Rangers Fell Short to Flyers in Shootout 2-1 at Wachovia Center Sunday – Miss Stanley Cup Playoffs with Loss

The New York Rangers lost to the Philadelphia Flyers yesterday 2-1 in a brutal shootout at the Wachovia Center. The story of the game was Ranger goaltender Henrik Lundqvist who once again was the best player on the ice. Lundqvist stopped a barrage of 46 shots and only gave up one power play goal at 6:54 in the 3rd period to Matt Carle. Carle appeared to be on the ice the entire game. The Rangers top lines could not sustain any pressure on Philadelphia and played the game too long in their own zone. The lone Ranger goal was scored by Jody Shelley at 3:27 in the 1st period on a tip-in off of Michal Rozsival’s slap shot from the point. The play started by the hard work of Brandon Prust digging in the corner and getting the puck to Artem Anisimov. AA passed to point for the shot by Rozsival. The Rangers were able to kill 4-of-5 penalties but that goal to Carle was inevitable. As Artem Anisimov brought the puck into the neutral zone and lost it to Jeff Carter I yelled out “They should not be greedy, just clear the puck”. They couldn’t get the shot, could not get a line change on the ice and a few seconds later, Carle scores the power play goal to tie it 1-1. The Rangers power play went 0-for-3 in the game. In the overtime both teams had 2 shots on goal. During the shootout Danny Briere and Claude Giroux scored for Philadelphia. For New York PA Parenteau scored and with the entire season on the line John Tortorella put out Olli Jokinen on the ice to tie the shootout. Jokinen was stopped and the season was over. I know Tortorella played the percentages but I’d rather have Chris Drury, Brandon Dubinsky or Marian Gaborik in that spot, even with Gaborik’s horrific record in the shootout. The bottom line is that the top 3 lines could not get shots to the net and score enough goals to win. In the last minute of regulation Marian Gaborik was stopped in front on an excellent scoring chance. This is a snapshot of this season. It’s a shame but I guess I’ll save money by not buying playoff tickets. That is small consolation though.