Can Rangers finally win a Game 2 to take control of series?
Henrik Lundqvist celebrates with teammate Brandon Prust after beating the Devils, 3-0, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. (May 14, 2012) Credit: Getty Images
Call it the terrible twos.
First it was Chris Neil's overtime goal in Game 2 of the first-round series against Ottawa on April 14 that washed away the Rangers' heady feeling of a 4-2 win in the postseason opener at Madison Square Garden.
Two weeks later, on April 30, the Rangers had a 3-1 home victory in Game 1 under their belts against the Washington Capitals, but Alex Ovechkin's power-play goal in the third period of Game 2 gave the visitors a hard-earned split on the road.
In each case, the 3-2 loss in Game 2 was a precursor of a rugged seven-game series that the Rangers survived.
Wednesday night, the Rangers host the Devils in the second game of the Eastern Conference finals after a 3-0 whitewash of the Devils in Game 1.
Will the third time be a charm?
Coach John Tortorella, playing it close to the vest as usual, said there was no common theme or connection between those losses and Game 2 of this series.
"We're not even looking at it that way," he said. "It's another game in the series."
But players said they were aware of the track record and had discussed the topic.
"You really want to try to get a hold of the series," defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "The next game, it's a huge opportunity, we haven't done it before, it's made it a tougher road, and it would be nice, in a sense, to make a stand on home ice, and make that last win mean that much more.
A 2-0 lead in the series bodes well for a team advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals. According to whowins.com, a site that tracks pro sports results, a team ahead 2-0 wins this round of the Stanley Cup playoffs more than 90 percent of the time.
Game 3 is Saturday afternoon at Prudential Center in Newark.
"The last couple series, it's been win one, lose one," said Dan Girardi, McDonagh's on-ice partner. "We really want to try, especially at this stage, to get a 2-nothing lead and build it from there. We're going to have a better first two periods for us to be successful.
"It starts with a hard start, make sure we're not turning pucks over and make sure we're playing under the hashmarks."
A little cushion also would help if the Rangers, as has been the trend, fail to light the lamp regularly in the remaining games of the series.
Counting Monday night, the Blueshirts have won by two goals or more just three times in the playoffs. And guess what? All three times have been the series openers. After that, opponents have outscored the Rangers 23-22.
Center Brian Boyle, who beat Braden Holtby early in the third period in Game 2 against the Senators to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead that they relinquished, said he had forgotten the specifics of that contest and Game 2 in Washington.
"I don't even remember those games," he said. "But you don't want to do the back-and-forth thing if we can help it. And I'm sure they [the Devils] really want to even it up."
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