Rangers Dominate Game 4, Tie Series At 2-2
After thoroughly dominating the Senators in Game 3, the New York Rangers followed it up with another monstrous performance on home ice. Much like in Game 3, the Rangers completely carved up the Senators 1-3-1 trap, and made easy work of them in the offensive zone. With two straight games of dominating hockey, it appears that the Rangers have found a way to break the Senators, and Ottawa has no idea what to do when their structure is broken.
As a result, Henrik Lundqvist has had a relatively easy ride these past two games with the Senators barely getting anything done in the offensive zone. With the Rangers needing another quick start on home ice, they jumped on the Senators right from the opening faceoff. It took them some time to get going, but when they did, they never looked back.
After a handful of early chances, Nick Holden finally buried one at the 14:04 mark and gave the Rangers the 1-0 lead. Kevin Hayes started the entire play with a ridiculous saucer pass over to Holden, who flipped the puck over Anderson’s left pad just outside of the crease. The Rangers rode that momentum gained from the first goal, and eventually translated it into a 2-0 lead.
Oscar Lindberg picked up his first goal of the night after breaking in 2-on-0 with Michael Grabner, following a big shot by Tanner Glass in the defensive zone. Anderson had no chance once the puck slid over to Lindberg, and the Rangers put the Senators in a 2-0 hole. Lindberg wouldn’t stop there, though, and netted his second of the night nearing the end of the period on a bit of a fluky shot.
Lindberg’s shot from just inside the blue line appeared to handcuff Anderson as it came in on net, and the puck sailed over his shoulder for the 3-0 lead. With the Senators completely out of sync heading into the third period, Chris Kreider added another insurance marker on the power play to give the Rangers a commanding four goal lead.
Kyle Turris finally snapped Lundqvist’s shutout streak with less than seven minutes left in regulation, and then the Senators decided to make the game a circus. With the game well out of reach, Ottawa elected to goon in up in an attempt to intimidate the Rangers heading into Game 5. It didn’t work in the slightest bit as the Rangers responded right back with the nonsense that Ottawa was tossing there way.
After Ottawa finally finished their circus act, the Rangers were able to close out the final 25 seconds or so left, and secured the 4-1 win. These last two games were extremely encouraging for the Rangers, which sets the stage perfectly for Game 5 in Ottawa.
