The trials and tribulations of being a New York Rangers fan

After the NHL 2020 season was suspended due to the spreading of coranvirus to looked like there was going to be no Stanley Cup play offs. Just before the season was suspended the New York Rangers were touch and go for a play off spot with them battling hard for a Wild Card place.

As time went on the NHL cam up with a plan on what would happen should play be able to resume. Outside of the top four teams from the Eastern and Western Conferences it was decided that the next eight teams in each conference would play a best of five qualifier series. The top four teams in each conference would play a round robin series of games to determine their seeing for the actually Stanley Cup games.

New York Rangers were drawn against the Carolina Hurricanes for their best of five series. The Rangers have a really good record against the Hurricanes and had between them in all four games in the 2020 season. This gave great hope for what our play off hopes might be.

Game 1 did not go as expected. Although the scoreline was a 2 - 3 loss the Rangers looked really sluggish whereas the Hurricanes were clearly there to prove that they weren't the underdogs and they were there to win. Igor Shersterkin was deemed unfit to start so Henrik Lunqvist stepped in for what could very well be his last set of games for the Rangers. The Rangers might have lost but it would have been a far bigger score line if it hadn't been for Lundqvist.

Game 2 has just finished with the Rangers now on the reaching end of a 1 - 4 loss. This replay was not going as we had hoped! Although the team were better they still did not seem like they were there to win but the Hurricanes continued to bring their A game. Once again Lungvist was between the pipes as Shesterkin was still unfit but he was not responsible for the loss. You can't win if you don't score and there is only so much a goalie who is now past his prime can do when left out to dry.

Tomorrow night is Game 3 and the Rangers are in real danger of being out and being swept. They have often had a history of bouncing back but statistically teams that have a 2 - 0 lead in a five game series are 55-1 to win. It's going to take some sheer grit and determination to get anywhere now but the whole team really needs a massively mentality shift to get anywhere. Deep breaths and fingers crossed!

Let's Go Rangers!

Being a New York Rangers fan is full of heartache (a bit like being an Edinburgh Capitals fan) but they are my team and I'll be there for them no matter how badly the offs seem to be stacked against us!