Andrew Copp says Rangers' resilience will serve them well in postseason
Semyon Varlamov of the New York Islanders defends the net as Andrew Copp of the New York Rangers tries to screen a shot during the third period at Madison Square Garden on April 1, 2022. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Andrew Copp was acquired by the Rangers at the trade deadline for the express purpose of making them a stronger team for the postseason, so forgive him for talking about the playoffs as an eventuality, even if the Blueshirts’ spot hasn’t actually been clinched yet.
“It seems like there's a lot of belief,’’ Copp said Sunday night after the Rangers scored three goals in the third period against the Philadelphia Flyers to force overtime in a game they would eventually lose in a shootout, 4-3. “We feel like we're a really good team. So, really good teams can come back in games like that.’’
The Rangers had fallen into a 2-0 hole on a couple of goals early in the first period, and then were down 3-0 on a goal inside the first minute of the third before goals by Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and Copp tied the game. And Copp said even though the Rangers ended up not getting the win, the experience of coming back from a big deficit was huge for their confidence, strengthening a belief that was already there in the team’s ability to rally from deficits. That belief will come in handy in the playoffs, he said.
“You know, throughout the course of the playoffs, you're going to have games that you don't like,’’ he said. “You're going to have games that . . . maybe you like your game more than we did [in the 3-0 loss to the Islanders last Friday]], but losses feel heavier in the playoffs. So being able to ‘reset’ ourselves mentally, and just kind of clear your head and be ready for the next game — whoever does that best wins the Stanley Cup at the end of the day. [The team that] doesn't let one loss turn into two, or two into three. It's who can reset their mind the best, and come in with a clean slate, and a lot of confidence.’’
Copp believes the Rangers have that confidence, and that they were able to successfully flip the page after a disappointing loss to the Islanders that prompted Panarin to say through an interpreter that the team had “dirtied our pants’’ with its performance in the game.
Panarin certainly played a strong bounce-back game against the Flyers. He had a goal and an assist and finished with seven shots on goal. It was his redirection of Jacob Trouba’s pass that got the Rangers on the board at 1:22 of the third period, 38 seconds after Joel Farabee’s goal made it 3-0. And it was Panarin whose soft, backhand pass to the slot Copp chipped in for the tying goal at 15:40, just 12 seconds after Zibanejad’s goal.
Copp, who has played on Panarin’s line in six of the seven games since joining the team at the March 21 trade deadline, said he is getting more and more comfortable there.
“I feel like I'm starting to figure out when he wants me to drive the net, and when he wants me to pull up, especially as that lefty [shooter] in that one-timer seam,’’ he said. “I’m starting to figure it out more and more.’’
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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