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Rangers have a little too much experience

Mark Herrmann

April 30, 2008

The other day, Jaromir Jagr had no trouble deflecting a television reporter's question about referees' calls or something else controversial. "How old am I, 36? He didn't get me," Jagr said, with the practiced laugh of someone who has been around a long time.

Last night, after the Rangers had reached the brink by going down 3-0 in their series against the Penguins, Jagr spoke about Game 4 tomorrow night. "It might be my last game, eh? Let's make it special," he said with the poignant look of someone who has been around a long time.

Jagr played great, but that sums up the fine line the Rangers have been walking in this series, or not walking. It's great to have experience, but sometimes "experience" just means "old."

So far, experience has gotten nowhere chasing youthful energy. There were times in the Penguins' 5-3 win last night at Madison Square Garden when it looked like the Rangers couldn't keep up. There were times on the power play when the Rangers made it easy by just standing around. There were times when it looked like all the know-how in the world could not match the Penguins' how-do.

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Brendan Shanahan, who was born right after Richard Nixon was inaugurated the first time, was moved off the No.2 line with Scott Gomez and Sean Avery in a blatant concession that the other two guys needed younger legs (Fredrik Sjostrom's). It didn't help.

The decisive moment of the game was won by the fresher team. Everybody on the ice was dog tired during the Penguins power play late in the second period, but the action was so fierce that nobody could get to the bench. What happened was that the Penguins wore down the Rangers and Evgeni Malkin, 21, scored the goal that broke a tie at 3 and the Rangers' back.

Youth is being served experience on the fly.

"We don't have a choice. I mean, this is the playoffs," said Ryan Malone, one of the guys who was struggling to stay on his feet toward the end of that power play. Before this season, he had played in all of five NHL playoff games with no points.

"What do you do but battle hard and build momentum? There is no off switch in the playoffs," Malone said. "I think everyone realizes we've got to keep coming."

Penguins players are getting the hang of this. Marian Hossa didn't say last night, as he did when his team went up 3-0 on Ottawa in the first round, "I'm surprised we're up 3-0 this early in the series."

Worse for the Rangers is that their own young guys played like young guys. They screwed up at the worst possible times.

Ryan Callahan, 23, took a four-minute penalty for high-sticking at 16:49 of the first period, just after the Penguins had quieted the Garden's usual playoff thunder by going ahead 2-1. Sure enough, Malkin scored to make it 3-1.

Ryan Hollweg, 25, took a fateful boarding penalty at 15:56 of the second, when the Garden still was rocking because Jagr had tied it at 3. Sure enough, Malkin scored again. Game over, and the series might be a nick away from it.

The one good thing that came out of last night for the Rangers was that nobody was saying that they have made it through this before. They had been citing their experience before Game 2, reflecting on coming back to tie when they were down 2-0 to the Sabres last spring, as if history would pull them through. Instead they're on the verge of being history.

So the heck with experience. It's sheer, exuberant desperation now.

"I truly believe we can change it, change the series," Jagr said. "I'm not laughing, I believe."

Gomez put it this way: "It's easier said than done, but there's a lot of pride in here. No one wants to go home. We've just got to get back to Pitt and you never know what can happen. The Red Sox did it to the Yankees, so why not us?"

Along with that comeback in the 2004 American League Championship Series, there are two other examples in major pro team sports history of a team coming back to win after begin down 3-0. Both of them in hockey: the 1940 Maple Leafs and 1975 Islanders. The good news for the Rangers is that they're still too young to remember those days.