It’s easy to see the Rangers sailing through the early stages of the Stanley Cup Playoffs as smooth sailing without any major bumps.
After all, the Rangers have won all six of their playoff games after an emotional 4-3 overtime victory over the Hurricanes in Game 2 of the second round at the Garden on Tuesday night.
There was never any doubt that they would defeat the offensively impregnable Capitals in four straight games in the first round.
In the first game against Carolina on Sunday at the Garden, they led 3-1 after the first period and were in control from start to finish.
And Tuesday’s victory, made possible by Vincent Trocheck’s goal at the 7:24 mark of the second overtime, was the 29th come-from-behind victory of the season.
If you’re a dreamer among Rangers fans, I’m sure you have a vision in your head of your team making it through the playoffs without any resistance.
However, no team in NHL history has gone 16-0 in the postseason en route to winning the Stanley Cup.
And even if the Rangers were strong enough (and lucky enough) to end their 30-year drought without a cup, they can’t win 16 straight to get there.
Adversity lurks. And the Rangers got 87 minutes, 24 seconds of that Tuesday night before Trocheck stopped the game against his old team.
Adversity struck with 5.4 seconds left in the first period, with the Hurricanes leading 2-1 going into intermission after defenseman Dmitri Orlov’s tip-in goal quieted the buzzing Garden.
It was the first time in six playoff games that the Rangers trailed for more than a period.
Adversity struck again with 1:42 left in the second period when Carolina’s trade deadline prize, Jake Guentzel, beat Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin with a shot from the left circle, making Carolina 3-2. he led.
The Rangers faced postseason adversity for the first time Tuesday night, and they didn’t blink.
They currently lead 2-0 over Raleigh in Thursday night’s Game 3 and Saturday’s Game 4, and will face an even more desperate Carolina team than the one that pushed them to the limit on Tuesday night. I know it will happen.
“They’re a good team,” Rangers manager Peter Laviolette said after the game. “They’re a really good team. I mean, we’re not going to control it for the whole 60 minutes and move on to the next game. We’ve got to fight.
“It probably always will be. This game was fast, intense, physical, and there was a lot of energy and emotion during the game. That’s everything you want in a playoff game.”
And this resilient, talented, and confident Rangers team looks like everything Laviolette wants in the playoffs.
In the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, teams that lead 2-0 in best-of-seven series have won 86% of those series.
Of course, that’s not what the Rangers will think about when they lace up their skates for Game 3. Because the Rangers know that even though things may seem fine now, adversity lurks in the next shift, the next game, and the next game. The next series…if there is a next series.
There’s nothing more difficult to win than the Stanley Cup. Probably the most difficult trophy to win in all team sports.
“There was never panic in the room, between periods or at any time,” Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said after the game. “Confidence is something you build all year long, so I don’t think the game ever feels like it’s over. We have high-end players who have the ability to put the puck in the net.”
There, Chris Kreider, the playoffs’ all-time leading scorer, buried the rebound to tie the score at 3-3 with 13:53 left in the third period. It was his 43rd career playoff goal and his 18th on the power play.
And that gave life to the Rangers. Made them work overtime.
Same goes for Shesterkin, who was asked to carry his team on his back for the first time this postseason. And he did just that, saving 54 of Carolina’s 57 shots and making some spectacular stops in overtime.
“When he makes saves like that, it’s hard to beat our team,” Trocheck said.
When asked about the discussions in the locker room between the end of regulation and overtime, Trueba said with a smile: “The break before overtime is always like, ‘Okay, here we go.'” It’s playoff time. ” It’s an emotional ride. It’s fun is not it. ”
This Rangers team is built for that, including veteran leadership among unblinking players, led by Laviolette, who has done it all in the league.
adversity?
bring it on.
