I feel guilty saying the following, because - prior to the season starting - a complete thrashing of an irrelevant Rangers team by the playoff-bound (::knocks on wood::) Devils team was but a pipe dream. However, I can't shake the feeling that last night's win was kind of...you might want to sit down for this...boring. Don't get me wrong, pulling within two points of a postseason berth by way a start-to-finish shellacking of a self important rival whose championship window closed when the trade winds proved too strong for a frail foundation was entertaining, but it damn sure wasn't intriguing. In fact, after the initial 25 seconds it basically felt like I was watching a skills competition. Will Butcher handled the accuracy portion, Keith Kinkaid exerted a semblance of energy in stopping a couple dozen pucks, and Taylor Hall took good care of just about every other category in turning the Rangers into glorified parking cones and The King's throne into a goddamn shooter tutor. Maybe it's due to the fact that every goal scored in every game played over the last month has either felt like a dagger to the heart or a sniff of cocaine to the brain, but waiting out an inevitable conclusion that was reached prior to the first TV timeout served as reminder that Rangers games are a lot more fun when the aren't a late 90's-level of incompetent. Trust me, I truly appreciated them doing (or not doing) all they could to make sure Taylor Hall took home the Hart Trophy prior to the second intermission, but it felt a little wrong that he was flexing his muscles at the expense of a dead horse. Considering all he's done following his unofficial 26-game point streak is increase in value to his team when they've needed it the most, he really didn't need to continue beating a once (undeservedly) proud organization into submission to prove what's become the most obvious of cases...
I guess what I am trying to say is that I would really appreciate it if the Rangers could keep things a little more interesting as they move forward in their rebuild. Pulverizing them is fun, but pitying Henrik Lundqvist just feels like a huge disservice to all the heavy lifting he's done as a perennial puck-stopping pain in the ass. To put it bluntly, see below...
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