The New York Rangers travel to Dallas to play the Stars in another game that they have to win in order to stay in the playoff race. So, what else is new?
It’s becoming a cliche. The New York Rangers are facing another must-win game after a dreadful loss to the Devils on Saturday. Can they recover from an awful effort and get back on the winning track? They’d better or they will become a lottery team for the third straight year.
In his post-practice press conference Monday, Coach David Quinn reinforced the need to take it game by game. He really considered the Devils game an aberration and will be going with Igor Shesterkin for the second straight start tonight. “I think Igor has earned an opportunity to get another kick at the can after being off for so long and having the great run that he had….so I think he’s earned this opportunity.”
Quinn said that he sees the latest woes as a matter of team defense. “From January 7 through that Montreal game we were second in the league in goals per game, fifth in the league in goals against…that was almost two months. We had the second most wins in the league, we had the best power play, but it was all stemming from playing good defense and in the last five games we’ve given up 24 goals.”
It’s important to remember that four of the last five games were against some of the best teams in the NHL, ranging from the hottest team in the Flyers to the last two Stanley Cup Champions. Even the Devils have been playing better than their record indicates. It was going to be a tall order to come away with a winning record.
It doesn’t get any easier on this road trip.