"We Laid An Egg" --Coach Tortorella

by Rich Baiocco

Passion is an odd thing: a force that can propel individuals to ecstatic highs and teams to astounding successes, yet, sadly, containing no rationale to sustain itself. What I mean is, there's no explanation for it, and therefore no formula to replicate it. What the Rangers did in the second and third period of the Bruins game Monday night was purely passion-fueled and emotionally explosive. But even if they prepared the exact same way for this Atlanta Thrashers tilt and followed the exact same scientific regimen leading up to the drop of the puck there is no guarantee the passion would be there. And during the course of the frustrating 3-0 loss in a game overstated with crucial playoff implications passion clearly was not present.

The Blueshirts were flat the entire game, mustering a scarce, directionless attack. The Power-Play continued to struggle, clocking out at 1 for the last 27 opportunities come the final buzzer, zones were not managed well, the forecheck rarely produced puck control or turnovers, giveaways led to goals against, shots against, 3 on 2s against, 2 on 1s against. We seemed scared to lose. Nervousness showed in our inability to handle the puck or do anything decisive with it. This wasn't our worst game of the season: it wasn't a total stinker, but it was so far from typical gritty Ranger hockey that we may as well have lost 10-0, it wouldn't have mattered. We needed to get a win tonight to keep control of our destiny and we didn't show up.

But would you be lying to yourself if you said you didn't see this coming? Did you find yourself a little nervous throughout the day before the game? What's normally game-day excitement was more like game-day anxiety. The Rangers all season have answered the bell to big teams: The Flyers, the Bruins, The Penguins, The Sharks. But we haven't fared so well against Atlanta. Or The Islanders. Or Buffalo. The top teams throw the challenge at us and we respond to them, passionately, but Atlanta is a sleeper team from the South already out of the playoff picture. They have speed and skill, but they didn't hit us very hard and they didn't fight us. And we didn't fight them. That right away was a red flag because a fight can engage a team and summon that necessary passion to excel and get the job done. A fight seemed the furthest thing on anyone's mind out there and before you know it we're down 2-0 with time working against us.

Another red flag was missing early opportunities. We came out strong, determined to ride some momentum and avoid the letdown, but couldn't power a goal in. And we had some great chances. Anisimov early. Dubi and Gaborik on the Power-Play looking into open nets but not being strong enough on their sticks. Posts by Boyle. Stepan with a 2 feet of net to shoot at from point blank shanks one wide under duress. Lundvist made great saves (most noteably a glove save on Bufuglien off a Girardi giveaway), but they scored 2 goals in 15 seconds and 1 to open the 3rd and quickly what was once a nervous crowd was now certain that the letdown was inevitable.

A final red flag was Gaborik being benched in the 3rd period after a lazy backcheck enabled the Thrashers' third goal. Though this loss could hardly be pinned on one player, I feel Tortorella was playing a card for the New Jersey game, knowing that his number one guy had better get his goal-scoring touch in gear for what could be the final game of the season for the Rangers. Because who knows? We certainly don't. We gave up control of our playoff picture with the loss tonight and Carolina is now in the driver's seat. That doesn't mean we're finished though.

What we do know is that we have The Devils Saturday and they hate us. And we hate them. And if anything we'll have no lack of challenge or provocation or emotional intensity because any game against our cross-river rivals feels like a playoff game. With the honest effort this Ranger team has put in this entire season I would be absolutely shocked if we didn't come to play Saturday. Torts, to his credit, has never once faltered in defending his team each and every postgame this year and just like any Blueshirt fan he truly believes in his guys. And now it's time for the guys to believe in themselves. No time for nervousness or doubt. No room to think about injured comrades or last year's game 82. The only thing left to control is our preparation for this year's game 82. Get ready the best we can and come out Saturday afternoon to dance with the devil and trust the passion of the rivalry will take over.