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New York Rangers: 3 keys to winning Game 6 and staying alive

By Andrew Steele-Davis

Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers tends goal during the second period against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers tends goal during the second period against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /
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Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 and Zach Bogosian #24 of the Tampa Bay Lightning make a save against Ryan Strome #16 of the New York Rangers during the third period in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on June 09, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 and Zach Bogosian #24 of the Tampa Bay Lightning make a save against Ryan Strome #16 of the New York Rangers during the third period in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on June 09, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

Killer instinct

Maybe the Rangers would be wise to watch Steph Curry absolutely ball out in Game Four of the NBA Finals as some pre-game motivation.

With the Golden State Warriors trailing 2-1 in their series and on the road against the Boston Celtics, who had the NBA’s best defensive record in the regular season, Curry came to play.

One of the best shooters we’ve ever seen came up clutch time and time again, delivering a heroic 43-point performance and draining seven three-pointers.

It was a shining example of what the greatest do in the biggest moments, and the Rangers should take some inspiration from Curry prior to Game Six.

A lot of the Rangers’ struggles in Game Five came down to their inability to create traffic in-front of net and, when they did, they couldn’t take advantage.

Ryan Strome fanning on a shot with the net wide open with five minutes remaining being the the obvious and most painful example. Tampa would go on to score the go-ahead goal moments later to take a 3-2 series lead.

That Strome miss could end up being to Rangers fan what ‘The Shot’ is to Cleveland Cavaliers fans,  what ‘The Fumble’ is to Browns fans and what the ‘Foot-In-The-Crease goal’ is to Dallas Stars fans.

Especially if it all ends tonight.

So, with that being said, the Rangers need to follow the lead of Curry, and indeed the Lightning, and be more ruthless. They have to get pucks to the net, they need to create screens in-front of Vasilevskiy and they have to get back to what earned them so much success in Games One and Two.

Gerard Gallant’s team found joy when shooting up high on Vasilevskiy, and they need to avoid shooting down low given how elite the goalie’s lateral movement is.

The Rangers only generated 25 shots on net in Game Five and that isn’t going to get the job done against a team as good as Tampa Bay is. They need to generate a hell of a lot more and then be ruthless when opportunities do present themselves.

With Igor Shesterkin in net, they have a huge advantage but that will only count if this team can show a killer instinct in the offensive zone and give their goalie some much-needed support. If they can’t, then it will all be over.

Curry flashed that killer instinct when his team needed it the most, and the Rangers must now be ruthless themselves if they are to put off their vacation plans a little while longer.

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