Players and coaches rarely speak with this much reverence, with this much excitement about a single event and a single venue.
On Monday night, Madison Square Garden will host its first Stanley Cup finals game in 20 years, going all the way back to June 14, 1994. With the Rangers having lost both games to the Kings in Los Angeles, they find themselves down in the best-of-seven, 2-0, and desperately in need of a win.
“We have to hold serve, we know that,” coach Alain Vigneault said Monday morning. “But we know our game and we know the way to play. When we do that, we’re a good team.”
As far as the venue, the Rangers know they’ll have an advantage with the home crowd, those 18,006 eager to make a difference.
“We have to start winning and that’s tonight,” said goalie Henrik Lundqvist, hours away from what could be a career-altering game. “I hope it’s going to be an exciting feeling to step out on the ice here, home crowd, great atmosphere. Enjoy the moment but at the same time push ourselves to play our best game so far.”
It was a tough first two losses for Lundqvist and the Rangers, who have yet to trail at any point.
“You have to move on, use it as motivation,” Lundqvist said. “You can get upset, frustrated, disappointed when you lose, but just have to respond the right way. Yeah, it was a long flight home, but now we’re ready and excited for this new challenge.”
Defenseman Dan Girardi knows how long it has been since the Garden was the site of such an important game.
“They’ve been waiting 20 years for his, so we’re going to have to harness the energy and use it to our advantage,” said Girardi, the goat in Game 1 after making the fatal mistake in overtime who followed it up by playing a fearless and inspired Game 2.
And it’s not just the Rangers who are excited to get going. The reputation of The World’s Most Famous Arena goes far beyond the five boroughs.
“This is one of my favorite places to play,” said Kings forward Justin Williams, Mr. Game 7 who won Game 1 with his opportunistic overtime tally. “This chance to play a Stanley Cup final at MSG, there’s not much else out there for a hockey player. This is what it’s all about.
“Some guys have waited their whole careers for this,” Williams added. “Playing here, being in such an epic building, it’s always fun.”
According to what was shown at the morning skate, it’s very unlikely the Rangers will change their lineup in any way.
That would mean defenseman John Moore remains in after returning from a two-game suspension for Game 2 of the series.
“It was alright,” is how Moore assessed his game. “The pace is pretty quick, it’s the Stanley Cup finals. So the first couple shifts, it took a little while to get [my legs] under me, but I was happy how I progressed as the game went on.”
It’s very unlikely the Kings will insert veteran defenseman Robyn Regehr, who practiced with the team at the skate and hasn’t played in a month after suffering a knee injury.
“We’ll just do it as games go along, warmups go along, how guys feel,” coach Darryl Sutter said.