OH YEAH! Arron Asham celebrates his first period goal during the Rangers’ 5-0 victory over the Capitals in Game 7. The Blueshirts will face the Bruins in the semifinal round. (UPI)
WASHINGTON — John Tortorella spoke yesterday morning at the Verizon Center, about 14 hours after the Rangers had escaped New York with a 1-0 Game 6 win, less than nine hours before taking on the Capitals in Game 7.
The Rangers had scored only two goals in three games on the road in the opening round series, but Tortorella scoffed at questions questioning the team’s confidence on offense, on how he could have confidence in the offense. Truthful or not, he said he wasn’t concerned with the lack of production, framing it under the assumption that players were due.
Rick Nash was due. Ryan Callahan was due. Brad Richards was due.
Arron Asham and Taylor Pyatt weren’t considered due because they weren’t considered candidates, but the unlikely duo ended the offensive quagmire in the nation’s capital and scored the first two goals of the Rangers’ 5-0 win.
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“Different guys stepping up, putting the puck in the net, it’s great to see,” said defenseman Ryan McDonagh. “We’ve been fighting to score goals at times in this series and that’s what you need. You need guys all the way through your lineup to help you win games.”
Asham and Pyatt? You’d have better odds picking a perfecta at Preakness.
Asham had only two goals in the regular season and entered the playoffs without a goal since March 26, but he equaled that mark in only seven postseason games. The physical forward gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead with 6:41 left in the first period, firing a slap shot over the glove of Braden Holtby on a pass from Chris Kreider.
“I don’t know if [my offense is] underestimated, but I don’t think the coaches expect me to go out there and dangle five guys and roof one,” said Asham, 35, who saw 7:59 of playing time. “I play a simple game, I use my forecheck and whenever I get the puck I try and get it on net as best as I can.
“Whenever you go into a Game 7 and get the first goal, it’s huge. It got the bench going, it got their fans out of it. It was huge for us.”
So was the next one. Pyatt entered the game having taken one or fewer shots in four of the six games, but one was all he needed in Game 7.
The 31-year-old wing, who went 26 consecutive games without a goal into late April, found himself alone in front of the net after Steve Eminger’s shot ricocheted off the skate of Derek Dorsett, and the third-line wing buried his first playoff goal 3:24 into the second period.
“I don’t think anything changed in our approach,” said Pyatt. “We felt confident after the beginning of the series that if we have another game in this building that we were going to come out on top and that’s what happened today.”
Plenty of time remained, but so did Henrik Lundqvist. It was all the Rangers needed. It was more than the Rangers needed.
The offense came alive and kept the season alive, thanks to a pair of players no one even knew would be needed.