Saturday night the New York Rangers will need to put their best foot....er, skate forward to keep themselves in contention for their first Stanley Cup in 20 years. Though the 2014 playoffs have been loaded with improbable comebacks (Rangers down 1-3 to Pittsburgh, Kings down 0-3 to San Jose), New York certainly doesn’t want to put themselves in a position where they have to win both games in New York.
The Rangers have gone 6-4 at Madison Square Garden this postseason, a record that should hardly instill confidence. Then again, Los Angeles has posted an identical record on their home ice. So much for an advantage.
For 40 minutes on Wednesday, the Rangers were everything and then some for the Kings. Their speed exposed the Kings repeatedly on the wings and often times up the middle. A short-handed goal from Carl Hagelin and a breakaway tally from Benoit Pouliot each left a vapor trail for the slow starting Kings.
While Los Angeles was able to claw its way back and then win the game in overtime, each team acknowledged that they left a lot of room for improvement.
"It certainly helps that we've done it time and time again," said Williams "It's a great result of the hockey game for us, definitely, but we have a lot of things to clean up. Certainly not our best game by any standards, especially ours, but we were able to get it done. That's the most important thing."
The Rangers agreed that they too had left a lot on the table headed into a decisive Game 2.
“When you play against such a good opponent that has all that strength, you need to play a full game,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. “For whatever reason we just weren’t good enough in the third.”
Defenseman Marc Staal added, “It’s just one game, not the end of the world,”
With only one game down and potentially six left to play the Rangers recognize the importance of Game 2. Vigneault demanded more from his players after Game 1 and revisited similar comments on the eve of the critical Game 2.
"It's not just because it's a great opponent, it's the time of the year," he said. "We're all looking for a better response.”
For as much as the Rangers plan to improve their overall game on Saturday night, they better understand that there is a Kings team with the same mindset. Los Angeles realizes how fortunate they were to have their own “Mr. Clutch” with the puck on his stick alone in front of the Rangers net.
They don’t want to hear about any luck that may have helped them along the way, and will look more like the team that bounced the defending champions. Since both teams will be playing with a purpose, the quality of play will improve and the Rangers won’t be taking the third period off again.
Look for another close one with some more scoring. The Rangers will even the series and head back to New York with home ice. Don’t expect them to hold on to it for too long. This series has seven games written all over it.