Can you say "O Baby!"-jd

by Mike Baiocco

I had the privilege of attending this monstrous Ranger W over the Bruins last night at the Garden. The game was nothing short of amazing in so many different ways. I had good vibes going all day after my awesome girlfriend surprised me with tickets (yeah, shes a keeper). Before walking into MSG I stopped in Borders to take a piss and saw Jesse "The Body" Ventura doing a book signing....yep, good vibes continued.

The Garden Faithful were amped and ready to go, expecting the same hardworking all out effort that was displayed in their 3-2 victory over Philly on Sunday. This was simply not the case for the first half of this game. The Ranger crowd was silenced after the bruins got out to a quick 2-0 lead. I remained positive because one thing this Ranger team has refused to do is quit when they are down in a hole. I was just hoping for a better turnaround in the second, but it didn't happen right away.

We were still not generating much at the beginning of the second against the bruins solid defense. We began to press which is normal when trailing in a game, but that resulted in many odd man rushes against us. One in particular resulted in the Bruins taking a 3-0 lead. This was like a dagger through the heart at this point and the crowd was so out of it that you could hear a pin drop. The "non" true blue fans were exiting the building and this making me more pissed off. The annoying kid in front of my girlfriend and I who would not stop moving and constantly whining to his dad that he was hungry, certainly did not help the situation. Again I try and remain calm and stay positive, and who better to awaken this lifeless crowd?...none other than High Octane Vinny Prospal. The crowd stood on their feet and there was hope in the building. And just like that, with a minute and change remaining in the 2nd period, Vinny Prospal was there once again to answer the call making it a 3-2 game going into the 3rd period. Prospals celebrations and energy are contagious throughout the team and the fans, and if that emotion doesn't provide a spark, I don't know what does.

I am feeling good at this point. We have played strong 3rd periods all season long when trailing. I wouldn't expect any different especially with a potential playoff berth on the line. Suddenly a new upbeat crowd appeared for the 3rd period. With the clock ticking down and power play opportunities not providing much for us, the Garden Faithful let out numerousLETS GO RANGERS chants to provide some energy to the blue shirts. Torts juggled his lines for most of the second half, but I noticed he went back to his reliable Dubinsky, Anisimov, and Callahan combo. Sure enough this line kept working and working, forechecking like crazy, and an open Dubinsky received an unbelievable backhand pass from Callahan, showed patience to get Thomas out of position, and slipped the puck past him.

At this point the Garden is rocking, high fives all around, and uniting in support of our boys in blue. In this moment I'm thinking to myself that we just have to worry about getting this game beyond regulation and earning a point then worry about the 2nd point when the time comes. In the middle of my thought process, I see our forecheck continuing and Marian Gaborik slips a pass out in front of the Boston net to a streaking Michael Sauer who slides the puck past an out of the net Thomas that crosses the goal line by just a few inches. From where I was sitting, I could not see if the puck was in or not through the big scramble in front of the net, but once I saw the red light go off, I rose to my feet along with the other 18,000+ in attendance and cheered in disbelief of what I was witnessing. I have not heard the Garden that loud since the 2007 playoffs when Michael Rozsival scored in double overtime to beat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in game 3.

Finally I was a able to exhale when Derek Stepan scored an empty net goal to seal the deal with a 5-3 victory over the Bruins. This was by far one of the most--if not the most--exciting Ranger games I have ever been to. It was a tuff game in which we trailed early on against a great defensive team, but we fought and clawed our way through because that is this teams mindset; when desperation kicked in, we found a way to get a win. A big 2 points in the standings and we control our own destiny as the players and coaches have stressed. Great game all around. Next test, Atlanta...Lets go Rangers!