Going into Game 4 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night, the Boston Bruins had the New York Rangers right where they wanted them.
The Rangers were coming off two straight games in which they were badly outplayed, had blown a third period lead, allowed several third period goals and looked down and out.
This also happened to be the case for the first 27 minutes or so of Game 4. The Bruins were up 2-0 in the second period and appeared ready to stick an arrow in the Rangers’ heart and finish the series for good.
That all changed 8:39 into the second frame when Rangers’ forward Carl Hagelin got a lucky bounce and managed to put one past Bruins’ netminder Tuukka Rask. On this particular play, it appears that Rask lost his balance and was not able to stop Hagelin’s soft backhand shot from going into the net, cutting the Bruins’ lead to 2-1.
The next Bruins’ mistake was made 1:15 into the third period. Bruins’ defenceman Zdeno Chara, an all-star and a Norris Trophy winning defenceman, took the puck from Rask from behind the net and had his pocket picked by Rangers’ forward Derek Stepan.
Stepan was able to slide the puck past a sliding Rask to tie up the game at 2-2, wiping out a two-goal Bruins lead.
The Bruins’ managed to get a power-play goal from Tyler Seguin to go up 3-2 with a little less than 12 minutes left. Boston worked hard on that power-play and was able to finally get one past Rangers’ netminder Henrik Lundqvist after the Swede had made a few terrific saves.
Unfortunately, another Bruins’ error would prove to be costly just 47 seconds later, with Boston taking a bench minor for too many men on the ice.
Up until this particular point in the game, and even in the series, the Rangers’ power-play had not been successful. In fact, New York’s power-play in the playoffs has been pathetic, converting just 7.1 per cent of its chances.
With that said, the Rangers’ power-play managed to click and, for the Bruins, it came at the wrong time. Derek Stepan was able to get the puck, go to the net and make a pass out front to Brian Boyle, who took a snap shot and beat Rask for the tying goal.
Three of the Bruins’ mistakes ended up in the back of their net. Not only that, but the team also managed to blow two leads in the game and then lose 4-3 in overtime.
If the Bruins want to wrap up the series in Game 5 at home on Saturday, they must find a way to limit their mistakes and hold onto a lead when they have one. If they can’t do that, memories of their blown series to the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010 might begin to rise to the surface.
