This was just the situation the Rangers wanted to avoid, to have to march into Washington and win a Game 7. The simple truth is that the Capitals played well in Games 5 & 6 and the Rangers didn't. The Rangers have made their own bed now they have to lie in it.
To make matters even worse they now have to play without Blair Betts, who from a late cheap shot from Donald Brashear left Game 6 with a broken orbital bone and a likely concussion. Betts in the beginning of this season was facing the prospect of not having a place on this team with the surplus of viable forwards, instead he made himself indispensable contributing heavily to top rated penalty killing unit in the league. Brashear may have been suspended 6 games for both that hit and the scuffle with Colton Orr during the pre-game skate, that doesn't nearly make up for the catastrophic loss of Betts for the rest of the playoffs.
Whether or not the remainder of the playoffs just includes tonight's game or not remains to be seen. The Rangers will need to bring a hell of a lot more than they have in the last two games to earn a spot playing against the Boston Bruins in the next round. The Rangers have been guilty of playing tentative hockey and have not shown any urgency to close out this series.
Instead of attacking the zone and establishing the forecheck which was supposed to the new philosophy of this team, they have simply been dumping the puck in and typically losing the puck in the corners. The Capitals have been dominating puck control overwhelmingly throughout the entire series.
The main difference from the 3 wins and 3 losses in this series has been the play of Henrik Lundqvist. Lundqvist must once again be a point of frustration for the Capitals in this final game. The defense has to pinch in and help containing the Capitals' dangerous shooters and blocking shots like they have in Games 1 and 2. The Rangers cannot afford those costly turnovers coming out of their own zone; the Capitals have made the Rangers pay for each and every one.
A big key to this game will be drawing first blood. The Rangers' offense must find a way to score goals. Whether it is off the power play or even strength, someone has to step up and lead this team on the scoreboard. The void from the loss of Jaromir Jagr still casts a heavy shadow over this team, especially here in the playoffs.
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John Tortorella has been quoted as saying the pressure is all on the Capitals to win this game tonight. I completely disagree. The Rangers had a 3-1 lead in this series and have let it slip right through their fingers. To now sit there and say, well we were supposed to be the underdog, is a cop out.
The Rangers owe it to their fans to come out and play their hearts out. Win or lose, to play the best hockey they have in them, to which they have certainly not done that in the last two games and by their own admission. If the Rangers really have "nothing to lose" they certainly have not been playing like it.
Did the Rangers really feel that he Capitals would simply roll over after Game 4? Of course the Capitals are going to come on stronger when they are pressed against the wall. They have not given up and that is a true credit to the mettle of their team. The Rangers need to find a way to finally match that intensity to get a victory tonight now that they are against that very same wall.
It all comes down to this one single game.
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