RALEIGH, N.C. — They fulfilled their call to hold serve in the Garden to take a 2-0 lead in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but no more. But wait, the Rangers have been doing more than that.
The Blueshirts went head-to-head with the Hurricanes in the first set at the Garden, proving they have the right stuff for the playoffs. This is not a white-gloved operation. The Rangers have been transformed. They can and definitely will get down and dirty with the best of them.
Their next mission is to take down the Canes in Game 3 here on Thursday. It’s about stepping on their metaphorical throats and not letting up for a second and giving hope to the third-place team in the NHL.
In 2012, the Rangers defeated the Capitals in three overtimes in Game 3 in Washington, which should have given the club momentum. It didn’t. The Blueshirts suffered a shutout loss in Game 4 and were dragged into an exhausting seven-game series. If this is Rangers’ era, there could never be a better time for the club to make a statement.
“I think you can build confidence during the regular season, the foundation of having the belief that no matter what the game situation is, we are not defeated and we have the ability to get back in the game and fight. It was the last moment,” Barclay Goodrow said Wednesday after his team won Game 2, 4-3 in overtime. “I don’t know if we necessarily need to update that in the playoffs.
“I don’t think our confidence has ever wavered throughout the season. We’ll build it throughout the season. Nothing’s going to change.”
As Tuesday’s 87-minute, 24-second marathon evolved, the Rangers got stronger. They were able to get to the puck faster, be stronger in the fight, and get to the net more often. There is room for improvement in defense in the neutral zone, where Carolina has a 1-3-1 with Lacey Switzer half-pounding, and some forecheck containment is needed to at least slow down the Canes, who always operate at one point. The speed that is.
The Rangers, playing with 11 forwards, gained momentum at the 17:27 mark of the second period, marking the end of Matt Lempe’s fifth and final shift. Doing the math, that’s his last 49 minutes and 57 seconds of the match. Once, Petr Klima sat on the Oilers’ bench for all but one shift during three overtimes of Game 1 of the 1990 Finals against Boston. He picked himself up again and scored at 15:13 after making one substitution in the previous 55 minutes. Perhaps if the match had lasted until dawn, it would have been Rempe.
While it’s not ideal to go down to 11 players in a playoff game, Carolina’s Max Comtois received one 32-second substitution after the end of the second period, and Stefan Noesen was substituted 2:09 into the second period. Jesperi Kotkaniemi took part in just 2 minutes and 09 seconds. 3 minutes 38 seconds in the last 48 minutes.
The Blueshirts did it with a combination of bottom five signings, while head coach Peter Laviolette tweaked the bench and called for quick shifts. Alex Wennenberg, for example, made 10 shifts in the third period, averaging 25 seconds each. Goodrow averaged 23 seconds in eight shifts in the third game mixed with Jimmy Vesey, Will Quill, Wennberg and Kaapo Kakko, but averaged 5:00 in the first two periods and 11 in the game. I was only able to record minutes and 25 seconds.
Rempe didn’t get a third-period shift in Game 4 against the Caps or Game 1 against Carolina. However, his playing time of 38:11 in the playoffs is valuable. He’s like Cheers. Everyone knows his name. The Rangers have been working with a shortened bench for a while now and are adept at it. They have also won 15 straight games with Rempe in the lineup, and their overall record with him is 20-2-1.
Still, Tuesday could have been a big blow. Rangers may feel it is unrealistic to start with a shortened bench and need fresher legs than Lempe after 48 hours.
“We’re going to go into Carolina with the lineup we want,” Laviolette said. “I understand the question. [about Rempe,] but i feel [cutting the bench] After all, it happens all the time in the playoffs.
“Regardless of the time, all that matters is winning the hockey game.”
Meanwhile, Kelly Sutherland should not be allowed to officiate another Rangers game in the play-offs. He should be suspended without pay. After an incident in the first period in which Jack Drury took him down, likely with netminder Freddie Andersen behind him, Lempe, No. 73, waved a few fingers near No. 73’s face during a sermon. The referee’s disrespect was shameful.
Sutherland looked like a downtrodden father scolding a teenage boy for breaking curfew with his daughter on prom night. Rempe smiled. The referee here is supposed to be an adult. He should not be allowed near Rangers for the rest of his term.
