There was shock and “aww” from Brandon Dubinsky, but not a hint of quit from the Rangers center, whose team faces an elimination Game 5 in Washington on Saturday afternoon after blowing a 3-0, third-period lead to the Capitals en route to last night’s 4-3 double-overtime Game 4 defeat at the Garden.
“We have to go in there with the attitude that we were going to have to win in their building to win the series, so let’s do that,” said Dubinsky, whose goal at 13:47 of the second period gave the Rangers a 3-0 lead they were not equipped to protect. “We just have to make sure that we wrap our heads around it, be ready to work [at practice] and find a way to get it done.
“Whenever we’ve needed to win a game, we’ve won,” he said. “I believe in this team. We’re capable of getting it done. We’re not focusing on three games, we’re focusing on one.”
The Rangers’ franchise has never rallied from 3-1 down to win a best-of-seven series. But then, the franchise had never blown a 3-1 series lead to lose a best-of-seven series before the Capitals came back on them two years ago.
“We’re not going to give up and we’re not going to give in,” said Chris Drury. “We can’t get caught up in the big picture.
“We’re just going to prepare to win one road game.”
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The Rangers were 0-for-7 in 13:02 of power-play time to the Capitals’ 0-for-4 in 7:03. For the series, the Blueshirts are 1-for-18 in 31:35, and Washington is 2-for-12 in 20:40.
“It’s been a struggle,” coach John Tortorella said. “Until we get the power play going, the penalty kill has to be that much better.”
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Henrik Lundqvist, who made 49 saves, including a spectacular glove save on Alexander Ovechkin‘s breakaway with 8:59 to go in the first OT, dropped to 1-5 lifetime in playoff overtime, including Game 1 of this series.
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Dan Girardi, who recorded nine of the Rangers’ 28 blocked shots, played a game-high 39:45, and Marc Staal logged 36:45. Dubinsky led Rangers forwards with 33:17. Alex Ovechkin, a threat every time he was on, launched 14 tries (four on net) in 30:07.