“I wish you would step out from that ledge my friend…” – Third Eye Blind
That has to be the mantra of the Bruins fan this morning after Boston blew a three goal lead and induced Post Traumatic Stress Syndrom onto a city. You know what I’m talking about. Don’t tell me that last night’s game didn’t conjure up thoughts of the Bruins/Flyers series from the playoffs, specifically Game 7 where Boston choked away a 3 goal lead. I know that it is tough to bring up and live through, but we have to. Last night’s game was a virtual mirror image of the Bruins collapse to the Flyers. Instead of doing a normal game recap, I’m going to break this game down in two sections. The first section will be known as Act 1 and the second will be known as Act 2. Without further aideu, I present to you:

After the jump, let’s look at Bruins vs. Ranger: A Broadway Tale…

Bruins vs. Rangers: A Broadway Tale

Act I: Domination

The Bruins opened the game like a bat out of hell. Like a prison sniper working above the yard as a fight breaks out, the Bruins were systematically picking the Rangers apart in almost every facet of the game. I say almost because the Bruins went 0 for 1 on the power play in the first period. However, they were banging the Rangers around and put 19 shots on Henrik Lundqvist, with two finding their way past the Vezina caliber stud. It felt as though the Bruins had this game in the bag early on, especially with Danny Paille and Nathan Horton putting the good guys on top 2-0 as the first period closed.

To enhance the feeling of jubulation, Chris Kelly (BINKY) finally scored his first goal as a Bruin, putting the team up 3-0 and looking like they were going to cruise to victory. Like I mentioned earlier, the team was out playing the Rangers, but then something happened. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but once Kelly scored – the team started to coast. I’m not sure if this was a strategy that Claude told them to do or if the team got complacent and dediced that it was over. For the Rangers, though, the game was just beginning.

INTERMISSION

Please take 15 minutes to use the restroom and get snacks. Thank you.

ACT II: MELANCHOLY AND THE INIFINITE CHOKE JOB

With a 3-0 lead, the Bruins set their car to cruise control and played a prevent style of hockey for the last period and a half. Those who know the game of hockey know that a prevent dump (and not chase) style only prevents you from winning games. We saw it against Philly and we saw it last night against New York. In the second period, the Bruins managed 4 shots on goal – 15 less than they did while attacking the Rangers and Lundvqist. While one of those shots was a goal, the totals for the second period definitely shows a turning point in the game. The B’s let their foot off of the gas while the Rangers slammed on the throttle and took off. Vinny Prospal scored his seventh and eighth goals of the season about seven minutes apart from one another in that second period (his second goal coming with about a minute left) and really put the Bruins on edge.

The thing is, you can’t take your foot off of the pedal and then slam back on it because it doesn’t work out that way. While the Bruins increased their shot total from the second period (4) to the third period (7) the Rangers did the same (9 to 12) and basically outplayed Boston in the third period. Brandon Dubinksy tied the game four minutes into the third period and Michael Sauer scored a minute later to make the game 4-3 for New York. Derek Stepan hammered in the final nail to the black and gold coffin with an empty net goal with about 5 seconds left in the game.

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Seriously, I think Bruins fans need to step off of the ledge for a minute and realize that Boston was coming into this game with nothing to lose. If they won, they still wouldn’t have moved up to second place in the Eastern Conference because they still need Lady Luck to turn into a bitch and strike the Capitals (who have a cake schedule to end the season). If they lost, they do no worst then third and face the Canadiens. For people to believe that this game will be the downfall of the Bruins in the playoffs is not only rediculous, but it is also on the side of inane.

Also, lets look at the bright side of things – losing this game means the Leafs are virtually dead and won’t make the playoffs.