Trillo Talk: Rangers shrinking, Carlyle exhausted

Despite the solid goaltending of Henrik Lundqvist, left, the Rangers find themselves in a 2-0 series hole against the Washington Capitals.

On-ice: I get the whole 'don't throw a teammate under the bus' thing, but if I'm Henrik Lundqvist it's time to channel my inner soccer goalie. I love it when a keeper goes bananas on a player who messed up. Next time that player....well, there won't be a next time, that's the point. King Henry is standing tall in net but his team's offence is shrinking. In the crucial overtime period New York did not register one shot on net in eight minutes, and they even had a power play! A game of semantics also hurt the Rangers. With 45 seconds left in the third period, the puck deflected off Washington's Karl Alzner's stick and went over the glass. But because he didn't SHOOT it or BAT it, it was DEFLECTED, and the officials did not call a delay of game penalty. I agree with this call. Allow me to use a soccer example once again. Nothing bugs me more than when a striker rifles the ball at a defender, it hits her arm, and she gets booked while the striker gets a penalty kick. Sound familiar Canada?

Off-ice: A source with the Rangers said Ryan McDonagh is one of the nicest guys you'll meet. He was beating himself up so much for taking that penalty in OT, which led to the Caps' goal, that it almost made you want to cry. He'll unfortunately have a sleepless night.

On-ice: The most exhausted person after this game has to be Randy Carlyle. He was working harder than the chief conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra between his mixing of line combinations and trying to get Phil Kessel away from Zdeno Chara. Mission accomplished as Kessel FINALLY scored! And while all his teammates, Leafs fans, and goldfish were jumping for joy, Kessel successfully kept his heart rate at 40 beats per minute in his post-game scrum.

Off-ice: Incredible, inspiring, proud: These are just a few of the emotions I felt when seeing Jeff Bauman wave the Boston Strong flag before puck drop. He lost both his legs in the Boston bombings and identified the bombers to police. Jeff, your strength is radiating and touched us all. 

On-ice: Please refer to a former Trillo Talk, in which I compare Justin Abdelkader to The Terminator. And that's exactly what he did to Toni Lydman. It was a wicked hit that sent Lydman to the dressing. He did not return, and coach Bruce Boudreau said he's dealing with a headache and isn't expected to practise. Abdelkader was ejected from the game and could be missing a few more if the league calls.

Off-ice: Alright people, I get it, I hate traffic too. But a pet peeve of mine is fans leaving the building before a game is over. A Taylor Swift concert forced Detroit fans to pile out early. You stay, you support, you....what? It was 4-0 at that point? Ok, just this once.

On-ice: This is a low scoring series but it keeps me on edge each time. Perhaps because Game 1 went into overtime and Game 2 was won in the final minute of regulation. The goalies have been great and finally Jonathan Quick gets rewarded for his efforts. On our post-game show, Elliotte Friedman brought up a good point about defenceman defending their goalie. St. Louis Blues's David Perron ran over Quick and Drew Doughty made him pay by running him into the net. Doughty was given a double minor, and Friedman's point was you can't allow guys to run the goalie and then earn his team a four-minute power play. I completely agree. 

Off-ice: Has anyone ever seen Darryl Sutter get excited? Laugh out loud? Maybe cry a little? The fiery Italian blood running through my veins finds his lack of expression highly unacceptable.

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