They were not good enough...

The End Comes Hard

Yesterday's Ranger game was pretty much an encapsulation of their entire season - they fell behind in a desperate situation, found a way to come back, and then found yet another way to lose. The piss-poor refereeing aside, the Rangers were pretty much over-matched against a Pittsburgh team with perhaps the best collection of offensive weapons in the NHL, and a bad case of the nasties.

Playoff hockey requires a snarl that the Rangers seemed incapable of. Their defense was far too well-mannered in front of their own net; and, especially yesterday, they allowed the Penguins to take far too many liberties with Jagr (who did not have a single shot on net). Did anyone besides me notice how Malkin physically mistreated Paul Mara after he scored his incredible backhand goal? All this, plus a few other mental and physical mistakes made it virtually impossible for the Blue Shirts to prevail.

There is much needed to be done for next year. For now, all I can say is "So it goes..."