Stan Fischler On Rangers Cup Chances With half a sweep completed and only ten wins away from The Cup, The Rangers Expeditionary Force heads to Raleigh to complete the task. As for the Canes, last night's double-overtime 4-3 New York triumph means that Carolina has a lock on the "Close, But No Cigar" Award. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA2Mjg4NTMwNjcyOTg1ODc1/usatsi_23217017.jpg] Frankly, it couldn't have been closer -- and would have gone the other way -- had The Visitors owned a goalie as good as Igor Shesterkin. Iggy was at his best as Carolina tossed everything but Pennsylvania Station at Shesty, who totaled 54 stops -- 15 in overtime -- for the night's work. On the other side, Fred Andersen had 19 fewer saves for the Losers As The Maven has chirped all along, New York will win this series because the Blueshirts are better in every department but none more than goaltending. "When we're not playing our 'A Game', Igor is there as our backbone," said defenseman Adam Fox. And that certainly was the case at the deliriously madcap Garden last night. But Shesty was just one of many Gotham heroes. As I predicted here yesterday, Big Al Lafreniere delivered a pair of goals and is looking more and more like a superstar. Credit coach Peter Laviolette for keeping Lafreniere on a line with Vincent Trocheck and Breadman Panarin. "That line has good chemistry," explained Pistol Pete, "and that's why I haven't touched it the entire year." Trocheck, who is looking like one of the best acquisitions in Blueshirt history, was "Vinny On The Spot" converting a power play goal from a scramble around Andersen. But, rather than boast about his game-winner, Vin talked about his goalie. "Tonight," said Trocheck, "what you saw was an 'Igor-esque' kind of game." Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA2Mjg4NTU1OTA1OTE4NzM5/usatsi_23216571.jpg] Comrade Igor also had to survive a first-period -- to put it as calmly as possible -- "collision" with the Canes Andrei Svechnikov, who mistook the Rangers goalie for a bowling pin. Fortunately, Shesty recovered from the -- shall we say -- "trip" while his mates had all to do containing the very determined lads from Dixie. The capacity crowd was suitably concerned at the start of the third period, with the Visitors ahead 3-2. But Chris Kreider's power-play goal at 6:07 calmed nerves as the combatants slugged it out for the go-ahead goal. Granted, it required two overtimes and a man advantage, but -- in the end -- Trocheck got the job done by being in the right place at the right time for the juicy rebound. Looking backward, one could say that Lavvy out-coached his Riva Rod Brind'Amour. The Rangers won it with Pete's best weapon, the power play. Meanwhile, Roddy has flown back to Raleigh with not a single clue how to stop the Blueshirts bombers led by the indomitable Trocheck. "What makes him so good," Laviolette concluded, "is that he's engaged. You can see it in the way he's playing the game." Then, a pause because Pete liked a certain word. "Yeah, he's engaged!" By "engaged," the coach means that Trocheck is his best forward -- not counting the goalkeeper -- and the point is underlined by the numbers. Laviolette played Trocheck 35:21, more than anyone on the team, including defensemen like Adam Fox, who topped the bluelineers at 33:26. Hey, if the Rangers keep this up, there's likely to be a "Broom Sale" after Game Four in The Southland! P.S. Brooms can talk. Sweep, Sweep! TOP STORIES
