The Curse of the Two-goal Lead

Some hockey fans might find it exhilarating when their team jumps out to a two-goal lead early in the game, but New York Rangers supporters have learned it's best to hold their tongues because the famed two-goal lead has led to some heartbreaking defeats.

The situation where a team with a two-goal lead in the early going of a hockey game loses is known as the "curse of the two-goal lead." This is because a two-goal advantage may cause the winning team to get too comfortable and play without much urgency, while the losing team may become more combative and driven to make up ground.

The Rangers have wasted two-goal leads in four games so far in the 2022–23 season. However, this is nothing new since some of the most noteworthy blown leads had occurred the season before, including on June 5th, 2022, when the Rangers allowed the Tampa Bay Lightning to creep back into the series in the eastern conference final.

The Rangers are certainly not unfamiliar with having a strong start to games, especially when they score two goals early. The issue, however, is maintaining the advantage when the Rangers often falter and fail to perform for the full 60 minutes.

The most recent blown lead for the Blueshirts happened on January 7, 2022, when they fell 4-3 in overtime to the New Jersey Devils. A clever feed from Lafreniere put Jimmy Vesey in the offensive zone, and he made a quick deke move and blasted a beautiful high snipe past Vanecek to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead just 1:34 into the game. To continue the pattern of early goals, Julien Gauthier added a beautiful goal at 3:28 of the second period, increasing the Rangers' lead to 2-0.

However, it only took the Devils a few minutes before Jack Hughes put them on the board. Chris Kreider got one back for the Rangers, again giving them a two-goal advantage, but the Rangers couldn’t hold on.

In the third period, goals from Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes’ second of the game in just two minutes and four seconds, the lead which allowed the Rangers to play with such complacency in the first place, was erased. The game went into OT, where the Devils took the extra point from Damon Severson’s game-winning goal at 2:47 of OT.

The basic truth is that nothing in hockey is certain, even when you are two goals ahead. The Rangers two-goal lead provided an undue sense of security. They were lulled into thinking they had won the game too soon, which made them too comfortable and thus vulnerable. The Devils took advantage of this and earned a momentum swing, eventually leading to the Blueshirts succumbing and squandering their previously comfortable lead.