The New York Rangers displayed every ounce of their fighting spirit to tie up their series with Buffalo 2-2. The heavily-favored Sabres are the better team, I'll give them that. But, of all the teams still alive in the Eastern Conference, the Rangers perhaps match up best with them.

While all the pundits were unanimous in their assertion that the Blueshirts would be lucky to win one game (or at most two), they all seem to have forgotten that New York had the second-best defensive record in the Conference, trailing only the New Jersey Devils. Historically, strong defense and a hot goaltender have typically been able to neutralize even the highest-octane of offenses.

Henrik Lundqvist has shown that last year's first-round capitulation to the Devils was either a fluke or entirely down to his injuries. His playoff numbers in this campaign (8 games played, 1.75 GAA, .932 save percentage) have been nothing short of immaculate. Michal Roszival has not only patrolled the blueline efficiently, he also drilled home the winning goal in Game 3 to lift his squad out of a two-games-to-none hole.

Much has been made of the video replay controversy at the end of Game 4. For those that haven't seen it, Lundqvist's ill-advised foray out of his net led to a turnover. Daniel Briere attempted to stuff the puck into the short side, but Lundqvist managed to flash out a leg pad at full stretch to seemingly keep it out. Upon further review, it did seem that the puck probably crossed the line.

However, the replay rules state that evidence must be conclusive - in this case, there must be visible white ice between the goal line and the puck's location. Luckily for Lundqvist and the Rangers, his leg pad obfuscated the best angle that was available, and thus the call from Toronto could only be "no goal" (for those who don't know, all replay decisions are made by the league's office up in the frozen north).

True to form, Buffalo couldn't let it go without whining about it a little. Remember, this is the city and the team that cried about it literally for years after Brett Hull's Stanley Cup-winning goal was allowed to stand in the 1999 Finals. Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff told anyone who would listen in the post-game press conference that it was a goal -- conveniently forgetting that Toronto got it completely wrong in Game 3 when they disallowed a Rangers goal as being kicked in despite the fact that there was no kicking motion whatsoever.

Either way, Game 5 tomorrow should be fascinating. The Rangers have been unable to win in Buffalo for quite some time, so can they continue their momentum away from the friendly confines of Madison Square Garden? If they are to advance to the conference final, they are going to have to defeat the Sabres in their own barn.

To my mind, this is a crucial juncture in the playoffs, as I cannot see Ottawa or New Jersey defeating Buffalo. If the Rangers win, all of a sudden I believe it becomes much more wide open.

As for the other game last night, it was a harsh lesson in not abandoning a game early. Vancouver were up 2-0 on Anaheim at home, with two periods gone. They were 20 minutes away from evening up the series. Instead, they find themselves travelling to Anaheim having to win to stay alive, a daunting prospect at the best of times.

During the second intermission, my roommate and I both went to bed (cut us some slack, it was 12:30 AM here in New York) thinking it was over. Instead, goals from Teemu Selanne and Chris Pronger allowed the game to go to overtime, where Travis Moen finished off the Canucks. Honestly, I don't see a way back for Vancouver in the series, especially since most observers would agree that the Ducks are probably the strongest team still alive.

Overall, the quality of play has been tremendous so far. If you were to only look at box scores in the newspaper, you would likely assume that there had been a return to the bad old days of the neutral-zone trap and unwatchable games with the offense completely choked out of them.

Beyond the scorelines though, these 2-1 games are quite different from the ones that the defense-first Florida team rode to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996. The low scores are not the result of poor play - in fact, many of the games I've seen have been exciting end-to-end affairs. Most of the teams still alive have had spectacular contributions from their goaltenders, and have exhibited skilled team defense (rather than the ugly clutch-and-grab of the mid-1990s).

In contrast, the NBA playoffs have had many high-scoring games, but the quality of play has been abysmal. I'll take this any day of the week, I assure you.

Rangers or Sabres to go through, who do you fancy? Send your views to Sportingo.