Game Preview: Rangers v. Capitals – Game 3
The Rangers are at home tonight to take on the Washington Capitals in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. The puck drops at 7pm and can be seen nationally on Versus.
A 2-0 series lead? Over the Caps? A shutout from Hank? Alex Ovechkin hasn’t scored yet?
WHAT THE HELL!?!??!!?!
I really didn't think we were going to be seeing much of this.
The Rangers have been amazing so far, and they have to keep it going tonight. Tonight is an absolute must-win in terms of giving the Capitals a chance to come back in the series. If the Rangers win tonight, the Caps are pretty much done. Losing for them tonight will kill their confidence and most likely hand the series to the Rangers. If the Rangers lose tonight, it gives the Caps a chance to come back in the series, because 2-1 is much different that 3-0.
Anywhoo – a couple of interesting tidbits from the morning skate, via Steve Zipay:
Interesting moment early on when Alex Ovechkin came out and sat on the Caps bench to watch the Rangers’ skate for a few minutes, but was ushered away on someone’s orders. Ovechkin, who hasn’t scored a goal in the first two games, was told he could sit in the stands, but he went back into the locker room.
Coach John Tortorella plead innocent. “This is the first I heard of it,” he said. “Ask me a question about the game, not that —–”
Asked about the incident, Ovechkin said, “Tortorella… just to —- him off.” Why was he told to leave? “I guess because they’re afraid of me.
And on the Rangers’ side:
Speaking of gamesmanship, the Rangers stayed in a midtown hotel and skated first. The Caps went on ice at 11:30. If the Rangers skated in Westchester, the Caps could have been on at 10 or 10:30. One Capitals insider said the change had nothing to do with Torts’ team concept. “He just wants up to cut down on the players’ pregame naps. He did it to us in when we played them in the playoffs in Tampa, too.”
Hehehehe, I love the playoffs.
Photo Credit: (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) via Yahoo!Sports
For some awesome shots of games 1 and 2 – head over to OffWing Photo – they’ve been snapping all the games of the series so far, and have some great stuff. Here’s the slideshow from Game 2:
About the author: Rory is a recent college graduate from central New Jersey majoring in History and PR. A Ranger fan all her life, the bane of her existence is the New Jersey Devils, and she harbors a severe hatred for Martin Brodeur. Her favorite current Rangers are Henrik Lundqvist, Sean Avery, and Steve Valiquette, and her favorite all-time Rangers are Mike Richter and Jeff Beukeboom. Related posts:
