New York Rangers in Survival Mode

The New York Rangers have found themselves in a bind. After clinching the Presidents’ Trophy and breezing through round one of the playoffs against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Rangers are in a must-win situation against the Washington Capitals.

New York is down in the series 3-1, and will have to win the next three games in order to move on. It is not an impossible feat as each player will tell you he is just focused on the game at hand and not looking ahead. But this situation hasn’t been kind to the Rangers over the years, who are 1-17 when trailing by this margin.

Via NHL.com:

“I think there’s certainly a group of us in the room that knows how hard it is to get yourself back into this [series],” Rangers center Derek Stepan said. “At the same time, we can’t focus on winning the series; we have to focus on winning Game 5 and that’s all we can really do. That’s one of the things we did well [in the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs], just focusing on winning one game at a time.”

With this mentality, the task doesn’t seem as daunting. But the pressure is mounting and Henrik Lundqvist, Rick Nash, Derek Stepan and Marty St. Louis are going to feel it, especially when fans and teammates look to them for leadership.

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Aside from Lundqvist, the Rangers have underperformed. Boy, they are really missing Mats Zuccarello and his offense. None of the top players has made an impact in this series and that is what is so troubling. Each game has been close, all one-goal games, but the Rangers have only been able to score one goal total in the past two games and five overall in this series. I mean that should tell you a lot about why they are on the brink of elimination.

So now, with Game 5 tonight, the Rangers will be in full-out survival mode. I expect to see some line changes—something, anything to get the players going! Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if Tanner Glass started the game so he could throw a big hit and get the crowd riled up while setting the tone of the game.

I would love to see Cam Talbot in net, but I know that is just a pipe dream. I have said from the beginning of this postseason that I would like him to have his shot in the playoffs as he played so well during the regular season. Lundqvist’s play hasn’t been terrible, but maybe the swap would reinvigorate this team. But the Rangers don’t take many chances and I don’t expect them to take any tonight when it comes to who will play in goal.

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