How about a little perspective from the man who might be best served without it?
“It’s a good feeling,” Rick Nash said, “but for me, it’s one game.”
It was Saturday morning, and Nash sat behind a microphone at the team’s hotel in St. Petersburg, Fla., having played his best game of the postseason just hours before. He scored twice, added an assist, and was a force from start to finish in the Rangers’ 5-1 Game 4 win over the Lightning, tying the Eastern Conference final two games apiece with Game 5 at the Garden on Sunday night.
It was a monumental game for Nash — and the Rangers. All of the talk about him wilting in big spots and the rumblings about the struggles of franchise netminder Henrik Lundqvist momentarily were quieted. Nash now has four goals in this postseason, and Lundqvist rebounded from consecutive games allowing six goals in each by posting a 38-save gem Friday.
Heck, even Martin St. Louis scored.
The series has gone from doom-and-gloom to bright-and-sunny, but rather than try to ride the wave, the Blueshirts are doing what they can to stay even-keeled.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” Nash said of his own game, knowing he had a developing bull’s-eye on his back if he wouldn’t have scored, and might again if he and his team don’t follow up with another steady performance in Game 5. “Things can turn around pretty fast. Whatever happened [in Game 4] is over. We’ll try to carry some momentum, like I said earlier, but at the end of the day it’s a new game, and it starts 0-0.”
There has been very little consistency from game-to-game in this series, played at a frenetic pace. After a NHL-record 15 consecutive one-goal postseason games, the Rangers have opened things up a bit, and it has a lot to do with their opponent.
“I believe my staff and my players really believe in our approach and our process to be successful — the difference is the opposition,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “We’re meeting obviously a quicker team and a more skilled team this time, and it makes it very challenging.
“They’re one of the best teams I’ve seen. They come at you hard and we do the same to
迟丑别尘.”
Through the first two rounds against the Penguins and Capitals, the Rangers’ high-flying offense was somewhat grounded. They were getting chances, getting shots, but weren’t getting very many goals — especially from Nash and St. Louis. The frustration then creeped into the rest of their games, and the two stars up front struggled.
“When you go a long stretch and you lose that confidence a little bit, the game is not as clear,” St. Louis said. “When you have the puck, you’re pressing. But the one place it can’t affect it is away from the puck. Mentally that can’t affect your game. But there is no doubt it does affect your game.”
Now the Rangers have run into a match for their speed and skill, and there’s little chance to win a game scoring two goals or less. The potent Tampa Bay offense scored just once in Game 4, but with a couple posts hit and some spectacular — and improved — goaltending from Lundqvist, the result of the Lightning’s 39 shots was not what they were expecting.
The Blueshirts, on the other hand, have scored five goals in each of the past two games. After St. Louis scored an important power-play goal early in the third period, his first of the playoffs, his struggling game rose perceptibly. The Rangers need him to play far better than he has, and far better than he did in the first two periods.
“He’s been the constant pro here even though it’s been a test for him to get on the score sheet and score some goals, which he knows that’s part of his mandate with any team, especially ours,” Vigneault said. “He’s stayed with it and he’s worked extremely hard. Got a little relief [Friday] night, and hopefully we’ll be able to build on that and take it to the next level.”
As for his offense as a whole, Vigneault said, “We got some looks, [and] the right guys are getting the looks. The right guys are putting the puck on the net, so hopefully we can continue.”
So the groundwork for improvement — in St. Louis, Nash and Lundqvist — has been laid. It’s up to those guys to keep it going, and a place in a second consecutive Stanley Cup final is on the line.
“We knew that [Game 4] was a very important game,” Vigneault said. “We’ve evened the series out. Best-of-three now, and we have home-ice advantage.”