L.A. Kings Fall To New York Rangers In Game 4

Photo Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

What should have been a clean sweep after an amazing series turned out to be intravenous in the bloodline of the Rangers. There’s still life in the New York team and they made it quite obvious last night during their second Stanley Cup Final home game this season.

Former Flames defenseman, Robyn Regehr, dressed and skated during the pre game warmup but didn’t get any ice time during the game. Whether or not we see him play at all this series is anyone’s guess, but I have a feeling we will see him hoist the cup soon enough.

Willie Mitchell ended up in the sin bin for high-sticking against former WHL Medicine Hat Tigers defenseman, Derek Dorsett, and then Mitchell took a hooking penalty against Brian Boyle. The game didn’t start out well for the Kings and it continued to look bad after an embarrassing collision between Dwight King and Trevor Lewis midway through the first period.

I, then, turned my sights to the Rangers. Martin St. Louis is hockey art. This veteran forward has it all – skating skills, puck handling, and the ability to finish the job by burying the puck just when the team needs it most. With another goal in this game, assisted by Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan, St. Louis now has two goals in this series and he shows no signs of slowing down. Here’s the kicker – he’s older than ME and I can’t imagine attempting the plays he’s made. He’s been a great addition to the Rangers roster since the trade deadline.

Two potential goals for the Kings were called off after it was concluded that the puck did not completely cross the goal line. Although the Kings took control later in the second period, the Rangers came back to hold them off until the very end. The last two minutes of the game were typical Kings playoff hockey with a lot of shots on net and even more pressure on Henrik Lundqvist.

In spite of the great goal by Dustin Brown, the Rangers held on to win this by a score of 2-1. More post game info and highlights can be found on the Kings website.

Game 5 will be on Friday back in L.A.

My 1 Star
Henrik Lundqvist earned the Rangers win last night and deserves my 1 star of the night. King Henrik earned his name last night as he stone-walled every chance L.A. had on net except for one. With a .976 save percentage in last night’s game, he stood tall, shook off whatever was plaguing him in previous games, and he stole the show. I expect Hank to give the Kings a long, enduring series from this game on.