Rangers to bring experience, 'desperation' into Game 7 against Devils
Are 6-1 facing elimination since 2022 after win Saturday
The New York Rangers are back in the same position they were in twice in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season; Game 7 after winning Game 6 to get there.
This time it's in the Eastern Conference First Round against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Monday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS, MSGSN, MSG). The Rangers won 5-2 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday to force Game 7.
Last season, it was against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round after they won Games 5 and 6, and then it was against the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round after winning Game 6. The Rangers won both.
They're 6-1 when facing elimination from the playoffs since last season.
"We know what it takes," defenseman Jacob Trouba said after Game 6. "It's desperation."
RELATED: [Complete Devils vs. Rangers series coverage]
A lot is also different for the Rangers.
Five players that will be in their lineup in Game 7 against the Devils were not on the team last season; forwards Vladimir Tarasenko, Vincent Trocheck, Patrick Kane and Jimmy Vesey, and defenseman Niko Mikkola.
They did not lose three games in a row at any point in the first two rounds last year as they did against New Jersey, dropping Games 3, 4 and 5 by a combined 9-2 after winning Games 1 and 2 by a combined 10-2.
The Rangers play a slightly different style than last year, with more skill and less grind in their forward group particularly.
"It's a different team, different series, different year," coach Gerard Gallant said. "Last year was great. It's great to build off that. But really it doesn't mean a lot going into [Monday] night."
Gallant also said he doesn't think Game 7 experience means a whole lot once the puck drops, but that is different this year too.
The Rangers have more of it than last year, more of it than their opponent too.
They will have 16 skaters plus goalie Igor Shesterkin who have Game 7 experience, a combined 45 Game 7s to be exact, including Kane's five, Tarasenko's four and Trocheck's two.
Their only skaters without Game 7 experience are Vesey and Mikkola.
The Devils have 10 players with a combined 23 Game 7s under their belt, but that includes five for defenseman Brendan Smith, who has been a healthy scratch the past four games. Six of those Game 7s belong to forward Ondrej Palat.
Rangers, Devils face off in Game 7 Monday in Newark
Essentially, the Devils are where the Rangers were in the first round a year ago, when in Game 7 against the Penguins they dressed eight players who played in a combined 20 Game 7s versus Pittsburgh's 11 players with 40 Game 7s.
"For me personally, I think it's easier mentally [to prepare for Game 7]," said Tarasenko, who was 4-0 in Game 7s with the St. Louis Blues from 2016-19. "When you play Game 6 there's a lot of thinking, what happens if. Game 7 is pretty simple; win you advance, lose you're done. It's a big moment. I think we play for these moments. I'm very excited for the challenge."
Tarasenko said his mentality for this Game 7 is different from when he was preparing for his first one seven years ago against the Chicago Blackhawks.
"I think it's gained through experience," he said. "I don't want to say it's not stressful. It's very stressful. But in my mind, it's easier to prepare for a game where it's pretty clear the winner goes on and the loser is out. There's a lot of emotions in my experience in Game 7. We have a lot of experience in this room and I think it can help us."
So can their understanding of what worked to score five goals in Game 6 after they were limited to two in the previous three games, including none on just 23 shots in Game 5.
They went harder to the net front area and got traffic on goalie Akira Schmid. They used their power play to gain momentum late in the first period, carried that into the second, and it filtered into their 5-on-5 game. They had the puck more in the offensive zone.
"It's nice to get on the board and at least show ourselves what we're capable of again and know that we have it," Trocheck said. "Obviously, we've done that three times this series and we know we're capable of it. I think we are realizing that it's a certain way we're playing when we do that. It's even simpler and more direct. But it's an effort level that we took it to [Saturday] night that needs to be more consistent throughout the entirety of the playoffs."
The Rangers forced the Devils to replace Schmid with Vitek Vanecek after Braden Schneider's goal made it 5-1 with 7:32 remaining in the third period.
Schmid looked impenetrable in the previous three games after watching Vanecek allow 10 goals in the first two games. Devils coach Lindy Ruff is not revealing if Schmid will be back in the net to start Game 7, though the Rangers clearly expect that he will be.
"Hopefully it maybe rattled him but we're not expecting him to be rattled," Trocheck said. "He's obviously a really good goalie. He played really well in three games. We're going to expect his best and going we're going to make sure we give him our best."
Recent history suggests they will, even if it's a different year, series and team.
"I like our chances, I like our group," Gallant said. "I think we have a team with a chance to go a long ways, but [Monday] is going to decide that."
