What a difference a year makes. What a difference a day makes. When Rangers fans awoke the day after Game 82
in Philadelphia last year the devastation of missing out the playoffs was
brutal. The way that they missed both in
terms of having a chance in a shootout to make it and having it be to the hated
Flyers only made it worse. Yesterday the
majority of Rangers fans woke up dreading having that feeling again and feeling
helpless because the team had given away control of their own destiny.
This time the result was different. This time when fans woke up the day after
Game 82 there was elation and anticipation of the upcoming playoff series with
the Washington Capitals. They could do
so because the team played to the identity they have formed over the course of
the year as a team that outworks their opponents and has a mental toughness to
it that never has them out of a game. The difference in the makeup and mentality of this team fro one year to the next is vast. Last year there was a team that you never knew what version was going to show up in any facet of the game and while this year the offense is still inconsistent the effort is there nearly every night and that can be the difference between missing by a point or making it by just two.
After taking care of all they could control yesterday that
pensive nature of Rangers fans was tested waiting for four hours to have the
puck drop between Tampa Bay and Carolina.
Having been heartbroken many times before there was a decidedly cautious
approach to hoping in terms of the result of the game last night. Tampa came in with nothing but pride to play
for, but they got on top early and would not relinquish control of the game against
the red hot Hurricanes.
Some will say the Rangers got lucky in getting the help they
did from Tampa, and maybe they did, but luck is where skill meets opportunity
and the Rangers while not having the most skill have put in the work to earn
the opportunity. Now it will be up them
to take advantage of it against the Capitals in round 1. I for one wouldn’t
bet against them with the way they can fight with and for one another.
