Rangers-Capitals: Living And Dying with the New York Rangers

"Ease his pain."
-- from Field Of Dreams
(Shoeless Joe, by W.P. Kinsella)

New York Rangers fans, who live and die with the Rangers, were high on life when they got into the playoffs and stole the first two games in Washington. But everyone died a little when the Caps won one in New York City.

It was exciting to see the Rangers start out strong this season, painful to endure their long mid-season slump, and thrilling to witness their turnaround at the NHL trade deadline. This season has been a roller coaster ride with lots of ups and downs as they went on winning streaks and lost again in the stretch run. However, the Rangers were able to finish the season with a three-game win-streak (including a sweep of a back-to-back series with the Philadelphia Flyers) to get into the play-offs and look like the dark horse ready to upset someone.

When the Rangers upset the Washington Capitals right away with two wins in Washington, it was thrilling. With the Rangers up 2-0 and returning home to play in Madison Square Garden in New York City, Rangers fans had visions of the Stanley Cup dancing in their heads, or at the very least a first round series victory.

It was like The Field Of Dreams, based on the novel Shoeless Joe, by W.P. Kinsella. The narrator, Ray Kinsella, says his father, "settled in Chicago, where he learned to live and die with the White Sox," and he "died a little when they lost the 1919 World Series and died a lot the following summer when eight teammates were accused of throwing that series."

Rangers fans died a lot during the long mid-season slump and died in a different way when Washington won Game 3 of the first round of the NHL playoffs in New York.
 
Rangers coach John Tortorella put it all into perspective in an interview with Pierre Lebrun for ESPN.  Lebrun quoted Tortorella saying, "You have to be real careful. You can't get too high when you win and you can't get too low when you lose. That's what is so great about the series and the National Hockey League playoffs, you get to do it again tomorrow night."

Rangers fans worry when they get the news that, at practice, the Rangers' lines did not include team captain Chris Drury. Details of his injury have not been disclosed. 

When it was announced that defenseman Paul Mara was not on the ice, and Drury was acting as the sixth D, Rangers fans died a little.

When it was announced what the lines were, without Drury, Rangers fans died a lot. The first line, with Sean Avery, Scott Gomez, and Ryan Callahan, gives Ranger fans a reason to live. The second line, with Fredrik Sjostrom, Lauri Korpikoski, and Nik Antropov, without Chris Drury, might cause a little death.

The third line, with Markus Naslund, Brandon Dubinsky, and Nik Zherdev, like the fourth line, with Voros-Betts-Orr, inspires Rangers fans with their potential, but scares them with their lack of scoring. That could be said about the entire Rangers team on some nights.

When Sean Avery has a night to forget, like Monday's game, with four minor penalties and a game misconduct, it's a little death for Rangers fans.

When the coach explains that, "Even last night (game three), he was an effective player for us, but he has to make sure he stays on the edge and doesn't cross it," Rangers fans recover a little.

When Avery-haters go on and on about him crossing the line, do Rangers fans die a little, or do they live a lot? Avery thrives on being the kind of hockey player fans love to hate, apparently.

Some sports writers reported that Avery's "trademark aggression" hurt the Rangers in that game. Others blamed the refereeing.

Some make him sound like an axe-murderer for putting his glove in the face of John Erskine of the Capitals, who said it didn't hurt and it wasn't much of a punch. Others will reference him doing the same sort of thing to the new Caps goalie, Simeon Varlamov. Meanwhile, Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins gets a game misconduct and nobody complains.

The headline in the Daily News says that the "Rangers need to improve defence, get more scoring against Capitals." They make it sound like the first round playoff series is not really about life and death.

The photograph the Daily News ran under that headline, tells a different story. It shows #16 looking possessed, punching the goalie beside him while glaring at a defenseman in front of him, with another defenseman and a referee right behind him.

It's a great picture. It also shows the empty seats in MSG, vacated by Rangers fans, who either died a little, or a lot, or just left early to catch the 9:20 train so they could get on with their lives.