SUNRISE, Fla. — The Rangers have taken this season one step at a time, with the goal of finishing better than their recent performances.
Building on a foundation built by a hard work ethic, a rigorous and purposeful mentality and a united core, the Blueshirts have produced the kind of results that inspire genuine credibility in a hungry, cynical and high-minded fan base, with multiple Presidents Trophy-winning campaigns.
Now is the time for the Rangers to prove they are, in fact, different, with the fate of this special season hanging in the balance in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals Saturday night at Amerant Bank Arena.
“Winning the Stanley Cup is not supposed to be easy,” Vincent Trocheck told reporters Friday night, “and it’s moments like these that mold a team into a team that can be a championship team.”
Since the playoffs began, the Rangers have remained the same team they’ve always been, in the sense that they have never flinched in the face of adversity and have consistently defied the odds to win all year.
There’s a reason they’ve been considered underdogs by statistical evaluators in the past two series, but that hasn’t prevented them from playing their best hockey at this particular point in the playoffs.
But for the Rangers to truly remain the team they have been all year, the elements of their game that make them who they are will have to get better.
The power play has been the driving force behind their offense for many years and has looked unstoppable at times in this playoff season, but they cannot afford to lose steam now.
The penalty kill, which has looked impressive offensively in this series but not so much defensively, will need to be as reliable as it has been for most of the season.
The Rangers have scored just one goal on 14 opportunities with the man advantage through five games and have not only struggled with production on the power play, but also lost the boost of confidence that typically comes from sustained time in the offensive zone.
Decisions have to be made quicker, pucks have to be sent to the middle of the ice and to the net, the sense of urgency has to be ten times stronger.
“You can’t be close,” said Adam Fox, who has just three assists and one on the power play in the series, a time when the Hawks scored just over 45 percent of their regular-season points. “You’ve got to take advantage of your opportunities. You’ve got to have opportunities in big moments, but you don’t win games just by taking chances. You’ve got to take advantage of your opportunities.”
The Panthers are running the power play with ease, much like the Rangers did against the Capitals and Hurricanes.
It’s going to be much harder for them to do that, because now they’ve found their lane and they’re deep in the back of the net — five times, to be exact.
Artemi Panarin can’t end a great season like this.
Russian winger Panarin has scored a career-high 120 points this season and still leads the NHL in game-winning goals with four as of Friday afternoon, but he’s on the brink of facing another playoff sitout. He has three assists in five games but has barely had the puck in his hands and has barely made an impact.
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Of course, Panarin isn’t the only one shouldering the burden of the Rangers’ star players, but he’s perhaps the player who can make the biggest difference.
Speaking of differences, goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin’s brilliance cannot be wasted another year.
The star goaltender has had to withstand a combined 114 shots over the past three games. He has made 154 saves over five games, helping the Rangers stay competitive on a game-to-game basis.
There’s a reason to think the Rangers can’t win the Stanley Cup unless Shesterkin is their best player — and he was — so the rest of the team needs to do their part.
The Panthers are trying to become the first team since the 2008-09 Penguins to return to the Stanley Cup Final after finishing as runner-up the previous year.
Meanwhile, the Rangers are trying to become the first Presidents Trophy winning team to reach the finals since the Blackhawks in 2013.
There can only be one.
This Rangers team has been called the team of destiny. Now the answer is revealed.
