NEW YORK — For the third straight series, the New York Rangers are basking in the glow of a 1-0 lead earned in the confines of “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”
The Eastern Conference’s top-seeded team has failed in its first two attempts to double that edge at Madison Square Garden. Given a third shot against the New Jersey Devils, the Rangers are determined to make the most of home-ice advantage in tonight’s Game 2 of the East finals.
The Rangers held an optional practice Tuesday at their home rink, the site of a 3-0 win in Game 1 on Monday.
The teams slogged through two periods, and New York admittedly wasn’t at its best coming off its second straight seven-game series. But the Rangers scored three times in the third period and rode their defense and the goaltending of Henrik Lundqvist to victory.
“I don’t know about escaped,” Rangers captain Ryan Callahan said of the win. “We’ve got to be better. We know that. We’ve got areas in the game that we need to improve on and we need to work on. We’ll be ready for (tonight).”
While no one in the Rangers room could put a finger on what went wrong in Game 2 losses to the Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals, New York voiced a determination to break the trend in which it alternated wins and losses through the first four games of the opening two rounds.
The Rangers went win-one-lose-one through all seven games against Washington. New Jersey won four straight against the Philadelphia Flyers after losing the opener to end that second-round series in five games. The Devils came back from a 3-2 deficit in the first round against the Florida Panthers.
A two-game lead could do wonders for the Rangers, if for no other reason than to get a mental break from the constant pressure.
“We don’t look to come out the same way we did in Game 1,” forward Mike Rupp said. “We’re fortunate, but we’ll move forward and make sure we’re better in Game 2. We need this game. It’s a pivotal game, and both teams want it. The stakes are going to be higher and the game is going to be at an even higher pace.
“In the first two rounds, we exchanged wins and losses through the first four games. We’re looking to get away from that. We want to win every game if we can. We obviously would like to string a few more together.”
Not only haven’t the Rangers taken a 2-0 lead, but they haven’t held a two-game edge at any point of either series. The only time they have won two games in a row this postseason was when they rallied from a 3-2 hole and took Games 6 and 7 against Ottawa.
The Devils, who had five days off between the second and third rounds, would be happy to take a 1-1 tie home for Game 3 on Saturday.
