Back half an eon ago, at least in terms of news cycles I previewed the series. Depth and health were the two keywords, and whiled they did play a pivotal part, the component I don’t think anyone looked at was something that seems obvious.
The New York Rangers did not have any killer instinct. They were good at evening games up, or popping in goals here and there. They had solid defense for the most part. But getting ahead and standing on their opponents throat? Nope, didn’t happen.
By The Numbers:
- 4 : The number of games in the series Lundqvist had a sub .900Sv%.
- 10 : The number of years Brodeur is older than Lundqvist.
- 3 : The number of Rangers who finished the post season with more points than Artem Anisimov.
- 0 : The number of shutouts in this series by Brodeur
- 19:29 : How many minutes Adam Larsson played in this series.
- 1 : The number of points Gaborik had in the series.
- 3: Chris Kreider’s points total for the series.
After killer instinct, the Rangers biggest failure was simply not playing sixty minutes of hockey. Bad first periods, mixed second and third periods are no way to win against talented teams. The Devils biggest corporate asset was the ability to withstand the frankly scary Ranger surges and still maintain composure. First to last this was a series that the New Jersey Devils were more willing to sweat blood for. The Devils got contributions from more players, and were consistent game in and game out.
