credited with eight shots and five hits in 23:02. But he failed to score. So it’s Nash with three goals in 22 playoff games and Gaborik — a Conn Smythe front-runner — with 13 for L.A.
The Rangers have played two games of the Stanley Cup finals. They have gone toe-to-toe with the behemoths from the west. They have not trailed for a second.
And have nothing to show for it but heartbreak.