Skip to main content

NHL playoffs: Five steps for Rangers to force Game 7 against Senators


play
Show Caption

The New York Rangers have reached the Eastern Conference final three times in the past five seasons. If they want to return there, they have much work to do.

Here’s what must be done tonight against the Ottawa Senators (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network) to force a Game 7 in their Eastern Conference semifinal. Ottawa leads the series 3-2.

1. Match the Senators’ urgency: The Senators played like a driven, determined, willful team in rallying from behind to win Game 5. They played with desperation. They looked as if they couldn’t be denied. The Rangers have to be that team in Game 6.

2. Everyone at their best: That would include key veteran defensemen Marc Staal and Dan Girardi whose play has been spotty in the playoffs. Coach Alain Vigneault’s decisions have also been under fire. Staal was on the ice for Derick Brassard’s tying goal in Game 5, and he was there with 18 seconds left in regulation when the Montreal Canadiens forced OT in Game 2 in the first round. Vigneault had Staal and Tanner Glass, who spent most of the year in the American Hockey League, protecting the lead in Game 5. Meanwhile, rookie Brady Skjei sat late in the third. It seems as if Vigneault is trusting his veterans too much.

3. Remember who they are: The Rangers are scoring 2.91 goals per game and they lead playoff teams in hitting. If the Rangers clean up their play in front of goalie Henrik Lundqvist, those two factors should be enough to carry them to another conference final.

4. Commit to tighter defense: The Rangers are not a quality defensive team, but they showed in Games 3 and 4 that they can play a tighter brand of hockey when they gave up two goals over two games. They have scored 17 goals in the last four games, yet they only won two of them because of sloppy play in their own end. They looked like a championship-caliber team in Games 3 and 4. If they do that again, there will be a Game 7.

5. King Henrik rules: Lundqvist seems to be at his best when the Rangers face elimination, particularly when it’s at Madison Square Garden. In his last 11 elimination games at MSG, Lundqvist is 10-1 with a 1.05 goals-against average and .965 save percentage. Lundqvist needs to be the Rangers’ best player.