Rangers beat Ottawa Senators in Game 7, Moving on....

Last week I wrote a little about one of my favorite things in life: the NY Rangers hockey team.  Well, this is the first year since they won the Stanley Cup in 1994 that expectations are high and the Rangers finally cleared their first hurdle in the playoffs with another edge-of-your-seat, 2-1, Game 7 win over the 8th seeded Ottawa Senators.

The Rangers' Mark Staal and Dan Girardi scored for the Blueshirts, and goaltender Hendrik Lundqvist was almost perfect, allowing one lone goal to the Sens' Daniel Alfredsson.  A brand new Ranger making a name for himself in these playoffs is rookie Chris Kreider, who sparked the Rangers with his hustle and great play.  The crowd, as always, was raucous and it always adds a nice touch when they win a Game 7 at the Garden, where they are now 4 and 0 in such games.

This series should have been easier based on regular season numbers than it actually was, and proves just how hard it is for any championship team in any sport to go all the way.  The Senators were the last team in the Eastern Conference to make it and the Rangers were the first, and the entire series was nail-biting.  Other favored teams in the NHL playoffs had already gotten eliminated in what has turned out to be a strange playoff season already, but the Rangers fought back from being down three games to two to win Game 6 on Monday in Ottawa and then tonight at the Garden.

Next up is the dreaded Washington Capitals, who knocked the Rangers out of the playoffs the last two times the teams met.  The Caps knocked off last year's Stanley Cup Champions, the Boston Bruins, in overtime of another game 7 showdown, but as I said in my post the other night, I gotta feeling about this year.  Let the tension continue...

Let's Go Rangers!

Read more on the game recap at the Daily News right here.

Image Source: The Star

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