NHL

‘Finally here’: Rangers relieved to be home at last

Nine games, nine cities and six defeats later, the Rangers finally get to play at home.

“I think everybody has been waiting for this day for a long time, and it’s finally here,” Alain Vigneault, who will make his Garden debut behind the Blueshirts’ bench on Monday when his club faces the Canadiens, said following the morning skate. “The guys are ready.”

The Blueshirts are coming off a confidence-boosting 3-2 overtime victory over the Red Wings that improved the record to 3-6, which, as Marc Staal observed following the game in Detroit, sure does sound a lot better than the alternative 2-7 (or 2-6-1).

“I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of emotion where we feed off the fans’ energy,” said Brian Boyle. “But we have to be careful that we don’t lose our discipline.”

The Rangers have tightened up their play following the chaotic first five-game portion of their trip, surrendering just eight goals in splitting the last four matches. Henrik Lundqvist, who sat out the last two with an unidentified ailment, returns to net for his eighth straight home-opening assignment.

“I think everybody is excited this day is here,” said the goaltender, who has a lifetime 13-10-2 mark against the Habs. “We’ve played a lot of really good teams, and we’re playing a good team [in Montreal] with a lot of speed, so we have to be ready for that.

“It’s a lot about confidence right now.”

Vigneault has maintained a true course through the travails of a month-long travelogue better suited to tourists than businessmen. It’s hard to imagine, certainly with the loss of Rick Nash to a concussion following the first period of the third game, but it could have been worse than 3-6.

“[The schedule] was a challenge but not an excuse,” Vigneault said when asked if he believed his team had weathered the storm. “We haven’t played to our expectations.

“I think we came through a tough part of the schedule, but I wouldn’t call it ‘weathering the storm.’ I expect the team to play well and the right way. There’s not a road way and home way; there’s a right way.”

And there’s the Great White Way, which the Rangers not only call home but on Monday actually get to skate on.

“We’ve been waiting for this day for quite some time now,” Vigneault said. “I’m happy it’s here.”