Martin St. Louis
Martin St. Louis

I rarely listen to sports talk radio, but I tuned into the ESPN postgame show on Saturday as I drove home. It was shocking to hear fan after fan declare that this was sure to be a “quick series,” that the Rangers had clearly established their superiority and that it was nearly impossible to imagine a scenario in which the Lightning had a chance. All this after a 2-1 victory.

Granted, the Blueshirts played extremely well in Game One and deserved a more lopsided result, but the cockiness of Ranger fans was still incredible to behold.

Monday’s 6-2 beatdown seems to have quashed that, and once again the faithful and media alike are questioning Rick Nash’s performance, Martin St. Louis’ place in the lineup and even Henrik Lundqvist (seriously?).

Ranger fans aren’t alone in jumping back and forth between “THE SKY IS FALLING!” and “THE CUP IS OURS!” but unlike most fan bases, we’ve been on this postseason rollercoaster year after year over the last decade.

This is how the playoffs work. The margin for victory is razor thin – as evidenced by New York’s NHL-record 15-straight one-goal games – and a team’s worst performance will almost always be followed by one of its’ best. Drawing dramatic conclusions from one game in a series is a fool’s errand.

All along I thought that Tampa Bay represented the greatest threat in the Eastern Conference to the Rangers’ Stanley Cup chances. But even after the Game 2 disaster, I’m much more confident than I expected to be about New York’s prospects.

Though the scoreboard bore an ugly result, the Blueshirts still played the Lightning well at even strength. If not for an inexplicably officiated game, special teams might not have become the story. Three power play goals (plus another, just seconds after the man-advantage expired) were the primary reason the Rangers got shellacked, but that’s a very easily correctible problem.

If the Blueshirts stay out of the box, then they could be capable of handling the Lightning at five-on-five. Emphasis on could be, because Tampa Bay absolutely deserves to be here, and although some of their young players are learning what it takes on the fly, the Lightning has the talent to overcome inexperience and will continue to improve as the series progresses.

So even if the Blueshirts stay out of the box, it still doesn’t mean they’ll cruise to a series victory in five, six or even seven games. But just as Tampa bounced back from an ugly performance on Monday, you can bet the Rangers will do the same tonight.

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