Facing Elimination, the Rangers Expect to Go Home, for Game 7

Photo Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman shooting against Henrik Lundqvist during Tampa Bays 2-0 win in Game 5 on Sunday. Game 6 will be Tuesday night. Credit Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

The Rangers are all too familiar with their predicament against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference finals. They are facing elimination again, trailing a series by three games to two for the sixth time over the last four postseasons.

But four times in those series, the Rangers emerged victorious. Their belief is strong that they can win Game 6 at Tampa Bay on Tuesday and take the series back to Madison Square Garden for Game 7 on Friday.

We just have to go down there and play confident, play our best game and try to get a win, said defenseman Marc Staal, who has been through the teams many playoff battles since 2008. Everyone believes in here that we can do it, so we just have to go down there, step up, give our best effort and try to get one.

The Rangers, who finished the regular season with an N.H.L.-best 113 points, will have to counter the numerous weapons of the speedy and opportunistic Lightning, who have beaten the Rangers with offensive wizardry and stifling defense.

Photo Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist has a 14-3 record in games in which the Rangers have faced elimination. Credit Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

But after Tampa Bays 2-0 victory in Game 5 on Sunday at the Garden, the second playoff shutout for goaltender Ben Bishop, the captain Steven Stamkos emphasized how difficult it would be for his team to win the clincher.

We understand the magnitude of the next game, and were going to get their best game there is no doubt about it, said Stamkos, who scored for the fourth straight game Sunday and assisted on Valtteri Filppulas game-winner. We need to find a way as a group to not just match that but give even more.

The Rangers, as always, will be counting on goaltender Henrik Lundqvist to lead them. Since the 2012 playoffs began, he has a 14-3 record in games in which the Rangers have faced playoff elimination, including an 8-1 mark the past two seasons.

The Rangers rallied from a 3-1 series deficit against the Washington Capitals in the last round.

But this showdown against the Lightning has been peculiar, with vastly different styles and outcomes in each game. The Rangers won a tight-checking opener, 2-1, and were bombarded, 6-2, in Game 2. They lost a topsy-turvy Game 3, 6-5 in overtime, but grabbed a surprising 5-1 win in Game 4. The Lightning rebounded with their best defensive effort in Game 5.

Usually it happens as you get closer to the end of a series; its more thinking behind the plays, more than just go-go-go, Lundqvist said. Thats what we saw in the first four games. Im not really sure what to expect down in Tampa in the next one, but we just have to prepare.

At stake is a trip to the Stanley Cup finals, where the Rangers lost in five games last June to the Los Angeles Kings. The Lightning have been to the finals only once, in 2004, when they won the Cup.

The will is there for the Rangers, who are set to play their 75th playoff game in the last four years, the most in the league. If physical or mental fatigue is a factor the Rangers have played 14 games decided by one goal in these playoffs the players are not letting on.

Its a race to four; it doesnt matter how many games the other team wins, said Derek Stepan, who scored the overtime winner in Game 7 to oust the Capitals in the second round. We have to beat them to four games. We have to go into their building and find a way to get it done.

The Rangers also rallied from a 3-2 series deficit against the Ottawa Senators in the first round in 2012, and they came back from the same deficit with back-to-back shutouts to beat Washington in the first round the next year. In 2014, the Rangers overcame a 3-1 deficit in the second round against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Their elimination-game moxie has become a team trademark. The only three losses when they have faced elimination have been an overtime crusher against the Devils in Game 6 of the 2012 conference finals, a Game 5 defeat against the Boston Bruins in 2013 in the second round, and last Junes Game 5 two-overtime loss on the night the Kings raised the Stanley Cup. All three of those losses were on the road.

Lundqvist, who is seeking to add a Stanley Cup to his career accomplishments, relentlessly preaches the importance of winning one game at a time.

We just have to go out there, leave everything out there, and see how far it takes us, he said.

Lundqvist also credited the Lightning for their undeniable skill at both ends of the ice.

Its a big part of their game, how they move the puck, he said. They made it tough for us to just be in good position, and thats what they do. We played well; we had good speed. It was just hard to create chances.

The Rangers have already played seven postseason series under the second-year coach Alain Vigneault, and he lauds their mental toughness.

I have a lot of faith and trust in my players, he said. They know how to prepare, and they know how to get ready for games. There is going to be no bigger game than the next one. Im confident were going to be ready for it.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/26/sports/hockey/from-a-deep-hole-the-rangers-summon-a-familiar-moxie.html