KNOT IN THEIR BACKYARD
Tying series at Garden is Rangers’ sole focus
The Rangers understand the context of the situation, but they’re trying to block all of that context out. Because the minute they take their focus off the immediate task at hand is when that big picture can start to look dire — again.
It is with that mindset that they prepared for Game 4 of their secondround series against the Senators on Thursday night at the Garden. Following two disheartening losses in Ottawa to start the series, the Blueshirts put together an emphatic Game 3 win at home Tuesday, a comprehensive 4-1 victory that cut the Senators’ lead in the best-ofseven series to 2-1.
As nice as it would be to think about the series being 2-2 going back to Ottawa for Game 5 on Saturday afternoon, that can’t be the Rangers’ focus — and it isn’t.
“It ’s pretty obvious that it’s a lot better position to go up there 2-2 than being down 3-1 . That would be a really tough spot. But right now, I think it’s important we don’t think about the series,” goalie Henrik Lundqvist said after Wednesday’s practice at the Garden. “We just take [Game 4] and focus on that and try to make the most of it. The preparation and how we execute, it’s all about that.”
The thing is: The Rangers know their opponent is going to be better. There aren’t a lot ways the Senators can be worse after a Game 3 performance Ottawa coach Guy Boucher said was “a slap in the face.” So just as the Rangers were desperate to win Game 3, the Sens will be similarly desperate to win Game 4, knowing that going home tied after leading 2-0 will put all the momentum on the Rangers’ side.
But Range rs coach Alain Vigneault wanted to put things in shortterm perspective before his team — or anybody else — got ahead of itself.
“At the end of the day, all we’ve done is win one game,” Vigneault said. “That’s all we’ve done. So we’re going to need a better effort [in Game 4]. We’re going to need a complete game from start to finish, and that’s what we talked about.”
It doesn’t h ave to be reiterated to the Blueshirts that they have played pretty well despite trailing in the series. They have been behind for just 4 minutes, 11 seconds of the total 202:54 of game time through the first three games, but they also know that guarantees them nothing.
“To tie it up, it’s going to be a more challenging game, and they’re going to be more desperate this time,” Lundqvist said. “We’re just going to have to match it.”
What the performance in Game 3 gave the Rangers was a sense of things turning in their favor. They lost Game 1 on a shot that banked in off the back of Lundqvist’s head, then lost Game 2 after they blew three separate two-goal leads, including a 5-3 cushion with less than four minutes to play in regulation before they lost in double overtime.
But they were on top of the puck from the start of Game 3, and never allowed a bad bounce to undo them. Now they have the momentum, as fleeting as it can be.
“Momentum shifts from period to period, shift to shift, game to game ,” Vignea ult said. “[Game 3] is behind us. The most importantportant game we have right now iss the onee that we have in front off us [Thursday]. We’re getting ready for it.”