Approach to Game 4: 'Must-win", but first, a little tour
About 2 p.m., the Rangers staged a very optional practice---Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh were among those kicking a soccer ball around in the Scotibank hallway rather than skate---and Henrik Lundqvist took an off-ice breather as well. Steve Eminger and Carl Hagelin were out there, though, along with more than a dozen teammates.
Hagelin, who will serve the second game of his three-game suspension Wednesday, would be eligible for a Game 6, if necessary, but was not available to speak to reporters afterward; Eminger said he needed a little more conditioning before he could return.
Afterward, as you might imagine, the Rangers said all the right things---that a 2-1 lead was nothing to rave about. “We have to treat (Game 4) like a must-win,” Brad Richards said, for example.
It appears that Daniel Alfredsson might not play; coach Paul MacLean said he suffered a setback and did not practice. Tortorella was civil, but hardly revealing. Nothing unusual there.
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I pulled together some more material on Chris Kreider for a story that will appear in the paper and on newsday.com, sort of an extension/follow on what I wrote yesterday here. There’s also a notebook that includes items about the strugglin' power plays, leads, records in Game 4s, and more.
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In an attempt to avoid 24/7 hockey for a brief shining moment, did want to fill you in on my very enjoyable AM journey, which began with a visit to the National Gallery to peruse the art (some Picasso and a Van Gogh, but loved the Paul Nash and James Dickson Innes landscapes).
But also swung by to listen to Janet Cardiff’s magnificent reworking of Spem in Alium, a 40-voice motet by 16th century composer Thomas Tallis, in Rideau Chapel, a restored, acoustically terrific jewelbox.
Each voice was recorded and is played though separate speakers placed around the chapel.
Just heavenly.
Then, for about 20 minutes, lounged on a couch in the gallery’s theatre, taking in Christian Marclay’s “The Clock”, a 24-hour video that references time and timepieces in snippets of cinema (mysteries, comedies, drama) to chronicle a passing day. Won a Golden Lion for best artist at the 2011 Venice Art Biennial. Wish I could have stayed much, much longer.
The Gallery: A gorgeous building with really fascinating exhibitions. Highly recommended if you’re coming to Ottawa anytime soon.
On the breezy walk back to the hotel, down Wellington past Parliament, slipped into St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church (1874) on Kent Street to hear about 15 minutes of a recital by music director Thomas Annand, playing the massive Guilbault-Therien pipe organ. Stumbled on it by chance. Not a bad morning at all.
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