WASHINGTON — Listen, it’s the best option the Rangers have to create an attack, and it’s one that John Tortorella has almost no choice but to turn to for tonight’s Game 2 against the Capitals, but boy, oh boy, there’s that pesky matchup thing on the road, and good golly, there is the coach’s penchant for applying the quick hook to players and lines that do not defend capably.
Reintroducing then, the Erik Christensen-Marian Gaborik-Vinny Prospal unit following Wednesday’s 2-1 Game 1 overtime defeat in which Christensen was on the fourth line, Artem Anisimov struggled on the top line, and in which the Rangers barely made the Caps sweat in their own end of the ice.
The problem, however, is that the Christensen-Gaborik-Prospal unit’s single-minded offense-first approach, especially below the hash marks, has led to so many opposition odd-man rushes and chances against Henrik Lundqvist, that it has caused Tortorella to develop night sweats, not to mention prompting the coach to bench the unit in the third period of three of its final six games intact during the season.
Mum’s-the-playoff-word, Tortorella refused to confirm the change even after centers Christensen and Anisimov switched spots in practice, but he did say: “Certainly I’m not putting Erik in there for defensive purposes.”
Damned if you try to win a 1-0 game, which seemed to be the plan once the Blueshirts hit the ice in Game 1. Damned if a defensively questionable line is matched against the explosive Alex Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-Mike Knuble unit, as will be Washington coach Bruce Boudreau’s option at home.
It will be fascinating to see how Tortorella reacts; whether he will pull that line at the sight of Ovechkin, thus getting into the type of strict matching game his team essentially never plays and really isn’t prepared for, or whether he’ll take it, relying on the trio to make it work and thus hope to keep the Caps’ top players on the defensive.
“It would be silly for me to put extra pressure on myself considering as much as I put on myself anyway,” said Christensen. “The way for us to be better defensively and stay together is to communicate more, and that starts with me.
“I think we can be a very good line offensively, but in order to stay together we have to make sure we get the job done defensively, we’re all aware of that.”
The Rangers want to go north, always up the ice with the puck, but there are times the best option is east-west to open up the defense and get the opposition chasing the way the Blueshirts were in Game 1. Christensen and Gaborik have the skill and the chemistry to pull that off, if they’re not pulled off the ice first by Tortorella.
“We have to know who we’re out against and we have to have a third man back,” said Gaborik. “We have to move the puck quickly and we can’t be too cute with it.
“We’ve had good games together where we’ve created chances. We have to stay confident, be disciplined, and push each other at all times to do well at both ends.”
Gaborik had an encouraging Game 1, finding holes, winning battles, launching nine tries, four of which got through in 26:17 of earned ice. But he did not score. Has not scored since March 20, when he got a five-on-three power play goal.
“I know there’s pressure on me to score, there’s pressure from the outside and the pressure I put on myself, but I know that’s my responsibility, and I accept that,” Gaborik said. “The way I feel, it’s just a matter of time.”
For the Rangers, it may be the matter of time that Tortorella keeps the Christensen-Gaborik-Prospal unit intact.