From the get-go, the beauty part of the Rangers-Canes series was that it promised to be as close as pages in a book.
From the get-go, the beauty part of the Rangers-Canes series was that it promised to be as close as pages in a book.
After Game Three -- when the New Yorkers went up Three-zip in games -- it seemed quite the opposite.
I still remember the New York Post's line authored by Mark Cannizzaro: "Canes are dead men walking."
True then; not true now.
This is a stronger Carolina sextet than last year's, which was bedeviled with key injuries. It's just that the Rangers are more powerful as well.
Sure, I would have been gratified last night had the Rangers been able to show their killer instinct. But in such cases, the other club has something to do with it. In fact, the Canes have a lot of guys with some things to do with it.
Don't ask me why the playoff-seeking Penguins ever let Jake Guentzel go? No matter; the Canes got him and he's scary-good.
So is Evgeny Kuznetsov.
He's the guy who scored a goal and then contemptuously whacked the glass where some Rangers fans were sitting. (That shows some kind of spirit, but I'm not sure which kind.)
Coach Rod Bridn'Amour went back to his Number One goalie and this time oft-injured Fred Andersen showed how good he could be with a one-game rest.
"It's two good teams playing good hockey," said Guentzel. "There's not much ice out there." Then, a pause and a key punch line:
"We're fighting for our lives!"
Breadman Panarin played like he couldn't wait for the game to end and then grab a Pastrami-On-Rye with plenty of mustard; the likes of which was missing from his game.
Sure, Breadman can't be expected to be at the top of his game -- or pastrami, for that matter -- every game. So, he got a baddy out of his system.
But The Maven will tell you this: If Panarin does a repeat of Saturday night on Monday night, I, personally, will write about the Breadman's Punko series last spring.
Then, there's the matter of coaching. Sure, Peter Laviolette got the better of Rod Brind'Amour in the first three games, but not the fourth time.
Brindy made one key change on his power play -- moving Brady Skjei to the left side and -- guess what? -- the ex-New Yorker scored the winner from there.
"And so, we live to fight another day," concludes Brind'Amour.
If the Rangers don't watch out, it could be another night and another night after that!