Rangers Report Blog

That’s what the Rangers are saying, pretty much—that Game 5 has to be treated as just the next game in the series, not a potential clincher, no what-ifs, none of that.

Killer instinct? Yeah, you need that. And, yes, historically there are many cases where if you don’t close out a series when you have the chance it comes back to bite you at some point. Maybe you run out of gas earlier, or maybe you get more banged up. To win it all, it’s important to do it in as few games as possible in this tournament-of-attrition.

That said, the Rangers can’t project any further than Game 5 or they will be in trouble, and in a way, having Game 4 go the way it did—being such a battle, having Washington all over them for so much of the game—maybe it will be easier to focus on the task at hand and not look beyond the present.

John Tortorella:

“I think our guys have had a pretty level head on them as we’ve started playoffs here, and we’ve had some tough times through our first few games here and we’ve had some good times. But we haven’t gotten too down and we haven’t gotten too high, and that’s the key. We’re playing against a very good hockey club that we know doesn’t feel it’s out of it here at all. So we need to just keep on playing. It’s about playing the next game and preparing for the next game and do the best we can. We’re not looking at what the numbers are as far as winning and losing. We’re looking to get prepared to play another game.”

Henrik Lundqvist:

“I think it’s importan that you don’t think it’s a close-out game where you can advance. you have to think of it as, maybe, Game 1, or something. You have to focus on what you have to do, not so much, ‘What if we win?’ or ‘What if we lose?’ Just focus on what we have to do.

“(Game 4) was definitely a tough game, but we got it done. I think we feel we could play a little bit better, but I don’t think you can battle any harder than we did, because we played as a team and we worked so hard we got it done int he end. It wasn’t pretty, but in the end we got it done, and nobody really cares.

“I think, especially, the first couple of games we were very focused on what to do, and yesterday we were locked in on what to do, and not so mich on what’s going on around us. You have to break it down a little bit and not look at the whole picture. For me, it’s stop the next puck and that’s it. Further than that, I don’t want to think. That’s my approach tomorrow.’

See. There is no momentum from game to game in a playoff series. None. If there was, the Rangers would have lost Game 4. 

That’s why I’m not ready to put this series in the books yet, especially since Washington was such a dangerous opponent last night.

The Rangers played a very good, very gritty game. But they won only because their goalie was other-worldly. 

Some thoughts:

1) In the previous thread, reader Nasty 1 made a great point. Put Lundqvist on the Caps and Varlamov on the Rangers and this series is over, 4-0 for Washington. Varlamov, good as he’s been, fumbled a bunch of simple shots in Game 4, and if Lundqvist had done the same Washington would have had more than one goal, for certain. Dubinsky on Hank: “I think if there’s ever a doubt in your mind that he’s the best goalie in the world, he’ll prove it to you if you watch his nightly performances.”

2) The captain was OK. He scored the game-winning goal, which made him one of the stars and stories of the game, but he really couldn’t do much. So the goal was his big contribution. But the other was that he stepped aside and that let John Tortorella (not that he wouldn’t have done it anyway) put Dubinsky back at center on the second line. Dubinsky had another great game—he filled that role wonderfully in Game 1, too. Tortorella on Dubinsky: “He’s played well and that’s why he’s getting put into the position he’s being put into. That’s the way it has to be. It’s not about experience, it’s not about paychecks, it’s not about draft picks or where you were (drafted) or who you are. It’s about getting the job done. And I’ve leaned on him quite a bit, him and Ryan (Callahan), in some key situations.”

3) Other stars: Fredrik Sjostrom had a fabulous game, drawing two penalties and getting a short-handed chance all while killing penalties. He and Blair Betts are unbelievable on the PK.

4) Avery. I will never understand the people who actually defend those last two penalties. They were stupid, selfish and undisciplined. I especially don’t get the few who use the “he lost his balance and his elbow/forearm accidentally hit the guy in the head” excuse. He played like a punk on those two plays, and it could have cost his team the series.

5) I guess Rally Towels work better than Thundersicks. Also, we get it, we get it. The Bronx is Burning. OK!

6) Paging Scott Gomez and Nik Zherdev.

Here are the official game summary and event summary from Game 4. I’m off to practice. Back later.

First the numbers: 

In the history of the Stanley Cup playoffs, 229 teams have gone up 3-1 in a best-of-seven series, and they have closed it out 91.3 percent of the time. Twenty teams have come back from 1-3 — although it has happened 18 times in the last 22 years, the last in 2004, and three times in 2003.

You have to give it up at least a little bit to the captain. Chris Drury playing with what is likely a broken hand—somebody in the pressbox said he won the game “single-handedly”—did two things. It gave Brandon Dubinsky more minutes on the second line, and he contributed mightily (as he did in that spot in Game 1, which Drury missed), especially on the first goal.

Then Drury scored the game-winner.

That happened when the captain took Derek Morris’s hard cross-ice pass and found himself breaking down the left side, but with only one hand the best he could muster was a knuckleball of a wrist shot that barely reached the net. The pace and the drop of the soft shot may have fooled Varlamov, though, because he juggled it. Lauri Korpikoski had one shot at the loose rebound, and Drury jumped on the second, putting it behind Varlamov from a bad angle in close, the 47th playoff goal of his career, at 2:23.

Drury said the guys were chuckling about the first shot, but it sure inspired them when he put in the second.

“Huge,” Mara said. “Dru’s been awesome for us and he’s battlign through some things (with which) a lot of players probably wouldn’t be on the ice. But he’s our leader, we follow him, and he’s come up with clutch goals for many years now. And he was huge for us tonight.”

This is what John Tortorella said:

“That was great. He’s an easy guy to play for and he’s a very important guy in the lockerroom. He’s much healthier within the past couple of days. I think he’s got some things figured out. Is he all there? No. But we had to make a decision: Do we take him out or do we stick with him and give him time in certain situations and see what he can give us versus bringing in another player, and that was the call. I felt Chris was healthy enough to add, he felt he was healthy enough to add, not jusy put the uniform on. He was honest with me, and I thought he did some good things for us, and obvously he scored the winning goal. That’ll help him. In playoff hockey, the lockerroom is a very impirtant thing as far as the camaraderie and I think that was very important for our team for Chris to do something like that in this game to more or less band together with him.”

Tortorella didn’t sound too happy about the penalties, especially those by Sean Avery—the last two were very undisciplined, and the last one could be reviewed by the league (he hatcheted Brian Pothier across the neck and was lucky Pothier wasn’t injured because it could have been a major penalty and a certain suspension).

“I’m not going to talk about that stuff with you guys. I have issues with a number of things that went on tonight but that will be in the lockerroom. We’ll just keep that in the lockerroom.”

He sounded more unhappy with those who committed the penalties than who called them.

“We fought and we scrambled at times and Hank had to make some big saves. It’s just a matter of finding a way to get a win. It took us the whole 60 minutes to get a win, but it is a win. We’re going to have to try to improve in a number of areas, starting with our discipline. I don’t know how many penalties we had, and no just Sean. That’s just too good of a power play to be in the box.”

Don’t know what else to say, except this:

I keep hearing “the winner of Game 4 wins the series.” And I may have even agreed to some degree with that on our video chat yesterday.

But I’m not convinced that’s true. Let’s put it this way. If the Rangers win Game 4 and go up 3-1, they should be able to close out the series in Game 5 or 6.

If the Capitals tie the series tonight, though, I don’t think it’s an absolute given that they then go on to win two of the next three. Not at all. Unless the Rangers continue to be as offensively challenged as they have been the last two games—not to mention pretty much all season long. They’re not likely to win two of the next three scoring one a game. Not to mention none a game.

I just heard John Amirante warming up his pipes again. I wonder if he’ll be drowned out by the crowd tonight, because he sure wasn’t drowned out before Game 3.

And as I wrote in the comments of the previous thread: If they hand out thundersticks tonight, people should thrown them onto the ice BEFORE the game, and P.A. announcer Joe Tolleson should be forced to say, ‘Good evening ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Arco Arena.”

My buddy Kenny Albert is the go-to guy when it comes to numbers and statistical information. Here’s his Game 4 numbers column on MSG’s Web site.

And here is Tarik El-Bashir’s Capitals Insider story with Ovechkin making some comments on Avery.

I’m going to listen in on Matt Gilroy’s press conference around 5:30. If there’s anything interesting, I’ll post it. If he’s boring, I’m going straight for the pregame buffet.

Enjoy the game. Let’s see if we can hit 1,000 again!
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EVENING UPDATE, 6:09 P.M., FROM MSG: Hobey Baker-winning Boston University defenseman Matt Gilroy, signed by the Rangers last week, is at the Garden tonight.

Couple of things about him. Apparently he wasn’d drafted, and thus a free agent, because he grew about six inches after his draft year. He even said, “To be honest, I didn’t hit puberty until I was 18 years old. I still don’t even shave  and I’m 24… it’s embarrassing,” he said.

He played for John Tortorella in the World junior championships, and both Tortorella and Chris Drury (another former Hobey Baker winner from B.U.) called and helped recruit him away from two other teams in the running. Drury, his idol, told him “Matty, I’ve been all over the NHL … and there’s nothing like being a New York Ranger.”

He got a one-way contract, which means he gets the whole amount whether he plays in the NHL or in the minors.

About playing for Tortorella: “We were skating him at the Worlds, the first day of practice, and he’s screaming at Patrick Kane and (Zach) Parise, and I’m like, ‘Geeeez.’ This guy’s honest. But that’s what I had with (B.U. coach Jack) Parker. He didn’t care who you were. If you were wrong you were getting called out on it, and that’s what coach Tortorella is: Honesty and full of passion and that’s what draws me right to him.”

These are long days for you guys, and I apologize that there’s not much to report other than this:

1) Chris Drury will play tonight. He may play the wing, or he might play limited minutes with Brandon Dubinsky centering the second line. Dubinsky played a great game there in Game 1.

2) Paul Mara, who did not practice Tuesday, will also play, as expected.

3) The Washington Post says that the Ovechkin-Backstrom post-game celebration is something they’ve done after every win, something they picked up watching the Orlando Magic in an NBA game.

4) Ovechkin was on the home bench at MSG this morning again, but this time it was during the Capitals’ morning skate, and with several teammates. Some of the Caps on ice mockingly called for Ovechkin to be removed.

5) Matt Gilroy is expected to be in the building for a media conference this evening. He was supposed to be at Game 3, but his flight was grounded in Boston due to weather. I may have a couple of remarks from him in the game thread later.

I’m on my way to MSG. I’ll leave you with the latest version of the Playoff Beard contest slideshow.
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AFTERNOON UPDATE, 12:39 P.M.: The NHL’s award season is underway with the finalists for the Calder Trophy (rookie of the year) being named today.

The Rangers also announced that Game 3 was the highest rated game on MSG Network in more than 10 years. “The game delivered a 2.72 HH RTG, making it the highest rated Rangers game on MSG since April 22, 1997 when the Rangers played the Florida Panthers in the first round of the NHL playoffs (3.04 HH RTG),” according to the press release. 
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First well get the news out of the way, and come back in a little while with some John Tortorella quotes.

Chris Drury skated in practice and the Rangers did not recall anybody from Hartford, so it looks as if either he will play Game 4, or Aaron Voros will take his spot if he doesn’t.

The only other newsworthy info is that D Paul Mara did not practice. He appeared to get banged up during Game 3—don’t know if it was that bum shoulder he hurt late in the season—although he kept taking his shifts Monday night. You’d have to think the Rangers expect him to play, again, because they didn’t call up a defenseman from Hartford.

Drury, who took a couple of practice shifts in Mara’s spot just to fill holes, said he doesn’t know about Game 4.

“I repeat myself, but every day it feels better,” Drury said about the arm/wrist/hand injury that is still a state secret.

Asked if he is questionable for tomorrow’s game, Drury said, “I hope not,” although Tortorella said he’s day to day.

“The best I can say is it’s just day to day,” Drury also said. “That’s how I’m playing it. That’s how he’s playing it.

“Obviously I’d like to be doing more, helping us win more. I’ve been fortunate in my career not to be watching too much, but yeah, it’s definitely frustrating.”

Tortorella said, “Our team, they know one another and Chris is a big part of it and they want him part of it and they know how much he wants to be part of it … did I say ‘part of it’ enough? So I’m encouraged today as of practice.

“But sure everybody’s pulling for him. He’s likeable. He has a story line behind him, how hard he plays, and he’s a big part of the club as far if you want ot win. So if you’re thinking abou winning, you want him part of it, so I’m sure they’re pulling for him.”

Asked about whether the pressure has shifted onto the Rangers, Drury said, “I think of the old saying: pressure comes when you’re not prepared and I know we’re going to be prepared mentally and physically. If somebody said starting the series you’d be up 2-1 with Game 4 in your building, I think we’d take it.”

He’s right, you know. Kevin Lowe—a six-time Stanley Cup champion—used to say that there’s momentum swings within playoff games, but that momentum doesn’t carry over or swing from one game to the next.

If the Rangers win Game 4, they’ll be in the driver’s seat, up 3-1. If they lose Game 4 to go even at 2-2, they can still grab hold of the series by winning Game 5. One game has nothing to do with the next.

Somebody who’s been around a long time said yesterday: “The good thing is that Ovechkin hasn’t scored a goal. The bad thing is that Ovechkin hasn’t scored a goal.” I agree. The guy is bound to bust out.

Sorry, forgot to post the Game 3 game summary and event summary earlier. Here they are.

Finally, that’s my photo from today. Just wanted to show you the beard that you couldn’t see on the video chat. Mangy, huh?

And if you missed our noon live video chat, you can check it out here.

There’s a lot to discuss today regarding last night’s debacle and the sudden turning of this series, so we’ll start it here, and then at noon Jane and I will host a live video chat. Hope you can join us with questions and comments.

I was headed from the pressbox to the lockerrooms after the game last night when I heard some booing. I was in the tunnel so I didn’t see it, but I asked and people told me that Ovechkin and Backstrom waited until the Rangers were off the ice and then they went to center ice and did a mock stick salute and a chest bump. Fortunately there weren’t many people in the building at that point, and most of those blue bulbs from the thundersticks had already been thrown onto the ice.

(This photo was from Getty Images and on Yahoo.com’s slideshow).

Some thoughts:

1) Were the people at MSG really hoping some of that Knicks magic would rub off on the Rangers by having their players show up in Rangers uniforms? And does MSG Network then think Rangers fans really want to see said players interviewed between periods?

2) That old goal-scoring bugaboo is back, isn’t it? One in two games against a kid goalie who never played a playoff game before. Shows you how bad Jose ThreeOrMore was in Game 1. The power play? Ugh. Looks like Lundqvist will need to pitch shutouts.

3) Guess it was the correct move by Bruce Boudreau to go to that rookie, Simeon Varlamov, who has only had to be good.

4) Sean Avery took two bad penalties—punching John Erskine and high-sticking Tom Poti in the face (I have no idea why Avery has spent so much time trying to aggravate Poti, when there are like 12 more important guys for him to aggravate). But the goalie interference call was completely fabricated (reputation penalty) and the late-game shot he took at Varlamov was actually well-timed. That’s when you take a shot like that.

5) It’ll be interesting to see John Tortorella’s decision on Chris Drury, because the guy is more hindrance than help with one arm.

6) Thundersticks. Knicks. Throwing things on the ice. Virtual Subway ads on the glass. Then, with the cameras still on the empty ice long after the game, these “five dollar footlong” ads showed up right on the ice. Yeah, the World’s Most Famous Arena. Might as well call it Arco Arena or something.

We hit 1,000 comments for the first time in Rangers Report history. Great job by all you angry fans. The Rangers are skating at 3 p.m. today, so we’ll have a late afternoon update.

a) Apparently they were ineffective in actually “rallying” the Rangers and

b) The cool little blue lighting element can be extracted from the sticks and

c) Thrown onto the ice when you are really upset at the end of a 4-0 shutout in the first home game of the playoff series against the Capitals.

John Tortorella was asked four questions after the game tonight. No one wanted to disturb the angry bear. But his answers were genuine. “It was just a good old fashioned spanking tonight,” Tortorella said. “We need to take our medicine here, get back to work and try to figure things out.”

Torts audio.

0420torts

The Rangers coach said the Rangers real trouble was on defense. “We were chasing our tails all night long, spinning and watching the puck.”

Sean Avery was not in the locker room.

Here is some Markus Naslund audio.

0420nazzy

Ryan Callahan describes the shot that hit the post, and this is PG-13: funny, but a tad salty. If you find that you are offended almost everything, do yourself a favor and visit nickelodeon.com instead. Better yet, stay off the Internet.

0420ryan

I also sat in on the Alex Ovechkin press conference afterwards in the Caps locker room. Full disclosure, I could not understand everything he said. He did say that he didn’t want to talk about sitting in on the Rangers practice, that he thought it was something that was a big story for reporters.

0420ovechkin

On a serious note, Tortorella said he was concerned about Chris Drury, who has not been himself since the playoffs began and has an unspecified arm/wrist/hand injury.

“Sure, sure I am,” Tortorella said. “Everybody knows how Chris is. It’s a concern. It’s something we need to think through here, and we’ll start tomorrow and see how he feels and we’ll go from there.”

“Not so much jump. There’s a number of things we didn’t come out with.”

“I thought they played very well defensively, and I thought we stunk defensively. That was the key to the game. They defended very well in front of their net and we were chasing our tail all night long, spinning and watching the puck. Against a team like that, the way they move the puck, you can’t be watching the puck. We had too many guys doing the same job and that was a big problem for us tonight.”

“I thought we were terrible defensively. I said a very important part of trying to compete in this series is having the puck, and you’re not going to have the puck if you play defense like we played tonight. To create offense, you need to be sound defensively and we weren’t. We weren’t even close. It was a good old-fashioned spanking tonight. Now we need to take our medicine and get back to work and try to figure some things out.”

And about the penalties:

“I’m not going to whine about penalties. We stunk. Simple.”
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DON’T FORGET: Carp and I are doing a Rangers chat TODAY, TUESDAY at noon.

Not much new here at MSG, where I can already hear John Amirante rehearsing his national anthem at 4:45 p.m. I’m sure I won’t be able to hear it very well at 7:05 or so, when the balloons start falling from the “Blue Seats.”
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On Saturday I stepped out of character and praised Mike Milbury for taking the NHL to task for its “wimpification of the game” and for putting Darren Pang on the spot with a question about the Capitals’ switch of goalies after one game. I thought Milbury was good throughout, and I say that as someone who has always been criticial of him (particularly as a GM) and as someone who also knows how much Milbury has always hated the Rangers—as a player, as a coach, as a GM, and as a broadcatser.

But I must share this, which occured last week. During a network broadcasters conference call with media members, Milbury was hit with this question:

“Why didn’t you pick Zach Parise when you had the chance (as Islanders GM)?

Milbury’s answer: “Can I say ‘go (expletive deleted) yourself’ on the air?”

He was laughing, as was everybody else, when he said it. Then he answered the question.
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The Rangers are doing a Playoff Beard thing for charity, and I don’t see any reason you guys can’t do both. I think with the Rangers’ you get pledges from people for growing a beard. I’ll put up our new slideshow in the morning post tomorrow. Here’s the info from the Rangers:

BLUESHIRTS BEARD-A-THON TO BENEFIT GARDEN OF DREAMS FOUNDATION
Rangers Fans Invited to Grow Beards for 2009 Playoffs to Benefit Kids in Crisis by Visiting NewYorkRangers.com.

            New York, April 20, 2009 – This playoff season, New York Rangers fans are invited to join Rangers  legends Adam Graves and Rod Gilbert to participate in the Blueshirt Beard-a-thon.  Fans have the opportunity to grow their own playoff beard and raise money to benefit the Garden of Dreams Foundation – helping to make dreams come true for kids in crisis.
Participants in the Blueshirt Beard-a-thon can invite family and friends to pledge their playoff beards for the duration of the Rangers playoff run.  Net proceeds from the Beard-a- thon will help the Garden of Dreams Foundation continue to fulfill its mission by creating unique and unforgettable events and activities for special children and their families.  For more information, or to enroll in the Blueshirt Beard-a-thon, please visit newyorkrangers.com. 
The Garden of Dreams Foundation is a nonprofit charity that works closely with all areas of Madison Square Garden, including the Rangers, Knicks, Liberty, MSG Media, MSG Entertainment and Fuse to “make dreams come true for kids in crisis”. Garden of Dreams partners with local children’s hospitals, “wish” organizations and community-based organizations to build on-going, unforgettable programs for children in the tri-state area who are suffering from devastating illness, homelessness, abuse, hunger, extreme poverty and tragedy.

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Don’t forget the live video chat tomorrow at noon.

I’d like to hit 1,000 comments tonight, but I don’t know if that can happen with a home game because some of you guys will be in the building, not in front of your computers. But let’s give it a shot. Jane and I will be butting in with comments throughout. Enjoy.

EVENING UPDATE, 5:23 P.M. FROM MSG: Just found out I’m going to be the intermission guest on the radiocast (1050-AM) between the first and second periods. Guess I really do have a face for radio. So who are you going to choose, me or Doogie?

Tiny tempest at the morning skate today, although nothing is minor during a playoff series.

Here’s the entire take (and the photo) from the D.C. Sports Bog written by Dan Steinberg:

“A few minutes ago, all the media members buzzed quietly when Alex Ovechkin came out to watch the Rangers’ morning skate. This, several veterans said, was slightly unusual. Then they buzzed again, when Ovechkin was tapped on the shoulder by a Caps’ PR staffer and abruptly left.

Turns out Rangers boss John Tortorella had apparently asked Ovechkin to vacate the bench. The Caps PR folks offered Ovie a seat in the stands instead. He declined.

Playoff hockey is fun for all.

UPDATED: Tarik (El-Bashir, of the Washihngton Post) and I pretty much took care of asking the principals what they thought. I bit the bullet on Tortorella:

“Oh, God, I didn’t even know,” he said. “This is the first I’ve heard of it. Ask me a question about the game, not that [bleep].”

Tarik took care of Ovechkin:

“Just [to get] Tortorella pissed off,” he said, explaining his motivation. “Because they afraid of me,” he added, when asked why he was made to leave.

And last, Boudreau:

“I think it was more of a lack of knowing the rules, that’s all,” Boudreau said. “They asked him to leave; he left. He just went out there and he wants to be around the rink. I don’t think he had a pen and paper, writing down line combinations or anything, but I can understand, I’ve gotten into the same arguments with different people when I want privacy in my practice, so I can understand what John was going through as well. As long as he’s out there at 7 o’clock, we’re fine.”
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The Great Sam Weinman checked in to remind me of a fact that nobody seemed to realize, trivial as it is:

Since the lockout, the Rangers have now played in six playoff series including this one, and every one of them has started out 2-0:

2006: Down 0-2 to Devils.
2007: Up 2-0 on Atlanta, down 0-2 to Buffalo.
2008: Up 2-0 on Devils, down 0-2 to Pittsburgh.
2009: Up 2-0 on Washington.
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I will be back later with more from MSG. Jane and I will do a live video chat tomorrow at noon.

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AFTERNOON UPDATE, 3:10 P.M. (From Metro North car 9022): Just got word from a Rangers spokesman who insists Tortorella had nothing, zero, to do with Ovechkin being removed from the Rangers bench during the morning skate. It’s a league rule, according to the spokesman—and Rangers Report reader.