from Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star,

Finally. Finally a game that swung and sloshed and whistled around the place like someone let off fireworks, where goals happened and then happened again. Finally, some leashes were slipped and mistakes were made and the game felt like something that could spin out of control, one way or the other. Hockey’s fun, when it does that.

The Eastern Conference has spent most of the playoffs playing 2-1 games or games that resembled 2-1 games, and the New York Rangers had all but perfected the art. You can play an exciting 2-1 game, but play 10 of ’em and the thrill dissipates, somewhat. Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final wasn’t that, though. No, it wasn’t that.

Instead, Tyler Johnson was the biggest man on the ice, and Tampa Bay blew a wild game open on the power play to win 6-2 and tie the series 1-1, going back to Florida. There was pace, skill, and a gift basket’s worth of mistakes, which allowed skilled players space to do something. The coaches will gnash their teeth and try to fix it, which is why I’d be thrilled to ban coaches from the bench during games. Or practices.

Either way, we got a game that felt less like a race to a coin-flip goal than a swashbuckling ride, until it spiralled out of reach midway through the third. That was fun.

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