FIVE YEARS AGO: April 21, 1994

The lasting memory of this night for me is the way Ray Ferraro celebrated his goal, the first the Islanders would score in the playoffs. He celebrated as if it had won the Cup.

Um, Ray, it came in Game 3.

And, um, Ray, it came with your team already down 3-0. Late in the second period.

Well, maybe my reaction to the celebration was just the cocky eyes of a Ranger fan whose team suddenly wasn't going to sweep a four-game series with four shutouts. Tikkanen, Leetch and Graves had given the Rangers that 3-0 lead; Kovalev and Graves, their third each, gave the Rangers a 5-1 win.

Mike Richter made 21 saves. The Rangers shot three times in the first period on dear old nemesis Ron Hextall; two went in.

NYR 2 2 1--5
NYI 0 1 0--1
(Rangers lead series, 3-0)
Goals:
NYR--Graves 2, Tikkanen, Leetch, Kovalev; NYI--Ferraro. Assists: NYR--Leetch 3, Noonan 2, Messier, Zubov, Matteau; NYI--Dalgarno, Vaske. Goalies: NYR--Richter (22 shots-21 saves); NYI--Hextall (18-13). Power plays: NYR--3 of 7; NYI--0 of 3.

Mike Fornabaio -- mef17@oocities.com

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