Rangers' rallying cry for Game 5 vs. Penguins: 'Shoot the puck'

GREENBURGH, N.Y. — It’s been done before, lots of times. Thirty NHL teams facing a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven series have come back to win it, including the Montreal Canadiens in the first round last year against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Canadiens would go on to make it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.

So the Rangers, down 3-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins with Game 5 of the series coming up Wednesday at Madison Square Garden, know it’s possible for them to win the next three games and win the series.

“Our backs are against the wall right now,’’ defenseman Adam Fox said after Tuesday’s 20-minute practice. “I think we’ve just got to come out and play hard. Coming back home [to the Garden] is hopefully going to give us a little spark, and I think we’ve just got to give it our all. Down 3-1, you don't have much left to lose.’’

They’re going to have to change a few things, though. They can’t play the same way they did Monday night in Pittsburgh, when their coach, Gerard Gallant, said they lacked “a commitment to defense.’’ They have to be better defensively, and, Gallant said Tuesday they have to shoot more pucks at Penguins goaltender Louis Domingue.

“We talked about putting pucks on the net, and we show [video of] some good goal scoring that we do around the net, and then we try and get cute and fancy,’’ a testy Gallant said. “It's a straight, direct hockey game. Keep it going to the net, keep people at the net, and we're trying the other stuff.’’

The Rangers were outshot 41-24 in Monday’s game and there were times when it seemed they passed up shot opportunities to make one more cross-ice pass. Still, to a degree, the cute and fancy stuff is often what their top six forwards, led by Artemi Panarin, do best.

Panarin’s linemate, Ryan Strome, was asked if the penchant for playing “East-West hockey’’ is the Rangers’ nature, more so than direct, drive-up-the-wing-and-shoot hockey.

“I think it's time and place,’’ he said. “There's time for that [East-West hockey], when there's an odd man rush, or there's a situation. But I think we just have to do a better job of understanding what the situation is that presents itself. I think a lot of times when you get down in a game or you're playing from behind, you're trying to force things, and we see the East-West more often.’’

But he promised that in Game 5, the Rangers will be looking to shoot the puck often.

“In the playoffs, I think you look at what [Pittsburgh is] doing right now,’’ he said. “They seem like they're getting the puck, and they're slinging it at the net, nonstop. We've had success when we've done that. I think we've got to put more pucks there. I don't think that's really a surprise to anybody, but that'll be one of the points of emphasis tomorrow.’’

At the same time, Fox said, the defense needs to tighten up. There were too many defensive lapses in Monday’s game, he said.

“I was guilty of a lapse on that goal (by Jake Guentzel, that made it 3-1),’’ he said. “And I think it's just, we maybe get a little down once one goes in. And then it seems like they come in bunches for them.

“So yeah, I think it's just bearing down and having the mindset of not letting them get those good looks, [and] get to the net, and get good tip opportunities, too.’’

Notes & quotes: Defenseman Ryan Lindgren, who has missed the last three games with a lower body injury, did not practice with the team Tuesday. Gallant said his status remains “day-to-day.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

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.