After a first period that saw no scoring, we got a second period with more intrigue than the teams could handle.
Erik Christensen got the Rangers on the board first with a power play goal snipe from an impossible angle at 5:30 of the period that beat Michal Neuvirth. The Rangers got their fair share of chances on the power play going 1-4 in the period with the man advantage.
The Rangers appeared to be set to head into the second period with a 1-0 lead when with a minute left in the second period, Alex Ovechkin tipped home a Jason Arnott feed that beat Henrik Lundqvist to tie the game at 1-1.
The period wouldn’t end without controversy as the Rangers thought they took a 2-1 lead with less than one second left in the period. The puck trickled into the net as time ran out leading to debate as to whether or not the puck crossed the line before time ran out in the period. The play went to review in Toronto and the replays they had available showed the puck did not cross the line completely before the clock hit zero.
The fans in New York aren’t pleased at all and the Rangers and coach John Tortorella can’t be pleased, but they’ll need to focus that intensity in the third period to come out of Game 3 with a win.