How many times have we said that the powerplay was doing all the right things except shoot? It must be dozens of times by this point. For every critic of the powerplay, there was a missed powerplay chance (so there were a lot of critics). It was absolutely frustrating to see the Rangers work the puck so well and still not manage any shots on goal. But there were good things, and it was only a matter of time before they broke through.

Timing is everything.

The Rangers, especially their veteran leaders, knew that they had a tremendous opportunity when Joel Ward took his boneheaded high sticking penalty. Four minutes in the box. If they tie it up, they open overtime with almost a full powerplay. They knew this. We knew this. Ryan Callahan, Marian Gaborik, and Brad Richards knew this. Michael Del Zotto knew the puck needed to get to the net, in any way possible. And look at that, it worked.

John Mitchell has been on the powerplay all postseason, and many of us are still wondering why. Well, it’s about timing. The timing of his face off win was perfect. The timing of the switch of Marc Staal and Anton Stralman on the points was perfect. The timing of Artem Anisimov skating right through Braden Holtby’s line of sight was perfect. Hockey happened on that goal. Timing was everything.

Maybe last night’s thrilling and dramatic victory will fuel the Rangers powerplay. They found a way to get through that aggressive Caps penalty kill, which has been stifling them all series. It’s what they’ve needed to do all along: shoot the puck and win face offs.

Timing is everything in this game. Maybe these two powerplay goals, at the perfect time, are the two goals to get this whole man advantage thing jump started? If they were, then watch out. This Rangers club just got infinitely more dangerous.

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