Wow! What a game, what a series. Game 7 epitomized everything this series was about. Did anyone honestly expect anything less than a one-goal barnburner? An overtime 2-1 Rangers victory was the perfect ending to one of the best playoff series I have ever watched. It featured fast skating, tight checking action and a goal tending performance for the ages from both goalies. The Rangers scored a total of 13 goals throughout the entire series while the Caps scored 12. The Rangers also outshot Washington by the slim margin of 236-223. That’s how close this series was.

Game 7 was no different than any other game in this series. Ovechkin came out before the game and gave us his best Messier impression and guaranteed a game 7 victory. To his credit he almost produced. When he opened the scoring a little more than halfway through the first period, I was thinking “Great now all we’re going to be hearing about is how ‘clutch’ and how much of a ‘leader’ Ovechkin is for leading his team to his first conference finals.” Unfortunately for Washington, McDonough and the boys shut Ovi down for the rest of the game. Kevin Hayes tied it up in the second period off a beauty of a pass from JT Miller on the power play. Miller to Hayes may not be a combination Rangers fans were expecting but these two kids are part of the team’s future. They have only got better as the season went on and will continue to grow as they progress through their careers.

After the Hayes goal it was a story of goaltending, LIKE ALL 6 GAMES BEFORE! Holtby and Lundqvist repeatedly came up big for their teams. Neither of them wanted to give up the goal that could have possibly ended their team’s season. After no one scored is a mostly defensive third period with low shot totals, the game went to overtime and the nausea and anxiety continued for Rangers and Capitals fans. Washington dominated overtime and controlled the puck in New York’s zone for most of the period. They were aggressive on the puck and forechecked hard, not giving the Rangers any time at all to try to move the puck out of their end. Lundqvist stood on his head and fended off a barrage of shots from the Caps. However, in overtime all it takes is one bounce, one break and the game is over. That is exactly what the Rangers got at 11:24 of overtime. After a Washington icing, Derek Stepan tied up Eric Fehr allowing defenseman Keith Yandle to pass the puck back to Dan Girardi who blasted a one-timer on net. The shot was blocked but bounced directly onto Stepan’s stick. With Holtby down and sprawling to recover, Stepan buried the puck into the open net ending the Capitals’ season and sending the Rangers into the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight year. Rangers fans went to bed with a huge smile on their faces and Capitals fans had their souls crushed once again.

I feel a little bad for Washington. They for 100 seconds away from advancing in game 5 before Kreider tied it up and McDonough eventually won it in overtime. They have blown a series win which they led by at least 2 games for the 10th time in the franchise’s history, which is the most of any franchise in NHL history. Holtby played well enough to move on to his first career conference finals. Even though he was invisible in games 3-6, you can argue Ovechkin played well enough to advance as well. I Truly believe if they were playing any other team in the east, they would be preparing to play game 1 on Saturday. Unfortunately for the Capitals, and their fans, they were playing the New York Rangers. A team that for only last year came back and stunned the Pittsburg Penguins by erasing a 3-1 deficit. A team with the greatest goalie in the world. A team that refuses to ever quit and is undefeated at home in game 7’s.

With all that being said, I truly believe the Rangers have their toughest test ahead of them. Tampa Bay is no joke. They dominated New York in the regular season, and for some unknown reason Ben Bishop is unbeatable against the Rangers. Fans are in for a doozy of a series. I expect it to be low scoring, fast paced, and will fill every Rangers fan, like myself, with nothing but anxiety and stress. But bring it on Tampa! King Henrik is ready to bring us back to the finals and this time take us all the way! LETS GO RANGERS!!!!!

-Kev