Alternate History NHL 2008 and beyond

2011 postseason
  • 2011 Conference Quarterfinals: After having their best season since the cup winning 93-94 campaign the New York Rangers came into the postseason as a team to be reckoned with. With 2 lines that could score 1 that could check and 1 that could intimidate along with a young d-core led by veteran Bryan McCabe, and a superstar goalie in Henrik Lundqvist many experts penned them a dark-horse team. Despite having their best season in 17 years the Rangers couldn't draw home ice advantage as they finished with the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference and drew a match up vs the injured Pittsburgh Penguins. Despite being contenders again the Pens found themselves without the services of their 2 best players Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin both out with injury.

    Game 1 was a tight affair that saw both teams trading chances in the 1st and 2nd period. Going into the 3rd the game was a nail biter, however early on Alexei Kovalev put the pens on the board, Aron Asham would score 20 seconds later and Chris Kunitz would ice the game on a empty netter. The Rangers would get revenge in Game 2 with a 3 goal first period despite Pittsburgh potting 1 in the 2nd, Marty St.Louis scored on the power-play to put the score at 5-1 and Ryan McDonagh added an insurance marker to tie the series.

    Going back to NY tied at 1 the Rangers had confidence however Pittsburgh would take both Game 3 on a 3rd period tie-breaking goal and Game 4 in double ot. Game 5 would take place on an early Saturday afternoon with most Pens fans making plans for the 2nd round. Head coach Mike Sullivan caught wind of this and rallied his troops for Game 5 by putting the quotes on the marker board. In what was a fairly even 1st period the Rangers got on the board late on 2 quick goals by Steven Stamkos and Sean Avery. This would open the flood gates as Stamkos and Avery struck again in the 2nd along with Derek Stepan to give the Rangers a 5-0 lead. 2 goals in the 3rd by Ryan Callahan gave the Rangers a 7-0 lead, and despite 2 goals by Pittsburgh, Artem Anisimov would score to give the Rangers an 8-2 win to send the series back to NY with a chance to tie it.

    Game 6 opened with a Pascal Dupuis goal early in the 1st however the Rangers would tie it on a Ryan Callahan goal later that period. In the 2nd the Rangers went ahead on a goal by Ruslan Fedotenko. Early in the 3rd the Pens tied it on a goal by Jordan Staal, however a minute later Vinny Prospal broke the tie, and Brian Boyle sealed the game for the Rangers to send it back to Pittsburgh tied at 3 for a pivotal Game 7.

    As Game 7 in Pittsburgh started nerves were felt all over, the game was even all throughout out period 1 as chances were had on both sides. As the 2nd period started Pittsburgh seemed to take over the momentum however about 5 minutes in the Rangers entered the Pittsburgh zone on a routine play Sean Avery drew 2 Pens to himself he dropped the puck to Artem Anisimov who slid it over to a streaking Ruslan Fedotenko who put it in for a 1-0 Ranger lead. After that it was an onslaught by the Pens who threw everything they had at Henrik Lundqvist, however the all world goalie stopped everything thrown at him. The 3rd period saw Lundqvist repeat his heroics and as the clock reached 0 and the Rangers had won their first playoff series in 3 years coming back from being down 3-1, it was also their first Game 7 road win. Many experts lauded this as an upset, however others stated that the Rangers depth and goaltending badly outnumbered Pittsburgh's which is why they came out on top.

    2011 Conference Semifinals: After coming back from being down 3-1 and defeating Pittsburgh the Rangers next opponents would be the defending Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals who had just beat Tampa Bay in 5 games. Unlike the Pens the Caps had been rolling since January and weren't dealing with any major injuries. Many experts were choosing them to repeat as cup champs. On the Rangers side Mike Sullivan preached the us vs the world mentality saying that just like the Pens series no one is predicting the Rangers to win this one either. This series along with the Boston vs Philadelphia series in the east was a ratings dream for NBC as the 4 biggest Eastern markets would be playing into May and 2 would make it to almost June, it also guaranteed that 1 would at least be in the finals.

    Game 1 started with the Rangers getting on the board first with the unlikely hero of round 1 Ruslan Fedotenko scoring, however 2 minutes later the Caps would tie it on a goal by Alexander Semin. Early in the 2nd Eric Fehr put the Caps ahead, but late in the period Vinny Prospal would tie it for the Rangers, with just 2 minutes left in the period Jason Chimera was sent off with a minor penalty. With just over 30 seconds to play Steven Stamkos would put the Rangers ahead 3-2. As the game entered the 3rd the Caps pressed and pressed but had no answer for a dominant Henrik Lundqvist, as the game wound down Erik Chistensen was able to ice it with an empty netter for the Rangers to put them ahead 1-0 in the series.

    As the series shifted to Game 2 the momentum belonged to the Rangers and it showed as they scored late in the 1st period to go up 1-0 on a Derek Stepan goal. The 1-0 lead held through much of the 2nd until Brooks Laich tied it. Going into the 3rd tied at 1 both teams had equal chances, until Marty St.Louis broke the tie midway through the 3rd. This lead held until late in the 3rd when Alex Ovechkin tied it sending the game to ot. The ot started out with both teams getting equal chances however with a little less that 14 minutes left when Derek Stepan potted the game winner to send the series back to NY at 2-0. As the series shifted back to Madison Square Garden there was a buzz in the air that hadn't been felt since the mid to late 90's.

    Game 3 started with a buzz in the air and the Garden going crazy. Playoff hero Ruslan Fedotenko started the scoring to send crowd wild and the Rangers into the 2nd period with a 1-0 lead. However as the 2nd started Washington came out playing like the team that had won the cup the previous spring as Mike Knuble tied it early and John Carlson scored later on to put them up 2-1. 4 minutes later Derek Stepan scored to tie the game at 2, however a tripping call on over the hill captain Chris Drury put the Caps back on the powerplay where Alex Ovechkin put home his 5th of the playoffs to give the Caps a lead and have them 20 minutes away from getting back into the series. Heading into the 3rd the Caps looked firmly in control. However on a routine clear out 5 minutes in the puck was intercepted by Bryan McCabe who slid it over to Steven Stamkos to tie the game, 20 seconds later Brian Boyle scored to put the Rangers up 4-3 and that was all she wrote for Game 3, which had the Garden faithful chanting sweep after the final buzzer.

    Going into Game 4 Washington captain Alex Ovechkin stated “It is not over. We won't give up. We're going to win.”, head coach Bruce Bodreau also stated that the Garden was no longer intimidating to them and the noise was low. When asked about this Rangers coach Mike Sullivan sated were going to play our game. In a rare occurrence in the NHL Game 4 was played the very next night. Midway through the 1st period Brian Boyle put the Rangers up by 1 on a powerplay goal, however the Caps would tie it on a powerplay goal by Marco Sturm soon after. Early in the 2nd the Rangers would take the lead on a goal by none other than playoff hero Ruslan Fedotenko, 8 minutes later Fedotenko would strike again to put the Rangers up 3-1, however 1 minute later John Erskine would bring Washington back to within 1 and the game would head to the 3rd with the Rangers up 3-2. Early in the 3rd the Rangers would get some insurance on the powerplay from an unlikely Matt Gilroy goal, 10 minutes later Marty St.Louis would ice the game with a goal. With the score 5-2 the Ranger fans were merciless in chanting sweep and can you hear us. Despite John Carlson scoring late for the Caps, the game ended 5-3 in favor of the Rangers and sent the defending Stanley Cup Champions home. The Rangers advanced to their first conference final in 14 years and waited the winner of the Boston-Phladelphia series which Boston currently led 3-0.

    2011 Conference Finals: After a stunning upset of the defending Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals, the New York Rangers drew the Boston Bruins in the conference finals for the right to play for the 2011 Stanley Cup. This was a rivalry renewed as the experts said as both teams hadn't met in the postseason since 1973 and had the exact same path to the conference final. Many experts were having trouble predicting this series and couldn't pick a clear cut favorite, however many expected Boston to take it due to the home ice advantage.

    In what was a largely anticipated series the Rangers started Game 1 throwing everything they had at an unprepared Boston team. This resulted in them scoring 3 goals(Fedotenko,Gilroy, and Callahan) in a little over a minute in a half to quiet the Boston crowd. Despite the shock the Bruins were able to pull one back late in the 1st courtesy of Tyler Seguin. After a scoreless 2nd period the Rangers added 2 more goals on a powerplay goal by Matt Gilroy and an empty netter courtesy of Sean Avery, despite Boston pulling another goal back the Rangers walked out with the win and the momentum.

    This same momentum carried the Rangers over into Game 2, as Erik Christensen scored 13 seconds in, despite Boston tying it midway through the 1st, Marty St.Louis scored late to take the momentum and the energy out of the Bruins. Going into the 2nd period the Rangers had all the momentum and had quieted the crowd, however they would do something they hadn't done since Game 4 vs Pittsburgh and that was take their foot off the pedal. The Bruins came out in the 2nd period and scored 3 goals in the first 7 minutes, despite Derek Stepan scoring to put the game with in in reach Boston then scored 2 more goals to go up 6-3. Heading into the 3rd the Bruins looked to be in control however the Rangers had other plans as Steven Stamkos scored early on and Artem Anisimov scored later on to put the Rangers within 1. Despite all of the Rangers efforts the game ended in a 6-5 win for the Boston Bruins, snapping the Rangers 8 game winning streak and sent them back to MSG with the series tied and with the momentum.

    This momentum carried over as the Bruins played suffocating hockey in Game 3 and earned a 2-0 shutout, it carried over further into Game 4, as the Bruins went up 3-0 in the 1st period as the Rangers looked to still be asleep during the Saturday afternoon contest. During the 1st intermission the Rangers locker room door was closed, what was said is still not known, but the team came out with a jump in their step in period 2. 6 minutes into the 2nd Ryan Callahan got the Rangers on the board, and followed with another goal a minute later. 3 minutes later playoff hero Ruslan Fedotenko tied the score and the game was a whole new one. Going into the 3rd tied at 3 the Rangers had confidence while the Bruins were beyond nervous, midway through the 3rd Sean Avery put the Rangers up for good and despite some halfhearted efforts by the Bruins Marty St.Louis iced the game with an empty netter to send the series back to Boston tied at 2.

    In a series that was carried by momentum the momentum followed the Rangers into Game 5, as Sean Avery scored 1 minute into the 1st period, the rest of the 1st was a see saw battle for both teams, however as string as the moentum had been in this series the monentum shift had been just as strong, as the Bruins captured the momentum in period 2 to take a 2-1 lead, despite a back and forth 3rd period that saw chance after chance by the Rangers Boston iced the game on an empty net goal by Rich Peverley, giving the Bruins a chance to clinch the series in Game 6 at Madison Square Garden.

    If Game 5 was considered somewhat boring, Game 6 was likened to a punch for punch heavyweight title bout. The Rangers continued their MO of scoring early as Ryan Callahan gave them the lead just 36 seconds in, however the Bruins would respond with goals from Milan Lucic and David Krejci to go into the 2nd period up 2-1. However in the 2nd period the Bruins could't stay out of the box and the Rangers answered on powerplay goals by Marty St.Louis and Ryan Callahan to go into the 3rd up 3-2, a late penalty also would also give the Rangers the advantage in the 3rd. Continuing with the scoring early MO Steven Stamkos scored on the powerplay 34 seconds in to put the Rangers up 4-2, however this 2 goal lead was short lived as the Rangers got into penalty trouble of their own and David Krejci scored his second of the game to put the Bruins within 1. However 30 seconds later the Stamkos-St.Louis combo would strike as Marty St.Louis would pot his second of the game to put the Rangers up 5-3. However 3 minutes later the ever dangerous David Krejci picked up the hat-trick to put the Bruins within 1 and despite a furious onslaught by Boston, Henrik Lundqvist was able to turn them aside and the Rangers sent the series back to Boston for a Game 7 and the right to meet the Vancouver Canucks in the finals.

    If Game 6 was a scorers duel, Game 7 turned into a goaltenders battle between Henrik Lundqvist and Tim Thomas. Throughout out the 1st and 2nd both goaltenders turned shot after shot aside with a slight edge to Boston. The game continued to be played this way into the 3rd period in which surprisingly no penalties had been called either. With a little over 7 minutes left the Bruins entered the Rangers zone a pass was sent over to Nathan Horton by David Krejci, Horton deflected the shot passed Lundqvist to give the Bruins the lead. Despite furious onslaughts by the Rangers the Bruins tightened up on D and won the game and the series to go back to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 21 years. A dejected Ranger team left the ice despite the loss Mike Sullivan praised his players for playing to the final whistle and getting there despite the experts saying they had no chance. These same experts praised the Rangers saying that the team left it all out there and had a bright future to look ahead to as they had many fast skilled prospects to add to an already established lineup. As for the Bruins the same as in the OTC would occur, they would defeat the Vancouver Canucks in 7 to win the Stanley Cup.

    More to come.
     
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