For the first time in some time, the Rangers finally get to rest.
Following Tuesday night’s 2-1 Game 7 win over the Penguins, propelling the Blueshirts into the conference finals, they got Wednesday off and won’t play another game until Saturday. That is when they will be in Montreal to start the best-of-seven contest to determine the winner of the Eastern Conference.
Earlier in the playoffs, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault had griped about the schedule his team was put through, calling it “stupid.” Bridging their first-round, seven-game series against the Flyers and the beginning of their second-round series against the Penguins, the Rangers had played five games in seven nights, the first team to do that in the postseason since 1987.
“The next couple of days it’s total rest from our group,” Vigneault said on “The Michael Kay Show” on ESPN Radio on Wednesday, the coach’s 53rd birthday. “Our schedule was challenging and our guys handled it well.”
The Rangers schedule was to practice on Thursday, and practice again on Friday before leaving for their next city. That should make them pretty fresh for the start of the next series, in addition to the fact that they haven’t had to suffer through any major injuries, with Chris Kreider returning to the lineup in Game 4 against the Penguins.
“We’re as healthy as you can be at this time of year,” Vigneault told Mike Francesa on WFAN Radio, the Rangers’ off-day media tour continuing as the buzz around the city ratchets up. “Our group is battle-tested. We’re going to take the next 48 hours to heal our wounds a little bit and get ready for an exciting conference final.”
Apparently the closed-door meeting that happened after the Rangers got drubbed in Game 4 at the Garden, losing 4-2 and going down in the series, 3-1, was a meeting that was players-only.
“As soon as we came off the ice the players had that closed-door meeting,” Vigneault said on ESPN Radio, “and one of them told my assistants that it was a good meeting and I felt real confident. I knew we weren’t happy with how we had played, but the players were real disappointed.”
Before Game 5, veteran forward Martin St. Louis’ mother, France, died, and Vigneault said it galvanized the team, bringing them together for the three-game winning streak.
“I knew we would come back with a much better effort, and that combined with what happened to Marty made us more focused and we got the job done,” Vigneault said.