It’s not so much a been-there-done-that situation, but with the Rangers already having faced a Game 7 and won in these playoffs, the past can be a valuable tool.
In the first round against the Senators, they won both Games 6 and 7, advancing to the conference semifinals against the Capitals, whom they will host tonight at the Garden in their second do-or-die scenario.
“You have to take some experience out of that and what you did and how you prepared and what the mindset is going into a Game 7,” defenseman Ryan McDonagh told The Post after yesterday’s practice. “You feed off those memories and experiences. This is a totally different team, but it’s the same mindset where you erase the six games.”
The quickest one to be erased should be Wednesday’s Game 6 in Washington, which finished as a 2-1 win for the Capitals, but it was a game in which the Rangers looked outclassed and outworked throughout. McDonagh made a weak clearing attempt on a first-period penalty kill that resulted in Alex Ovechkin scoring the first goal and the Capitals controlling the momentum from the start.
“All that matters is Game 7,” McDonagh said. “You can redeem yourself as a team, as an individual, and we just need guys to step up and come through for the team.”
The Capitals are no strangers either to elimination games, having defeated the defending champion Bruins in the first round in seven games.
The general consensus in the Rangers’ locker room was this Game 7 will be no different because they lost Game 6 as opposed to winning it, as they did in Ottawa.
“I don’t think so,” Brad Richards said when asked about the difference. “We’re in the same spot, we just have to win. There’s nothing in the past that means anything right now. It’s just one game, all-out, home ice and move to the next round.”
Even coach John Tortorella, for all his terse and no-nonsense mentality, made a concession that tonight is more than the next step in line.
“I know Game 7 isn’t just a game,” Tortorella said. “But we don’t change how we do things. As we’ve done before, we go about our business.”
Tortorella is trying to do everything he can to keep his team focused on the present, without thinking about the Devils waiting in the next round or about how the Rangers came back to beat the Senators two weeks ago.
But he also seems to know it would be shortsighted to completely forget about the good things that have happened, so he agreed the last series can have some value as his young squad moves forward.
“I think it’s always good to have the experience of it,” Tortorella said. “All you have to be ready for in Game 7 is to be ready to play. Let’s not get convoluted here. And we will be ready to play.”
bcrygalis@nypost.com