RALEIGH, N.C. — Game 6 in Pittsburgh, Rangers down 3-2 in the series and 2-0 in the match early in the second period. Ryan Lindgren slashes Evan Rodrigues. There is no call on the play. Rodrigues responds by roughing No. 55. He’s called for the retaliatory penalty.
Five seconds later, Mika Zibanejad wires one home on the power play. Only 1:16 after that, Zibanejad scores again to tie the score at 6:21 of the second period. The game has irrevocably shifted. The Blueshirts win it 5-3 and tie the series before taking Game 7 at home in overtime.
Game 4 of the second round at the Garden, Rangers down 2-1 in the series to Carolina, the contest scoreless past the midway point of the first period. Jacob Trouba destroys a stumbling Max Domi by the boards. There is no penalty called because it was a legal check. The Hurricanes’ Steven Lorentz feels the need to come to Domi’s rescue and confronts Trouba.
First, Lorentz takes Trouba’s stick to the face, then is belabored in the ensuing fight. Trouba gets five minutes. Lorentz quite properly gets a two-minute instigator (and a 10-minute misconduct) on top of his fighting major. The Rangers go on the power play.
Seven seconds before the man-advantage is set to expire, Frank Vatrano whips one by Antti Raanta for a 1-0 lead at 13:31 of the first. The game has irrevocably tilted toward the Rangers, who win it 4-1 to square the series.
Two retaliatory penalties. Two undisciplined penalties. Two game-changers. But we haven’t seen one of those committed by the Blueshirts. The Rangers’ combination of physicality and discipline throughout the tournament, and specifically in the series against the ‘Canes, has become one of their primary assets. That is not exactly by happenstance.
But it is another example of the Blueshirts practicing what head coach Gerard Gallant preaches.
“Seriously, we talked about that all year long,” Gallant said hours before Thursday’s Game 5. “I like to play a physical hockey game but when you’re in the box, you don’t have a whole lot of a chance when you’re playing a good hockey team.
“So you go into a playoff series and if you really want to win you play smart, you play hard, but you stay out of the box. It’s definitely something we talked about before the series.”
The Rangers were around the middle of the league in the number of times they were shorthanded during the regular season. After being short 23 times in the first round, the Blueshirts had been on the penalty kill only nine times in the first four games against the Canes, and by the way, snuffing every Carolina PP.
The Blueshirts are playing with grit, they are competing in all the dirty areas, but they are not going into vigilante mode, not on Domi, not on Tony DeAngelo, not on anyone.
“I think that comes from the coaching staff,” said Kevin Rooney, who centers the combative fourth line that features Ryan Reaves on his right side. “They do a great job in making sure we’re physical when we need to be, but that we shouldn’t go out of our way looking for something if it’s not there. That’s usually when you get in trouble and take penalties.
“I think we’ve done a good job of being disciplined but also tough to play against. Since Game 4 in Pittsburgh, we’ve done a much better job of being harder to play against.”
The Rangers are 5-2 since that Game 4 defeat in Pittsburgh, in which Igor Shesterkin was pulled for the second straight contest with the taunting chants of “Igor” ringing in his ears. Since that match, the goaltender has recorded a .939 save percentage and 1.98 GAA.
“I think it was more of a mental thing with Igor, to be honest with you,” Gallant said. “You know, first time through the playoffs as a young goalie and the way that crowd roared and was cheering against him.
“But you learn, you get better from that and we talked to him a couple of times about keeping focus on the play and not worrying about the crowd or a bad goal. He’s played great. He’s ready for it now.”
The Rangers came into this as an inexperienced and untested playoff group. That makes it all the more impressive that they have maintained their discipline through this first postseason experience. They have not overreacted to any piece of adversity.
“I think that started when I got hired last summer,” Gallant said. “We brought some players in to add to our physical game because [management] didn’t think the team was hard enough. I think we’ve added that.
“But when you add physicality, you’ve got to make sure you’re not going to the box on stupid penalties. It’s a fine line on that but I don’t think our team has taken many stupid penalties over the year. That’s the biggest thing for me. They play hard but there aren’t many times when you say, ‘That’s a dumb penalty.’”
