New York Rangers Just Can't Be Beat

So, I’m a big fan of “Friday the 13th” movies. You know, Jason Voorhees (we’ll call him “Jason” for short). If I’m ever flipping around the channels and I see the old-time white goalie masked man carrying a machete, I’m hooked. Yes, we all know how the movie plays out:

Jason comes unexpectedly back from the dead (or undead), menaces the area by killing a lot of innocent people before finally getting his comeuppance by our hero or heroine. Of course along the way there are a handful of times when the movie wants you to believe that Jason finally got killed…he’s taken a big hit…the innocent characters begin rejoicing or slowly walking away (never a good idea when there is a mass murderer only a few feet away from you, but I digress) before our villain pops up, runs amok killing those stupid enough to stay close by, and the movie continues. You can’t just shoot this guy once and think he’s gone…you need to cut his head off, put it in a barrel, fill it with cement, and roll it off a cliff. And even that may not be enough (see the opening 10 minutes of “Jason Goes to Hell” for proof).

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Why am I spending 200 words on “Friday the 13th” and Jason now? Well, because on Wednesday night after Derek Stepan found the back of the net to end the Capitals’ season, it was the only way I could describe the New York Rangers: no matter how close you think you are to killing them, they just won’t die. They never stop coming, and just when you think they’re good and buried, they pop up again to wreak havoc. It’s the basic premise of every “Friday the 13th” movie. Except with the Rangers it’s a real-life nightmare.

Before we go any further, I’ll provide full disclosure: I hate the New York Rangers. Absolutely, positively hate them with every fiber of my being. I love my Islanders as much as one can love a team. But just under that love is my hate for the Rangers. I can’t help it. Maybe it’s the way the franchise carries itself despite its lack of Stanley Cups. Maybe it’s because the fans would rather chant about a Hall of Fame defenseman 30 years after he retired while playing in a game 7 of a conference semi-finals. Maybe it’s the whole “world’s famous arena” nonsense, “Rangertown,” the seemingly “increase” in Rangers fans in recent years. Maybe it’s the recent run of good success. Maybe it’s a little bit of jealousy on my end living in the middle of a Rangers area and watching my team suffer for so long. It’s probably all of that combined.

To be honest, I don’t think any fans outside the New York area truly understand it either. You may hate a team, but more likely than not you don’t have to read, live, smell, and breathe them every day. It’s truly an insufferable experience, and I’m sure older Rangers fans felt the same way during the early 1980s when the Islanders were on their dynasty run. These Rangers will never be those Islanders (not even close), but their innate ability to just win over the last several years when the odds were against them is still quite impressive.

So when the Capitals were clinging to a one-goal lead in Game 5 in the closing minutes, it just never felt safe. Even though the crowd of suit-wearers and celebrities were dejected, the Capitals just couldn’t find a way to get that second goal and bury them. Evgeny Kuznetsov had a glorious chance with just a few minutes remaining in front of the net, but as he does in most big spots, Henrik Lundqvist denied him. The Capitals knocked Jason down, but they glanced over the body instead of making sure he was dead. Big mistake.

By now you know what happened: real-life villain Chris Kreider tied up the game with under two minutes to go, the Rangers went on to win in overtime, and that was that. You didn’t need a script to know how Games 6 and 7 would turn out, even if it was frantic at times for the Rangers. Just like they did last season against the Penguins, the Rangers came back from a 3-1 series deficit to win and became the only team to accomplish the feat in consecutive seasons.

The team just doesn’t die. Whether it’s coming back against the Penguins last year, winning just about every game for two months straight this season, losing Lundqvist to injury only to have backup Cam Talbot play at an All-Star level in his absence, to beating the Capitals, they just never go away. Shoot them, smack them, throw things at them, it doesn’t matter; they keep getting up.

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Can the Lightning put a stop to the Rangers? They won the three previous games this season between the two and caused Lundqvist to look mediocre. Steven Stamkos is finally finding his playoff game and the Lightning’s Triplets have combined for 17 goals in Tampa Bay’s 13 playoff games so far. Goalie Ben Bishop has never lost to the Rangers in his career (8-0-0, .946 save percentage). Plus ex-Rangers Ryan Callahan, Brian Boyle, and Anton Stralman all have a little extra motivation after being cast aside by the organization in the last year.

But the Rangers? Well, they just win. They don’t make it easy (14 straight playoff games decided by one-goal, going 9-5 in that stretch). Half of their playoff wins this season have come via overtime. Their highest paid forward is in the midst of another disappearing act (Rick Nash). They played against the Capitals without sparkplug Mats Zuccarello. The defensive duo of Keith Yandle and Dan Boyle have been unmitigated disasters in their own end for much of the playoffs. Yet, they win.

Sure, it helps to have a future Hall of Famer in net in Lundqvist whose last six performances in Game 7s (six wins, five goals allowed) are video game numbers. He’s been the catalyst for the Rangers during his career, make no mistake about it. The rest of the team knows this and does just enough to skirt by. Carl Hagelin, Kevin Hayes, Derek Stepan aren’t household names, but they’ve found themselves in the right place at the right time in these playoffs and scored big goals. The team looks eminently beatable, yet, no one does enough to beat them. I hate the fact that I admire their ability to win in the playoffs.

Will the Rangers beat the Lightning to advance to their second consecutive Stanley Cup? I have no idea. The only thing I know is that at the end of the movie, Jason dies.

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