Here are the keys to a Rangers victory tonight from The Maven.
The Maven hereby presents ten redoubtable reasons why the Rangers should win tonight and tie the Conference Final at three games apiece. Choose your favorite:
1. "That's a great team over there that can turn this thing around."
2. No, it's not The Voice Of The Maven; it's Gus Forsling, ace defenseman of the Florida Panthers. (Yeah, the Panthers!)
3. Breadman Panarin knows that he's toast if he doesn't deliver and the Blueshirts lose. A super-super-motivated Bready should have the Cats meowing in pain.
4. Besides, Artemi would rather be "The Toast Of Manhattan '' – and therefore will end his dreadful slump this evening.
5. Peter Laviolette will wake up and follow the advice from columnists, friends, and even Lady Luck by putting Big Al Lafreniere on the power play along with Lord Rempe.
6. "Home Ice Advantage" went out of style with the following autos: DeSoto, Pontiac, LaSalle and The Maven's AMC Sportabout.
7. Mystic History tells my crystal ball that the Blueshirts will rally from 2-3 as Mark Messier's "Miracle" team did 30 years ago. (By the way, Mystic History is almost always right.)
8. It happens all the time; just when a team thinks the series is in the bag, the bag breaks. (If you don't believe me, ask the Boston Bruins, circa last spring.
9. Tonight, the Rangers will bring their A-minus game while the overconfident Cats will slip to C-Plus. (How about Rangers 3-1!)
10. That's because the usually-solid Sergei Bobrovsky is six years older than Igor Shesterkin. Therefore, younger, quicker Iggy will be one precious inch more likely to make the save of the game.
P.S. And if you don't believe me, take it from my buddy, Paul Maurice, who bravely states: "There's no momentum!"
