Down 3-1, Rangers still confident
Brandon Dubinsky #17 of the New York Rangers yells back at referee Paul Devorski #10 after Dubinsky thought Devorski blocked him on a break away attempt against the Washington Capitals in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. (April 20, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- The small grey wastepaper baskets were six feet apart and Brandon Dubinsky, wearing makeshift goalie pads, was down on the locker room rug trying to stop a green tennis ball.
Matt Gilroy, Derek Stepan and Brian Boyle were passing the ball around with their sticks until Gilroy beat the sprawling Dubinsky just as the media horde arrived.
"Hey, weren't we supposed to get a heads up?" Dubinsky asked, and laughing, the floor hockey players scattered.
Except Dubinsky, that is.
As he peeled the pads off his blue track suit, the forward who started the moustache trend on the Blueshirts and who has two goals in the last two games against Washington, spoke confidently of his teammates as the Rangers prepped for a do-or-die Game 5 Saturday against the Capitals.
"The resiliency of this team has been great," Dubinsky said. "As Torts said, we can't look at the hill. We have to look at what's in front of us first."
On the horizon is a rocking-the-red crowd at Verizon Center, where the Rangers have lost two straight in the playoffs but won, 6-0, there on Feb. 25.
"We feel confident on the road," said Dubinsky, who has seven playoff goals in 21 games. "Our style of game is suited for the road. We just have to get pucks in and play physical and play aggressive and all those things, so it's a big challenge for us and I think we're ready to answer it . . . I don't think this group has lost its confidence. In fact, I know we haven't."
Dubinsky, back at center after playing all year on left wing, had a goal and assist in the 4-3 double-overtime loss on Wednesday and led all forwards with a career-high 33:17 of ice time. He knows the stakes are high.
"We've got to win to keep it going, so whatever it takes, we've got to do it," he said.
Rangers captain Chris Drury, not part of the floor hockey battle, said, "I think everyone's spirits are fine. I think everyone got it out of their systems last night or today . . . Your margin of error, there is none, so I don't think you can look at the big picture, just try to win the first five minutes, the first 10, the first period and go from there."
Drury, who watched from the sidelines with a broken finger and after knee surgery for all but 24 regular-season games, said that from his perspective, "it's a pretty gutsy group of guys and I don't see any reason in the world why we're not going to be able to bounce back with the proper effort Saturday."
Marc Staal didn't bounce back that fast. "I didn't feel much better this morning than I did last night, to be honest," he said.
Asked what the team learned after coughing up a 3-0 lead after the second period in Game 4, the defenseman answered: "No lead is safe . . . They're a dangerous team, and breakdowns like that will get them back in the game."
