Friday, May 2nd, 2008 by Adam Wagner
Lundqvist, Jagr prevent Penguins sweep
After the Penguins swept the Ottawa Senators in Ottawa, some fans complained that they would have liked to see the series end on Mellon Arena’s ice. The Penguins were a little bit more generous in this Game 4, essentially conceding the game to a hard-playing New York Rangers team from the very beginning.
The Penguins played noticeably sloppy, not making crisp passes, turning the puck over and not controlling the neutral zone at all, constantly allowing the Rangers to crash into the Penguins’ zone. On the bright side, a loss may be a good thing for this team, giving Michel Therrien a chance to finally be mad at them about something and to rally the troops a little bit while also helping the players realize that they aren’t invincible, even if they are the best team left in the playoffs.
Credit also has to go to Henrik Lundqvist, the series-changing goalie who had been being outplayed by Marc-Andre Fleury and knew it. He denied Evegeni Malkin on multiple occasions, including a lackluster penalty shot taken by the superstar center, and also shut down a few other excellent opportunities by the Penguins, finally playing up to the ability that made the Rangers a scary team at the beginning of this series. Lundqvist ended up with 29 saves on the night.
Now the Penguins have a chance to end the series at Mellon Arena, in front of an audience that definitely deserves to see a series end on home ice.
2 Comments
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Rangers Report site says you asswipes wont win another game. Clean up your city too.
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:14 pm
3-1.
And New York City isn’t exactly the most beautiful place ever, either.
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