It’s time to jump back in the time machine! In this edition of the The Best of The Rest, we’re hitting the ice, going back to the spring of 2011 at Madison Square Garden. This night was a Wednesday night at “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” its final spring before a mass overhaul to look and feel. That spring, yours truly was 15 and madly in love with the New York Rangers. That love affair had begun the season prior (more on that in a moment) and blossomed over the course of 2010-11. My mother had begun our tradition of watching every game together on the couch, and she took me to my first two games at the Garden, including the home opener, a 4-3 OT loss to the Leafs…a properly heartbreaking introduction to Ranger life. That season my father got back into the team and of all sudden I was surrounded by fellow fans to live and die with.

I was already hooked on the Stanley Cup Playoffs from watching the Blackhawks the previous spring, so I was only hoping it would make an appearance at MSG later in the spring. Why was I watching the Blackhawks beat the Flyers in the Finals that spring? Well, that is where our story begins, almost a year earlier at Wells Fargo Center on April 11th, 2010. On that Sunday afternoon the Rangers were in Philadelphia, for the 82nd and final game of the season, with the winner (in any fashion) going to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the loser going to the golf course.

The Blueshirts had forced this winner take all contest with a scrappy win on Friday night at MSG, led by fighter and trade acquisition Jody Shelley who would go onto play for Philly for the next three seasons. Shelley struck again to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the contest, but that was wiped by a Matt Carle equalizer. Tied at one at the end of regulation, the game went to a shootout where John Tortorella called on waiver claim Erik Christensen (he’ll be back later) and his smooth hands to lead off. P.A. Parenteau saved the day following a Danny Briere goal…for now. Claude Giroux, on the brink of becoming a league wide star, put the Flyers up 2-1, which led to Tortorella leaving Marian Gaborik on the bench for…who?! Sadly, the clip below does more justice than outrage could all these years later.

Yes, the season ended on the stick of Oli Jokinen, plunging the Rangers into an uncertain offseason. As if the bitter ending wasn’t bad enough, the Flyers used the momentum from the final day win to upset the Devils in round one, reverse sweep the Bruins in round two, smash the Habs in round three, and push the Hawks to the brink in the Finals. This pushed the front office to try and aggressively improve the team in the summer, and their solution was the solid Ruslan Fedotenko and…Alex Frolov. These additions combined with some anticipated progression from their internal options; there was hope the Rangers offense could go from stagnant too minimally effective.

Early on the Rangers front office and Torts looked smart when rookie Derek Stepan broke out and third year Ranger Brian Boyle was putting his game together. But captain (and future GM) Chris Drury and star goal scorer Marian Gaborik both got injured in the home opener and the offense flat lined as Frolov was dreadful. The team stayed afloat thanks to Henrik Lundqvists brilliant play behind a deep and talented defense core that was headed towards being one of the best in the sport. Boyle, Fedotenko, Ryan Callahan, and Brandon Dubinsky led the way up front until Gaborik came back to the lineup, while solid role players like Brandon Prust and Artem Anisimov chipped in as grinders. They bought at the deadline with veteran blue liner Bryan McCabe coming in from the Panthers to try and fix the brutal power play…emphasis on the try. The season even featured a cameo from future star and fan favorite Mats Zuccarello.

As the team came down the stretch, they were battling the Carolina Hurricanes for the final spot in the East. They pulled off an epic comeback in the 80th game of the season at MSG, reversing a 3-0 deficit against the eventual champion Bruins, winning the game 5-3, meaning all they had to do was beat the Thrashers at home in game 81 to clinch the spot. But of course, in typical Ranger fashion they, they lost the game 3-0, meaning they would have win game 82 against the Devils on Saturday and get the Hurricanes to lose at home to the Lightning. The Blueshirts did their part winning the game 5-2, keyed by a returning Chris Drury and budding defensive star Ryan McDonagh. Now they had to sit back and get help from the Bolts, and fortunately Tampa came through, winning the game in Raleigh 6-2. The Rangers were playoff bound and would be facing the Capitals, the team that eliminated them in 2009!

To say the Rangers were outgunned in this series would be an understatement. The Capitals were outstanding in the regular season with Ovie, Semin, Green, Knuble, Backstrom, Arnott and many more hoping to get the great 8 his first ring. The Caps biggest question mark was in net, with rookie goalie Michael Neuvirth in the pipes, a decided mismatch against King Henrik in this one versus eight seed playoff matchup. Despite leading game one in the third period on a Matt Gilroy goal of all things, the Rangers would lose the series opener in OT and then get blanked in game two. This brought the series to Broadway for a Sunday afternoon tilt on NBC with Doc Emerick on the mic!

The Rangers vaulted to the lead on an Erik Christensen “seeing eye” power play goal, but that lead didn’t last long as Ovechkin tied the game 1-1 heading to the third. In the final frame Vaclav “Vinny” Prospal scored to retake the lead, only for Mike Knuble to even the score again. Now late in the third with another overtime looming, the Rangers went to work offensively and forced the issue, forcing the puck to the front of the net, with Brandon Dubinsky batting a loose puck behind Neuvirth, giving the Rangers a 3-2 lead, one they would not relinquish.

Now it was a 2-1 series and there was some hope that the Rangers could get it even going back to DC for game five. There were two days off in between Sunday’s game three and Wednesday’s game four, so Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau decided to add a subplot to the series in the media and in the process threw out some bulletin board material to the Rangers…and their fans.

“Well, the one thing, its reputation is far better than the actual building, I mean, it’s nothing. The locker rooms are horrible. The benches are horrible. There’s no room for anything. But the reputation of being in Madison Square Garden is what makes it famous. Also, our building’s a lot louder, too. So I mean, they can say what they want, but it’s not that loud in there.”

Boudreau’s thoughts on MSG, true as they may be at times, spread like wildfire and Ranger fans took it quite personally. It’s usually not smart to hand the opposing team bulletin board material, but encouraging the opposition fans to turn the arena into a rowdy pit to play in was a very bold move, even if Boudreau had the better team in the series. As the off days came and went, the Rangers took the ice for game four with a capacity crowd going absolutely wild behind them. From the closing bars of John Amirante’s anthem, it was apparent the crowd was more up for it than usual.

The first period was littered with penalties, with the Rangers taking two, and Washington taking three, giving the home side a chance to get the raucous crowd going. But as per usual the Rangers “power outage” continued to hold them back as it had all year, and the first period ended scoreless. The game moved to the middle frame and the Rangers pressed the issue, with Tortorella’s lunch pail crew turning up the pressure on the Caps. At 5:24 of the period, off an innocent play down low, Artem Anisimov finally beat Neuvirth on a greasy bouncing puck. The Rangers sat on that 1-0 advantage until they got another offensive zone draw, one that Ruslan Fedotenko grabbed below the icing line, wrapped around and fed Gaborik at the side of the net who stuff the puck in the net making 2-0. Now MSG was feeling itself, the Rangers were absolutely rolling, playing on their toes, and then euphoria happened off the ensuing facoff!

In a mere seven seconds Madison Square Garden went from going wild to coming unglued. I can remember the shot of the crowd’s arms going into the air like it was yesterday, a feeling my wild living celebration matched as my mother, and I lost our minds with joy. The crowd, now fully living up the moment, decided to let Boudreau hear it.

The versus broadcast microphones began to pickup the makings of a chant from the MSG crowd. We turned the volume up so we could make it out at home, and sure enough it became clear. “CAN YOU HEAR US? CAN YOU HEAR US?” It got louder and louder that it couldn’t be ignored as the game went on. The broadcast couldn’t help but comment on it and even the most pessimistic Ranger fan had to crack a smile as the cry of the blue seats continued to ring. If you thought it was loud on TV…I give you some rare arena footage to back it up.

The elation of the second period carried over to intermission as the team left the ice to a massive ovation. They had more than earned their 3-0 lead, and while they say a two-goal lead is toughest to defend in all of hockey, surely the Blueshirts couldn’t blow a 3-0 lead at home with the immortal Henrik Lundqvist in net, could they? After all, Lundqvist and the Rangers blue line had played wonderfully all series long, there was no way they’d bend now, let alone break.

But as third period began the Caps surged, and they dialed up the pressure on a Rangers team that was not trapped in it’s own end, with their net turning into a shooting gallery. Alex Semin would get a greasy goal to get Washington on the board, and then Marcus Johansson would grab a goal off a puck that pin balled around the Rangers zone. With the lead trimmed to one it felt like a matter of when, not if Washington would get even. As a penalty to Sean Avery expired, Caps d-man John Carlson fired a one timer from the point that Johansson re-directed past Lundqvist, tying the game at three. In the blink of an eye, the Rangers and their fans had gone from euphoria to utter despair.

Dreams of a tied series waned as the game went to overtime, where the Rangers struggled to create much in the way of offense. They were mostly hanging on by a thread thanks Lundqvist, who had shut the Capitals down again after the third period barrage. Halfway through the period, the Rangers had a few whacks at the puck around the Caps net, when a weak shot from the point was blocked and Brooks Laich sent a goal hanging Alex Ovechkin in alone on a breakaway from the red line in. This is what sports is all about, the biggest moment of the game, in the playoffs, to be settled between a pair of Hall of Fame players.

It seemed improbable that Ovechkin, the greatest goal scorer of all time, wouldn’t score the game winner in that spot…but King Henrik was up to the challenge. This save was Lundqvist’s best out of the 49 he made on the night and saved the game and probably the season for the moment. I’m always fascinated in the clip above by the suspense in the air as Ovechkin streaks in and then the mighty roar from the crowd as Hank makes the save.

The game dragged on, into a second overtime period tied at three, a period in which the Rangers actually managed to get a few quality chances to score. The capacity crowd was hoping against hope that the home team would find a way, when the Caps came the other way, when Jason Chimera flipped a harmless shot at Lundqvist, one that Marian Gaborik reached to play away from danger. Unfortunately, he played the puck into his own net…ending the game 4-3 in double OT for Washington. The Rangers had blown a massive lead with the best goalie in the league in the net, and went from nearly having the series tied 2-2, to being down three games to one. They would go out with a whimper in game five, 3-1 loss in the nation’s capital, ending the season.

Given the downer that this story ended on, you may be asking “why the hell did you pick this loss to talk about Nick?” In short, as my friends always say, it’s the Ranger losses that build character. This was no exception to the rule, as it served to educate me in my young fan life, that if can go wrong, it probably will go wrong. Still in spite of the pain this team brings you as a fan, it’s all worth it for the memories made over the years following them with my family, friends, and you readers out there following us. This game also doesn’t feel that painful in hindsight as that 10-11 season was really the jumping off point to a 15-year run of success that was probably the best stretch of hockey in franchise history.

I also went with this game because it emblematic of how special how special this fan base is. Sure, there are nights where MSG isn’t the rowdiest thanks to the suits in the front row, but in the end this fan base is the best, even when it’s being overly negative, and honestly who could blame us all right now. It’s hard to sit through out team right now, and it feels like we’re a long way from nights like this one, let alone winning it all…but here’s to hoping they come back into our lives sooner rather than later!

On twitter you can find Mike @Mike_Sheerin, Tyler @TMon_19 and Sean @SeanMartinNFL. Subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Check out our Instagram feed @thebroadwaybreakdownsports for special gameday and promotional content. Our podcasts are available on Spotify. Visit the Rangers Ed Shop by clicking the link on our homepage. Check out our mailbag page to join the conversation here on the site and on our partners show, The Rangers Ed Podcast! We’ll be back with more soon.