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Rangers lose third straight, face elimination

BY STEVE ZIPAY | steve.zipay@newsday.com

April 30, 2008

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Crack. Crack. Crack.

That sound was the thin ice under the Rangers suddenly-gone-south season giving way at Madison Square Garden last night, as the Pittsburgh Penguins won their third straight game in the Eastern Conference semifinals, putting a 3-0 hammerlock on the second-round series.

The 5-3 victory extended the Penguins' undefeated run in the postseason to seven, and a win here tomorrow night would sweep the Rangers into the waters of the offseason.

There is little rope left to stop the slide, but captain Jaromir Jagr, who had 10 shots and played like a man possessed last night, believed the Rangers could grab it.

"I got a very funny feeling about this series. It's not over yet ... I truly believe we can change this. It's pretty tough to be down 3-0, but they have to win four games," said Jagr, who roofed a shot from in front to tie the game at 3 in the second period. "They have to close it. Even a great team like the Yankees didn't hold a 3-0 lead. They were the best ever. We have a chance to make history."

Having lost two straight in Pittsburgh, the Rangers - who had taken all four regular-season games against the Penguins - fell behind 3-1 in the first period last night and fought back gamely to tie with goals from Ryan Callahan and Jagr 64 seconds apart in the second period. The momentum had swung and the Garden was rocking.

But just 3:18 later - after Scott Gomez had rung a shot off the post behind Marc-Andre Fleury - left wing Ryan Hollweg, starting in place of Petr Prucha, plastered Petr Sykora at the mid-ice boards and justifiably went off for boarding. Minus the injured Chris Drury and Blair Betts, two premier penalty-killers, the Rangers wilted and Evgeni Malkin's far-side blast with 2:07 left - his second goal of the game - restored the Penguins' lead at 4-3.

"It don't think anybody feels worse in this building than Ryan Hollweg," coach Tom Renney said. "We came close to killing it, but were unsuccessful at the end of the day. It probably was the turning point of the game."

Perhaps the only person who felt worse was Henrik Lundqvist, who allowed five goals on 17 shots and was outplayed by Fleury, who made 36 saves. "It's hard to win when you let in five goals," said Lundqvist, who also surrendered five in Game 1.

The Rangers' power play - 0-for-5 last night and 1-for-14 in the series - once again couldn't finish.

"As much as anything, our special teams have to be better," Renney said.

Things started poorly for the Rangers. Marian Hossa quieted a deafening Garden by burying a rebound at 1:08, Georges Laraque beat Lundqvist to break a 1-1 tie after Martin Straka scored a hard-fought but disputed goal and Malkin's power-play slapper between Lundqvist's skate and the post completed the three-goal blitz.

With the 3-1 lead after one, all that was left for the Penguins was to fall back into a defensive shell, and when the Rangers failed to score against Fleury on two separate 5-on-3s (of 42 and 33 seconds) in the second, things looked bleak.

But the rally began when Gomez stole the puck from Rob Scuderi behind the Penguins' net and his backhand pass found Callahan at the left post to cut the lead to 3-2. Then Jagr, playing fiercely all night, curled from behind the net with 6:49 left in the second and the Garden exploded.

But then the Penguins took advantage of Hollweg's penalty and retook the lead. But when Ryan Malone, positioned in the slot, deflected Kris Letang's point shot over Lundqvist's left pad at 2:30 of the third, a big swing game in the series was over.

"We have one more home game," said Gomez, who had two assists and played 24:44. "Take care of that and you never know. Momentum can change. There won't be any quit in here, that's for sure. There's nothing to lose now."Except a promising season.

Notes & quotes: Betts, who was hit in the face with a puck with 7:29 left in the second period, didn't return. Drury, who had skated off with 6:20 left, did, at the start of the third, but seemed to be favoring his left arm ... In the three playoff games at MSG, the Rangers are 3-for-14 on the power play ... The Rangers returned to the same lineup that ousted the Devils, with Colton Orr, Prucha, Marek Malik and Jason Strudwick as healthy scratches, but juggled lines with Fred Sjostrom moving up to the second and Brendan Shanahan dropping to the fourth.

Slim chances

The only North American pro teams that have rallied from 0-3 playoff deficits to win a best-of-seven series:

Sport Year Series

MLB 2004 ALCS, Boston def. Yankees, 4-3

NHL 1975 Quarterfinals, Islanders def. Pittsburgh, 4-3

NHL 1942 Finals, Toronto def. Detroit, 4-3

NBA No team trailing 3-0 has ever won