Capital Punishment

I went to the Rangers game last night. Oof. Thank the Virgin Mother I'm only a casual fan, otherwise I might still be trembling under the covers this morning. I have yet to hear from my friend, a lifelong fan--and season ticket holder--who spent most of the second overtime with his head in his hands.

"What a bad loss," he kept repeating in the crowded stairwell after the Capitals came back from a 3-goal deficit to take a 3-1 series lead. "What a bad loss."

It was. Such a shame, too, because the night held so much promise, so much fun. Stirred by the team's exciting victory in game 3, the Rangers faithful was in fine form. We had a point to prove to Bruce Boudeau, the Capitals' head coach who called Madison Square Garden a dump. He also said it wasn't loud. He might as well have called Mark Messier soft. His insults would not go unpunished.

Through the opening minutes of the first period, I couldn't hear the whistle. I could hear only the steady rumble of the crowd and the hectic breathing of those around me. The upper sections shook. It was special.

After the Rangers' third goal, which came seven seconds after their second, the Garden popped. We chanted "Can You Hear Us?" We slapped hands. We hugged. We forgot these were the Rangers.

Washington came out with a charge, scoring less than three minutes into the third period. They scored again about a minute later. A three-goal lead was suddenly down to one. A few minutes later, Marcus Johannson deflected in the equalizing goal. The game had lost its fun, and the crowd had lost its voice.

For the rest of the game, now nothing more than perfunctory, the Caps circled the Rangers zone. They were like sharks, and the vulnerable Rangers their chum.

"I think we got tight," Chris Drury said after the game. "In between the second and third periods, we talked about staying with our game. We just got away from it. We weren't making plays, we got tight and we were on our heels."

Twelve minutes into the second overtime, Jason Chimera poked one past Henrik Lundqvist after Marian Gaborik, the Garden's scapegoat-in-residence, misplayed the puck. This after Lundqvist, who saved 49 shots, stoned Alex Ovechkin on an overtime breakaway. "It's tough," Lundqvist said. "So, so tough."

"We got beat," Rangers coach John Tortorella said, "by a nothing goal."

A nothing play, a bad loss, a night ruined.