One of the things the 2010-11 New York Rangers has done best
this season is respond after a poor performance or when they were in
danger. They need that spirit again
today. Down 2-0 in the best of seven
series with the Washington Capitals the Rangers must come out with a fire,
passion and execution that tells everyone involved that this series is far from
over. The Rangers have been in both
games for long stretches, but have not been able to play well enough to grab
hold of either game. This afternoon that
must change and it must change early.
If New York can get off fast and score an early goal their
confidence will rise and doubt might creep back into the minds of the Capitals
who have experienced their share of playoff shortcomings. The longer it takes the Rangers to get on the
board, the more confidence Washington will have and the tighter the Rangers
players will become as they press to break the seal on Michal Neuvirth’s
net. Slumps in scoring are nothing new
for this team and the way they break out of them is to get back to the basics
of how they play.
The Rangers at their most effective offensively are based on
their dump and chase philosophy that allows them to get in on the forecheck,
cycle the puck and just outwork the opponent to generate chances. The goal from Matt Gilroy was created in that
exact way when Brandon Prust disrupted the defense playing the puck behind the
net and eventually it was worked to Wolski behind the net and he found a
pinching Matt Gilroy. The problem is
that there has been no consistency to that system in the first two games and it
is why the team has the one goal.
The Rangers cannot and should not panic being down 0-2 to
the Capitals, but they also cannot be complacent in trying to change the look
and feel of this series. Even when the
Rangers went up 1-0 in Game 1 there was never really a feel that they were in
control of the game and they need to start imposing the will that got them to
this point or they will be down 0-3 in a hurry.
