When I first saw 7.7 seconds when Chris Drury tied it, I immediately thought of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. But there was no hero this time as Maxim Afinogenov made up for his poor play earlier this series to win it.

Now the Rangers face elimination in Game 6, rather than looking to win it. But they will be at home, so my guy says there will be a Game 7.

As Vin Scully said in 1986: “It’s a shame someone has to lose.”

But someone will. The Question is will the Rangers force Game 7 on Sunday?

And the only thing missing here is some sort of guarantee. But that could happen tomorrow.

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Lundqvist and Miller look great. And Henrik is absolutely keeping the Rangers in this series with some clutch saves, especially in the second when the Blueshirts got sloppy.

Not a bad play by Jagr at the end to take a bad penalty, but it’s still 0-0.

Stay Tuned…..

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Ok it looks like Buffalo changed things up. They are now attacking the puck on the penalty kill and making it hard for the Rangers to set up the power play. The Rangers are 0-3.

As for the Blueshirts, their kill is just as strong as before because they are taking away the passing lanes.

Now, both Marek Malik and Fedor Tyutin were hurt towards the end of the period. It’s imperative they stay in the lineup.

More later…

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My court case is over – I won – and now onto hockey, sorry I was sidetracked.

Tonight Game 5 and let’s begin it the right way, the Ranger way:

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Back after the first!!

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Just seeing if this works and giving you a few highlights:

[youtube 8ZV1hniMG30 nolink]

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Joe’s note: I was away all day on a personal matter, so NYS’ editor Joe Pietaro pinch hit for me on the conference call. Here’s his report:

Rangers Knot Up Series at Two with 2-1 Win Over Sabres

Madison Square Garden was ablaze once again on Tuesday night as the Rangers held on for a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres to even their Eastern Conference Semifinals series at two games apiece. After dropping the opening two hard fought contests in Buffalo, the Blueshirts took Sunday’s match in double overtime and followed that up with a close regulation victory.

The Rangers led the latest game 2-0 before the Sabres came right back. Jaromir Jagr (second period) and Brendan Shanahan (third period) had power play tallies before Buffalo’s Ales Kotalik scored only 33 seconds later to cut the lead to one.

Sabres’ captain Daniel Briere had a potential game-tying shot with only 13.4 seconds left in the game kicked out by Rangers’ netminder Henrik Lundqvist that was sent for a long video review. It was determined that the puck did not fully cross the goal line and the Rangers took the two-game set at home. Counting the end of the regular season and first-round sweep against the Atlanta Thrashers, it was their ninth consecutive win and 12th in their last 13 games at the ‘World’s Most Famous Arena.’

“In that situation, you’re handcuffed. You’re at the mercy of the video review,” Rangers’ head coach Tom Renney said on a conference call to the media on Wednesday. “You have to prepare yourself to continue to play with the worst fate possible. Our video people thought it was a no-goal.”

The Rangers’ special teams were very effective, not only scoring twice with the man advantage, but killing off all four power plays that the Sabres’ had.

“We’re working together,” said Renney. “We tried to make their entries a little tougher. We have to continue to work very, very hard.”

Now the Rangers head back up to Buffalo for Game 5 on Friday night. A big shift has occurred in the series since the Sabres led two games to none.

“It’s on behalf of the players more than me,” Renney continued. “I felt as a coach that the guys had it in them (to come back). We just stayed with the game plan. This may be a special story this year.”

Renney also felt that due to the low scoring and effective goaltending in the series, scoring first would be major. “The goaltending has been great. Scoring the first goal is important. The bottom line is controlling the puck, controlling the ice. We understand what they’re (Buffalo) capable of doing.

“If you want to move through the playoffs, you have to play in a certain manner,” Renney said. “I truly believe our guys fell they can beat anybody.”

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For those in Buffalo and in Canada who thought the series was over after Game 1, what are you thinking now?

A good solid win by the Rangers, who proved once again they can keep up with the Sabres, shift to shift.

Now, I know the question everyone is wondering: Did Daniel Briere score with 13.4 seconds left?

Ok, I saw the call could go either way, meaning if the it was called a goal on the ice, then it would have stood, but it wasn’t so it was waved off.

It’s nice to see the Rangers catch a break here. Too many calls were going against them all series, so it was good to see one go to the Garden side.

How about that Garden? The crowd was into it as usual. And my friend John Amirante fired up the faithful, the way only he can.

Now they have to win one in Buffalo. Brendan Shanahan had these thoughts. “It is not a while new series. You always take little bits and pieces of previous games but certainly now it’s two out of three with two of those three games in their building. We have to win one on the road to be successful.”

That’s the question. Can they win in Buffalo? Most people were wonder if they could win period, and with that out of the way anything is possible.

That being said, the Rangers will need to play almost perfect on Friday to make it 3-2 and if they do, Game 6 will close it out at the Garden, where they won nine straight and 12 out of 13.

But can they do it?

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Like so many times before the Ranger formula is working. As Jagr goes, so do the Rangers. A 1-0 lead let’s see it holds up.

Funny thing, this team looks great since Game 2 and needs this game, so will the final 20 hold up?

Remember Buffalo was not shut out all season, so it’s tough to see them just sitting back.

Let’s see what happens….

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Ok the Rangers looked good as they were able to drive on Miller. Prucha, Cullen and Callahan made up the best line again. Lundqvist looked good. It would be nice to score, but 0-0, we’ll take it.

More later….

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