But this time, the Rangers came from 2-0 down at the end of the first period to beat Vancouver 4-2, taking a 3-1 lead back to Madison Square Garden.
The Canucks grab the lead at 13:25, with Adam Graves in the box for holding, on a Trevor Linden goal, his 10th of the playoffs. Less than a minute later, Mark Messier is assessed a major for taking Sergio Momesso hard into the endboards behind Mike Richter; the boarding penalty, though, does not carry a game misconduct, so the captain, unlike Pavel Bure after his high-sticking infraction in Game 3, remains in the game. But after Linden gets called for holding Jeff Beukeboom's stick at 15:07, Cliff Ronning scores at 16:19, unmarked following Bure, who was neutralized 1-on-1 by Sergei Zubov, returning to the lineup from a Game 2 ribcage injuries. The Canucks take that lead into the dressing room, despite the teams' trading penalties at the end of the period (Geoff Courtnall for interference at 17:54; Esa Tikkanen for roughing at 18:45).
And though the third period of Game 5 would be more eventful, the second period of Game 4 might have been the most fun Rangers fans would have through a period in the finals. After killing the remnants of Tikkanen's penalty and a Lidster penalty for holding Courtnall, the Rangers get on the board. Brian Leetch knocks the puck away from John McIntyre after a bad clear. Greg Gilbert recovers and backhands it off the boards to Craig MacTavish, who brings it into the Canucks zone, gives to Leetch, and goes to the net, as does Joe Kocur. Leetch's drive through all that traffic from the left-wing boards beats Kirk McLean, giving Leetch his 10th goal of the postseason at 4:03.
Leetch's role in the drama was far from over, because a minute and a half later, after Richter makes six saves in rapid succession, the play comes back to the Canucks' zone, and Leetch fires in for a loose puck alone in front, just missing the net on a backhand. As he tries to get back, he accidentally tips the puck out of the zone, where Bure rushes ahead to carry down ice ahead of everyone. Leetch has little chance to catch him; Bure gets a step ahead at the redline, and Leetch has little choice but to pull him down. Terry Gregson makes the call -- penalty shot at 6:31 of the second.
You might want to flash back to the All-Star Game in January, when Richter won himself a car mostly on the strength of stopping Pavel Bure, who kept going back to his forehand, on breakaways. I know I did while waiting for the Russian to shoot; that forehand move was Bure's favorite, he used it to eliminate Calgary on an overtime breakaway as the Canucks came from 3-1 down in the first round. You felt pretty confident about Richter, but you knew a goal was probably going to send the series back to New York tied.
The tension (terror?) builds as Bure circles, waiting for the signal to skate in against Richter, who has already stopped Randy Wood on a playoff penalty shot in 1990. Given the word, Bure finally starts from his own blueline. The lefthanded shot skates it straight ahead to the top of the circles on his forehand; he starts looking and goes backhand, forehand, and then makes his move in earnest, with a sharp move backhand against Richter, who is about five feet above the top of the crease, to back the goalie up. He sharply goes back to the forehand, but Richter has him timed perfectly, and reacts perfectly to the move. As Bure tries to tuck it in at the left post, Richter shoots the right leg out and knocks the puck away. It remains 2-1, and the 1994 Finals have their Defining Moment.
Richter continues to make saves, 12 in all for the period, before Greg Adams is given a minor for boarding at 18:55. It's not all that different from the play on which Messier was given a major in the first (one Ranger fan in 1994 was noted to have remarked, at the time, of complaining that Zubov just wasn't as good an actor as "that snake" Momesso). Where it would be different, though, was in the results of the power play.
With time ticking down on the period, Zubov -- who, Barry Meisel reports in his _Losing the Edge_ a year later, had to be convinced he could play through his ribcage pain and complete the playoff season -- just missed the net on a drive from the left point. Messier controls a bouncing puck on the carom on the left side, and dishes to Zubov at the point; Zubov fakes, fires through three bodies, and beats McLean to tie the game at 19:44. The game was tied going to the third.
It stays that way through three power plays (two for Vancouver, including a sloppy-change too-many-men penalty on the Rangers) and a 4-on-4. Finally, at 14:31, Martin Gelinas tries to come down the right side 1-on-1 against Kevin Lowe; when Lowe cuts him off, Gelinas grabs his right arm, spins him around and slings him into the endboards. Gelinas gets a minor for roughing.
The Rangers score their second power-play goal of the game on their fifth opportunity. Leetch rushes end-to-end, beats Brian Glynn at the Canucks' blueline, and eases the puck to Kovalev, who's followed him into the zone and cut to the net. Kovalev picks the puck up, fights off a slash, and flips the puck past McLean at 15:05. The Rangers have their first lead of the night.
The scoring ended with what had become a common sight at Pacific Coliseum -- a Steve Larmer weird-bounce, fluky goal off of Dave Babych. Larmer, who had been cut off by Bret Hedican a shift before on a partial breakaway, tries to dump in from 95 feet on the right side. The puck goes through Babych's legs just inside the blueline and off his right skate, and redirects between Kirk McLean's left pad and the left post. McLean, standing straight up, has no chance to stop the puck, and the Rangers take a 4-2 lead with 2:04 remaining. It's a four-point night for Leetch, the No. 1 star for the second straight game; a three-point night for Zubov; and a 3-1 series lead for New York.
Curses? Not for this bunch. The Rangers, the best team in the National Hockey League for almost the entire season, had a chance to wrap up the Stanley Cup in five games June 9 at the Garden. It could be the first time in franchise history that the Cup would be won by the Rangers on Garden ice. Of course, that last step would be a doozy...
NYR 0 2 2--4
VAN 2 0 0--2
(New York leads series, 3-1)
First period -- 1, Vancouver, Linden 10 (Lumme, Brown), 13:25 (pp). 2,
Vancouver, Ronning 5 (Bure, Craven), 16:19. Penalties -- Courtnall, Van
(elbowing), 3:11; Beukeboom, NY (high-sticking), 6:35; Graves, NY
(holding), 13:02; Messier, NY, major (boarding), 14:17; Linden, Van
(holding stick), 15:07; Courtnall, Van (interference), 17:54; Tikkanen, NY
(roughing), 18:45.
Second period -- 3, New York, Leetch 10 (MacTavish, Gilbert), 4:03. 4,
New York, Zubov 5 (Messier, Leetch), 19:44 (pp). Penalties -- Lidster, NY
(holding), 1:13; Brown, Van (tripping), 7:19; Lidster, NY (holding), 16:58;
Adams, Van (boarding), 18:55.
Third period -- 5, New York, Kovalev 8 (Leetch, Zubov), 15:05 (pp). 6,
New York, Larmer 8 (Zubov, Leetch), 17:56. Penalties -- NY bench, served by
Kocur (too many men), 3:53; Lumme, Van (holding), 4:48; Tikkanen, NY
(roughing), 10:42; Diduck, Van (roughing), 10:42; Messier, NY (slashing),
11:29; Gelinas, Van (roughing), 14:31.
Shots on goal -- New York 8-8-11 -- 27; Vancouver 8-12-10 -- 30.
Missed penalty shot -- Bure, Van, 6:31 second.
Power-play opportunities -- New York 2 of 5; Vancouver 1 of 10.
Goalies -- New York, Richter, 15-5 (30 shots-28 saves); Vancouver,
McLean, 13-8 (27-23). Attendance -- 16,150.
Referee -- Terry Gregson. Linesmen -- Kevin Collins, Gerard Gauthier.
Mike (These next two days would be the longest of my life) Fornabaio -- mef17@oocities.com
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