If it is true that defense wins championships, the Rangers had better pick it up.
The story of these Stanley Cup finals has been the Rangers’ four blown two-goals leads, three in Game 2’s devastating double-overtime loss at Staples Center on Saturday night.
The Rangers, in a canyon-sized 0-2 hole entering Game 3 at the Garden Monday night, have scored more than enough goals, six through two contests against Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick. But they are giving up more than they have the entire postseason, eight through two games, a goal-and-a-half more per game than they allowed through the first three rounds of the playoffs.
“[The Kings], they’re never out of it,” defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “They turn something out of nothing a lot and we just kind of hurt ourselves with a couple of turnovers. [We] can’t afford to do that.
“You got to maintain your focus all the time out there, make sure you make good decisions.”
The Kings, of course, are a different animal, a physically imposing and ultra-skilled opponent that has made a habit of rallying this postseason. They’re seemingly always on the attack, turning mistakes into scoring opportunities, creating traffic in front of Henrik Lundqvist, throwing pucks at the net from all angles. They got off 43 shots in Game 1 and 44 more in Game 2, and have turned Rangers miscues into goals.
“We’re really trying. We have good energy. It just comes down to a couple of plays,” Lundqvist said. “So far they’ve been taking advantage of a couple mistakes in the first two games that we just have to minimize. But obviously their forechecking brings that. They put a lot of pressure on us.”
The Rangers’ strong back line has struggled against the Kings’ size and aggression, unable to move L.A. away from Lundqvist. Defenseman Anton Stralman said the Rangers have to block more shots — the Kings have scored on several shots from the point — and, most important, keep the Kings away from the front of the net.
“They crash the net hard,” he said. “They got rewarded a few times [Saturday night]. That’s one thing we have to do better.”
A lot of attention was paid after Game 1 to blue-liner Dan Girardi’s own-zone giveaway that led to Justin Williams’ overtime game-winner, but the problem in Game 2 wasn’t one mistake. It was the inability once the Kings got rolling to snuff out their chances, play the kind of sound defensive game that has carried the Rangers to this point, past the Flyers, Penguins and Canadiens.
“They’re going to have some momentum throughout the game,” defenseman Marc Staal said. “We have to figure out better ways not to get burned on them. They start coming a little bit, get some momentum against us, and then they hurt us for two goals where we need to make a stand there and tilt the ice back the other way.”