Tough Game 1 loss puts team in similar spot as first round

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Rangers are in a similar spot entering Friday night’s Game 2 of their secondround series against the Hurricanes as they were after losing the first game of their first-round series to the Penguins.

But maybe better. “Triple overtime is a little more deflating,” Ryan Reaves said after the Rangers conducted an optional practice on Thursday at PNC Arena.

The Rangers could not hold a one-goal, third-period lead in Game 1 Wednesday and lost, 2-1, in overtime. The Penguins won an epic Game 1 of the first-round series, 4-3, in triple overtime at Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers, of course, rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to advance.

There’s also the difference of being down 1-0 in a series after losing the opener on the road instead of at home.

The series shifts to the Garden for Game 3 on Sunday afternoon.

“It’s not deflating,” Reaves said of Wednesday’s loss. “Especially what we just went through last series down 3-1. We know how to bounce back. We know we played a good game. That’s one thing we have to take out of that is that, for two and a half periods, we carried most of the play. It’s not deflating. It’s motivation to go get the split tomorrow.”

To do so, the Rangers must play the structured, smart game they played through the first two periods on Wednesday while capitalizing on more of their chances.

That’s no given because the odds of again containing the fast-skating Hurricanes as the Rangers did for 40 minutes are not great.

But if the Rangers do again play with lead, they must be more aggressive with it.

Sustaining their forecheck will be key.

At their best in Game 1, the Rangers were playing up the ice, getting the pucks in deep and then winning battles to maintain possession in the Hurricanes’ zone.