DOWN AND (ALMOST) OUT: Derek Stepan, underneath Boston’s Johnny Boychuk in Game 3, and the Rangers will need to rally from a 3-0 deficit to keep their season alive. (Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post)
DOWN AND (ALMOST) OUT: Derek Stepan, underneath Boston’s Johnny Boychuk in Game 3, and the Rangers will need to rally from a 3-0 deficit to keep their season alive. (N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg)
The Rangers fell into the biggest, darkest hole in sports on Tuesday night and the clichés were immediately cued.
In order to become just the fourth team to come back from a 3-0 deficit in the history of hockey, the Rangers didn’t just stress the need to focus on one game at a time, they talked about one shift at a time, one possession at a time.
Heading into Game 4 against the Bruins in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Rangers gave all the requisite rationale of how there was no sense in looking beyond tonight, but if the weight of the situation seemed overwhelming, they only needed to look across the ice to remember the improbable isn’t impossible.
“You have to go in with that belief, that’s for sure,” said Rangers forward Darroll Powe, who was part of the 2010 Flyers squad that won four straight games against the Bruins after being down 3-0. “You win that one game and things start to change. And then after that, you worry about the next game, and as you keep going your confidence builds and grows, and you can see it on the other side going the other way.
“When you’re going to climb a mountain, you’re not going to sit at the bottom and look at the top and say, ‘How am I going to do this?’ You’re going to look at the five, six feet above you and go at that first. You can’t just go at it and look ahead. You have to focus on what’s right in front of you or you’ll never get to where you want to go.”
Those Flyers went where no team had gone since 1975, and Powe said he sees similar characteristics in his current teammates.
“There are a lot of similarities in terms of personnel and how the potential is on the team,” Powe said. “It was a pretty special feeling, for sure. It builds a lot of character and we have a lot of character in this room, so I know we’re going to come out hard [tonight].”
Getting effort from the Rangers is rarely questioned, but getting results, especially on offense, is a riddle that has become a rite of spring.
With five goals in the first three games of this series, the Rangers believe it all begins with the forecheck and those issues have created the team’s first 3-0 deficit since 2008.
“We’ll be ready to play,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said after yesterday’s practice. “I hope we get to another level of desperation. And that’s not about just running around all over the place, it’s about winning those battles at key times, neutral zone battles, just so we can try and turn the territorial part of the game around.”
Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello said it’s too late in the season to change the offense or the dreadful power play (2-for-38 in the playoffs), but skill surrounds him and Henrik Lundqvist is in net.
“We believe if there’s anybody that can turn this around it’s us,” Zuccarello said. “It’s going to be tough, but we just have to stay positive. We’re going to fight until the bitter end and hopefully we can win four straight here. We believe in everybody in here. We have confidence in each other.”
On the day before the Rangers tried to save their season and themselves from the embarrassment of getting swept at home, Tortorella said he hates the position the team has put itself in, but embraced how it could allow them to play.
“We’re 0-3, there’s no sense of feeling pressure,” said Tortorella, who noted defenseman Anton Stralman may be unavailable (undisclosed injury). “Players that get to play [tonight] and play more minutes than they’re used to, grab a hold of it and let it happen. I mean, if you lose, you’re done, so that’s what I’m hoping for and I think we will get that from some of our guys.”