The Rangers have vowed to make life miserable for goaltender Michal Neuvirth when they face the Caps at the Garden this afternoon in Game 3 of the first-round series they trail 2-0.
“We have to get in the guy’s face,” Brandon Dubinsky said of the 23-year-old rookie who is coming off a Game 2, 2-0 shutout victory and who has stopped 46 of the 47 shots he has seen in 138:24. “He’s a young guy, we have to put pressure on him.
“We’ve got to crash the blue a little bit more to generate chances. Our mindset has to be to bring it to the net. Rather than cycling ourselves to death, we have to funnel everything to the blue.
“He certainly has made some good saves but I don’t think he’s seen enough rubber or enough traffic.”
The problem is Neuvirth has been allowed to see just about all the shots that have gotten through, though there are exceptions. The defense certainly deserves its share of the credit, but the Rangers simply must press the issue today.
“We definitely need to be in his way more,” said Chris Drury. “We have to have guys in front all the time because if he sees it, he’s going to stop it.
“We have to have guys in his face so he can’t challenge us. We need pucks and bodies to the net. If we get a couple, that way, maybe we can cause some doubt in his mind.”
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Drury told The Post he believes the Caps became infused with confidence when Alexander Ovechkin‘s jam job at 13:44 of the third period of Game 1pulled the Caps into a 1-1 tie before Alexander Semin won it in OT.
“I thought that we played very well after we took the lead [on Matt Gilroy‘s goal at 1:56 of the third],” the captain said. “I think the combination of how well we were playing defense, the time they tied it and with who’s in net for us, for them to score against Hank with six minutes to go, I could tell how excited they were.
“I’m sure it’s helped their mindset.”
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John Tortorella said he would change the look of the power play that has gone 0-for-4 after finishing the season 1-for-27. The coach said while he probably will switch lines, he’s sticking with the same lineup, meaning Mats Zuccarello and Steve Eminger would be out.