Hartnett: Rangers Can't Allow Mistakes To Linger Into Game 3
By Sean Hartnett
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The Rangers will enter the lion's den when they take the ice at Consol Energy Center for Game 3 of the conference quarterfinals on Monday night.
Smelling blood, the hosting Penguins will look to take advantage of charged-up atmosphere and deliver a blow to a Rangers team that suddenly appears vulnerable.
Everything went wrong for the Rangers in Game 2. Don't let the 4-3 final score fool you. All the things that worked for the Rangers in the series opener turned sour on Saturday night. It all starts with puck management. The Rangers were able to dominate their territory in Game 1, pinning the Pens deep and working the cycle to perfection.
Puck management betrayed the Rangers. Their cohesiveness evaporated, they stopped making smart decisions while in possession. Worse of all, their hands turned to stone on the power play. The Penguins kept putting themselves behind the eight ball by taking undisciplined penalties, and the Rangers only made Pittsburgh pay once – cashing in on one of seven power play chances.
"My comment on the power play is we have a group of guys that have frustrated themselves," alternate captain Derek Stepan said. "We just have to go out get and some good mojo going and find a way to pop a couple in and relax a bit on it. We've got a lot of guys who are gripping the stick and there's no need for that, especially now. We need to get some positive energy on it, zip it around, and make some plays."
The Rangers' power play has slumped to 2 for 12 in the series. Their execution is off and they aren't moving their feet enough.
"I think we were maybe over-passing a bit," winger Rick Nash said. "It didn't seem like we were getting enough looks, enough shots there in the shot lanes, and we weren't working to get through the shot lanes and get shots on net."
Penguins defenseman Ben Lovejoy believes that if his team keeps playing with fire, they're going to eventually get burned.
"We need to find ways to be far more disciplined," Lovejoy said. "We give them so much momentum. It takes away a ton from our team when we keep taking these penalties. Half the guys sit on the bench and get cold as they're not in the game. The other half are working tirelessly and expending far too much energy. It's not a good game plan and we need to clean that up. Guys need to suck it up individually. We're taking far too many stick penalties. It's gonna bite us. We need to get better."
An ineffective power play is nothing new for Rangers fans. What was more concerning was the Rangers struggling to defend in five-man units in Game 2 after keeping star duo Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin quiet in the series opener.
After a string of recent playoff struggles against the Rangers, Crosby broke out on Saturday. The Penguins captain scored two goals and was a plus-two in 17:28 TOI.
"He is so great," Lovejoy said. "We certainly needed that out of him. He knew this was a big stage and a big game for us. He led the way."
While Crosby played an integral role in the victory, Malkin's struggles have continued. The 6-foot-3 Russian has been held pointless through two games.
As a whole, the Penguins were able to successfully crash the net and keep Henrik Lundqvist busy with all kinds of traffic. On the other hand, the Rangers aren't making life difficult enough for Pens netminder Marc-Andre Fleury.
"It was just a matter of battling in front of net – our net and their net," Lundqvist said. "They were pretty good at getting to the loose pucks."
If the Rangers are to gain a 2-1 series lead, there's a long checklist of things they need to straighten out in Game 3. The pressure is on, but this group has a habit of rising to the challenge and correcting themselves under the most intense of spotlights.
"It's important in the playoffs to make sure that you can play in a home building and in a road building," Stepan said. "We have to make sure we get ourselves refocused and get ourselves ready for Game 3."
Follow Sean on Twitter – @HartnettHockey.
