New York Rangers face yet another defining moment

We’re witnessing something special with this New York Rangers team and they very much have their destiny in their own hands.

After beating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 in Game Six at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, the Blueshirts will now head back to Raleigh for a decisive Game Seven on Memorial Day with the chance to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

It is a pretty crazy thought given that no one expected the Rangers to be here, but here they are, a game away from moving a big step closer towards reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2014.

And they know exactly what they have to do in order to make that dream a reality.

For starters, the Rangers have to bottle up what makes them so successful at Madison Square Garden and translate that to performances on the road, because the two are night and day right now.

They’ve won just one game on the road during the postseason – the 5-3 win against the Penguins in Game Six of the First Round – and they’ve looked a different team when playing at PNC Arena this series.

It goes without saying that the Rangers need to discover a way to play their game on the road, they need to shut out the noise from what will be an electric home crowd and they have to ensure they don’t get away from what has made them so successful throughout the playoffs so far.

It won’t be easy give that the Canes are 7-0 on home ice in the postseason so far, and they’ve been able to find more success with their aggressive forechecking style at home than they have on the road.

However, these Rangers thrive in do-or-die situations as proved by the fact that they’ve already won four elimination games this postseason, the most of any team in the playoffs, and they’ve proved time and time again that it’s going to take a hell of a lot to kill them off.

Plus, there is the X-Factor that is Igor Shesterkin, who is seeing his postseason legend grow game by game, including a 37-save, two assist performance in Game Six and the fact that the Vezina Trophy finalist is so locked in may well allow the Rangers to play with more freedom and indeed more risk in Game Seven.

Hey, it may even be worth taking parts of MSG to Raleigh with them in order to trick the Rangers into thinking that they are playing in New York. Drastic situations call for drastic measures after all.

In all seriousness, though, today will prove to be another defining moment in a year full of them for a Rangers team that have pushed the envelope time and time again, and it will very much be up to them whether or not they overcome their greatest hurdle this postseason and take another step towards bringing the glory days back to New York.