The Rangers should be absolutely desperate in Game 3 Monday night. They have to bring a level of desperation, a level of passion, a level of emotion to, first of all, establish their game at home, and then to feed off the energy from the Garden crowd.
The Seventh Man can be a factor, and I’m hoping that they will stay positive. I’ve coached in the Garden, and if things are not going well, sometimes they get a little bit critical. I’m hoping they have enough confidence in the group, and the group really can step up to the expectations and the pressures now of playing in New York now that they’re in the finals.
Certainly coaching the Rangers in Madison Square Garden, we learned to feed off that crowd exceptionally well. They helped us as a group push ourselves in tough situations. If the Rangers come out with desperation and they’re prepared properly, they will be able to test Los Angeles’ resolve very quickly and early in the game.
But there is no margin of error now for the Rangers. They have to bring their “A” game right from the drop of the puck, and they have to build momentum in that building. They can’t just rely on the crowd.
The Rangers have to push the pace of the game, they have to raise the bar of the game. They have to show L.A. their best skill set. And they have to show the crowd their best skill set. The crowd will not accept anything but their A — or A-plus game — in Game 3.
Game 3 is a critical win for the Rangers if they expect to turn this series around. Los Angeles found themselves down 0-3 in their first series against San Jose and came back to win, but only four teams have ever done it. This is one of those hurdles you have to get over to win a series.
Henrik Lundqvist is the top goalie in the league, and when you’re playing against a goaltender like that, you have to expect the L. A. Kings driving to the net. You have to expect to be bumped. Because that’s also part of their game. The Kings won’t be deterred from doing the same regardless of what Lundqvist said after the game or how upset he was. The referees may watch it a little bit closely, but the Kings will be in his face as much as possible. He should expect more of that kind of net-front presence.
Emotion comes in a lot of different ways, and anger is certainly one of them. The Rangers will definitely be able to feed off Lundqvist’s emotional investment.
The Rangers can take solace in the fact they pushed the Kings to the limit Saturday night. They obviously need to win sooner than later. I know they feel terrible losing, but they have to focus on what they did accomplish in L.A.
Rick Nash was a presence in Game 2, and that is a positive sign for the Rangers. He has to become a preoccupation for Los Angeles. Once he has established that aspect of his game, he will develop his own opportunities to score, and he will also develop opportunities for his teammates. He has that kind of force and ability to be a preoccupation.
I don’t know if Darryl Sutter was being coy after Game 2 and putting something in the minds of the Rangers thinking that they have a tired Kings team they’re playing now. Knowing Darryl, he would never give his team an excuse. Maybe he said that just to take a little bit of the edge off of the Rangers. The Kings have to win two games — they can rely on adrenaline, they can rely on momentum. They can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and they know how close they are to winning another Stanley Cup. So I wouldn’t pay too much attention to his comments if I were the Rangers.
The Rangers can’t be distracted by anything, including the fact they lost two-goal leads in both games. That type of thinking is only counterproductive at this point.
The Rangers were not back on their heels in Game 2. In overtime, anything can happen. They should take confidence in the fact that they took the Kings the distance in L.A.
I won’t give up hope on the Rangers.