Devils to the Stanley Cup

I will admit. I am a Rangers fan more than a Devils fan by far. So, to say that the Devils are going to the Stanley Cup stings a little. But, considering the game ended maybe an hour or two before the time of writing, it's a surprisingly tame sting.

Had the game gone as it did in the first period, I don't think I would have felt as peaceful with this outcome. The Devils were positively flogging the Rangers -- 2 goals in one period, the players were nowhere, missing the puck or neglecting to hustle. In a word, the Rangers were sloppy in the first period, and it was embarrassing, especially thinking that we could go down in such a pathetic manner.

The second period made up for this, though. In a matter of minutes, the Rangers came alive and blasted two goals to tie the game back up. The tying goal was astonishing -- a long shot by Callahan that ricocheted off skates and between players, Ranger and Devil alike, to get into the goal. It passed at least five players, including a hit on Girardi's skate.

For the rest of the game, it was a pretty admirable back-and-forth. The Rangers indeed fought hard, but it is as hard to get past Brodeur as it is Lundqvist, and through unlucky placement and missed shots and a thousand other little quirks, none of the scoring chances made in the third period bore any fruit. The same could be said for the Devils, though, which brought the game into overtime.

The winning goal was a tiny putt behind Lundqvist after he defended a barrage of shots. The puck slipped through on one, went behind him, and one calm tap finished the game 3-2 Devils, ending the series.

Devils @ Rangers

I caught only the last minute or two of this game, and wow, what a heartbreaking ending to catch. The Rangers, in something like the last fifteen seconds of the game, made not one but two rather good shots at the goal. With five seconds left, I remember, something got past the goalie but was juuuuuust wide enough to bounce off the goalpost the wrong way. They were THAT CLOSE to forcing overtime, but it didn't happen, and the Devils won the game, 3-2.