Well, tonight was amazing. I attended my first ever pro sports Game 7 - the New York Rangers vs. the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden. Plus, it was the first playoff hockey game in 3 days, with Los Angeles, Phoenix and New Jersey having already wrapped up their respective series, so all eyes were literally on this game across North America this Saturday night.
The Rangers pulled off the win 2-1 to join the others above in the conference finals, improving to 5-0 all-time in Game 7’s at MSG, and Washington was eliminated. Above, here’s video I took of the final 39 seconds of the game. I also have video of fans celebrating the game winning goal, plus the national anthem, opening faceoff, and a random standing ovation in the final minutes. And of course, photos, including me before the game!
Thoughts on the game: There were several times I was at a loss for words on what I was witnessing, it was really memorable. It was loud, energetic, the atmosphere was second-to-none. And the jumbotron reminded us all game long to be LOUD, to give the Rangers that home ice advantage they fought for in the season for a pivotal Game 7. There was also considerable pre-game festivities/videos focused on us getting loud. From the start, it was awesome; the Rangers scored a minute and a half in! It was tense much of the rest of the way, you could just sense the nerves in the arena, until the Rangers made it 2-0 with just over 9 minutes to go in the third. The Caps quickly answered, but that just set up the ending. And the end was amazing, as we stood for much of the final minutes and the energy kept building and building til the climactic final horn. Brad Richards and Michael Del Zotto scored the goals for New York, and Henrik Lundqvist played his way to a well-deserved First Star.
So, the New York Rangers scored with 6.6 seconds left in regulation to tie the game and force OT, won in overtime, and THEN to top it all off the Rangers official Twitter retweeted me (see above). Not a bad night. New York takes a 3-2 series lead back to Washington.
Tonight I went to my first ever NHL playoff game that the Buffalo Sabres were not playing in. Previously, I’ve seen the Sabres play at Philadelphia (last year 5-4 loss), and a number of games in Buffalo, including the 2-1 OT win over the Rangers after Drury tied the game with 7.7 seconds left in regulation.
There was a GREAT atmosphere at Madison Square Garden tonight and the game did not disappoint. There was a bit of everything - fights, excellent goaltending, exciting chances, 2-on-1’s, etc. The Rangers led 1-0 and 2-1 before losing 3-2 in OT (Ottawa forced overtime with 4 minutes left in the 3rd). I recorded the first goal of the game (video above). Here’s when Ottawa tied it 1-1, and here’s the game winning goal. Photos here.
Buffalo pulls off a dramatic come-from-behind 6-5 win vs. Leafs in overtime. Trailed 3-0 early in this one and 5-3 in the third. Their playoff hopes are still alive, tied with Washington with 2 games left (Caps have tiebreaker though).
Last night I had one of the most AMAZING experiences of my life — sitting in the FRONT ROW of an NHL game. In overtime, my 2nd favorite team the Vancouver Canucks lost to the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1. More photos here.
Just finished playing the most amazing game of NHL 12 against someone online. I won 7-6 in regulation after trailing basically the whole game including 6-4 late in the third period.
The craziest part: Trailing a goal with less than a minute to play, I pulled my goalie. I (Buffalo, of course) made three big defensive plays to prevent Detroit from clearing the puck down the ice, and was able to keep pressure on. And on an awesome deke, Derek Roy tied it with just 14 seconds left! But what happened next was insane. I won the faceoff, two quick passes, went hard to the net and scored AGAIN with just 8 seconds left. That’s right - two goals 6 seconds apart. I’ve never seen two goals in the final 14 seconds of a game but there it is and the other guy had to be going nuts, he had the game won.
