If the Rangers go on to win the Stanley Cup this year, they may well look back at game 4 as the turning point. Down 2 games to 1, the Blueshirts had been thoroughly outplayed in this series. Worse, their star players - Henrik Lundqvist, Rick Nash and Marty St. Louis - were simply abysmal.
Well if there is such a thing as redemption in sports, all three players had it in droves. Lundqvist stopped 38 of 39 shots - 18 of them coming in the second period alone - Nash had 3 points, including 2 goals, and St. Louis scored his first goal of the playoffs on the power play that ostensibly iced the game for his team.
And as the Rangers top two wingers and all-world goaltender were rising to the occasion, their much-maligned defense, which looked more like Swiss cheese the last 2 games, shut down the Lightning's vaunted Triplets line. Keith Yandle, who Glen Sather mortgaged his team's future to obtain at the trade deadline, scored a goal and had 2 assists, and played arguably his best game of the postseason.
Funny how things can turn on a dime. 48 hours ago, the Rangers were on the verge of being run out of the playoffs on a rail; now they have turned this series into a best 2 out of 3, with 2 of those games at Madison Square Garden. They have the momentum AND home ice. If they win game 5 at home, they'll be in the driver's seat.
But as tempting as it might be for the Rangers to celebrate this win, there is still much for them to improve upon. Yes, they checked much better in this game; their center ice play in particular was noticeably improved from game 3. But they still committed too many turnovers and continued to take silly penalties which allowed the Lightning to dominate play throughout much of the second period. Make no mistake about it, without Lundqvist in net, Tampa might well have lit up the Rangers for the third game in a row.
For now, though, the Rangers and their fans can exhale. They aren't out of the woods just yet, but at least they can see the clearing ahead.
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