That's all they can do now. Take things one at a time. Not even the games, but the shifts. Give your best effort to win each and every shift. No need to run the score up. If you win by one goal it still counts the same.
If you talk to Darius Kasparaitis, you get the sense that the Rangers aren't worried about trying to get back to MSG for Game 6. They just don't want to be embarrassed:
"All we want to do is win one game," defenseman Darius Kasparaitis said. "That's all we're thinking about now. We're not worried about history or winning four games in a row. We don't want to get embarrassed in front of our crowd. We don't want to get swept at home."
Oh how the mighty have fallen.
Uncle Larry, who just yesterday advocated bringing up the Wolf Pack for the sake of experience, attempts to give Sandis Ozolinsh a pass. Larry's main point today, though, is that Henrik Lundqvist should have come forward much sooner and told the training staff about his hip pain. They would have gotten him rehab much sooner, and he would have been much healthier down the stretch.
Steve Zipay writes that Tom Renney wants the team to shoot quicker and more often. Hmmmm.... haven't we been saying that around here all year??
Andrew Gross of the Journal News talks about the game: They have taken 30, 26 and 25 shots, respectively, against Devils goalie Martin Brodeur in the first three games, too often overpassing the puck while looking for an opening. Renney said 35-40 shots and grittier work on the rebounds might be needed to produce two goals.
Colin Stephenson quotes Tom Renney, who says they are just looking for credibility: "We don't want anyone to look at our regular season as a complete illusion because we went out four straight in this series," Renney said yesterday after the Rangers practiced for perhaps the final time. "We want to play well, get some credibility back -- internal credibility, as much as anything. We want to be able to look each other in the eye and know that we left it on the ice."
Joe McDonald at NY SportsDay says the Rangers just "gotta believe". He also says that this might be the last time we see some of these guys in a Rangers sweater: If the Rangers don’t prevail today, it will be the last time some of them will wear the Ranger sweater. Steve Rucchin is not expected back and neither is Tom Poti. Martin Straka, Michael Rozsival and Rucinsky are free agents and Ozolinsh, with his $2.75 million salary, may be bought out by the team in the offseason.
The Rodent: It is no longer a matter of whether the Blueshirts can push this series to seven games. That is forward thinking. That is unproductive thinking. Worry about Game 5 at another time. Madison Square Garden will host one game tomorrow. A game. Are the Rangers confident enough they can win that game?
While the Rangers hope to not get swept, the Wolf Pack play Game 7 of their series against the Manchester Monarchs tonight.
Around the league:
Both the Carolina Hurricanes and the Philadelphia Flyers evened up their respective series last night.
The Flyers got another 2 goals from Peter Forsberg and a game-winner from R.J. Umberger (who was decked earlier in the series and had to miss a game) to beat the Sabres 5-4.
The Canes beat the Habs 3-2, with veteran Rod Brind'Amour netting the go-ahead goal.
The Dallas Stars became first team this year to avoid getting swept as they beat Colorado 4-1. That series is now three-to-one.
So, this could be it. Or, we could be looking forward to at least one more game tomorrow night. One day at a time. Today, Rangers v. Devils, Game 4.
HDH
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