It is, Derek Stepan said, “kind of controlled chaos,” which would be a slightly more accurate description of what goes on when the opposition pulls its goaltender for an extra attacker if the Rangers could actually control the chaos while trying to protect a one-goal lead.
But they haven’t been able to control it all, twice yielding late tying goals in five-on-six situations in games the Blueshirts would ultimately lose in overtime, the latest occurring in the Senators’ 6-5 double OT Game 2 victory on Saturday that gave Ottawa a 2-0 Round Two lead entering Tuesday’s Game 3 at the Garden.
“It’s about quick reads and trying to be in the spot you’re supposed to be in,” Stepan said. “You try and understand what the options are for the other team and be there to take them away.
“We talk about it. We don’t want to fall into certain habits that leave us vulnerable. Everything happens so quickly, it’s hard to stay in a structure, but there are principles we go over, like on penalty killing.”
In Game 2 of the first round against Montreal, Tomas Plekanec tied it from the doorstep at 19:42 with Nick Holden down on his knees, defenseless and without a stick after having broken it while cross-checking the Habs’ center. Then Alexander Radulov won it for the Canadiens in OT.
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And then in Ottawa on Saturday, it was Jean-Gabriel Pageau, uncovered by the Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi defense tandem, on a goalmouth deflection that tied it at 18:58 before the Senators’ forward completed a four-goal extravaganza with a two-on-one winner in double overtime.
The Rangers are not alone, of course, the mighty Capitals allowing two five-on-six goals within 48 seconds to the Penguins to blow a late 2-0 lead in Game 3 before recovering to win in overtime, but that doesn’t necessarily make it any easier for the team to accept.
But do you know what might salve the Blueshirts’ wounded pride if they can climb out of their hole and advance to the conference finals? The knowledge that the 1994 Rangers, a team you might have heard of, won the Stanley Cup despite allowing late game-tying goals three times in five-on-six situations.
“They did?” Stepan asked rhetorically when made aware of that fact. “I’m going to tell that to our group.”
Yes, the 1994 Rangers did, and in fact, three times within an eight-game stretch beginning with Game 1 of the epochal Eastern finals against New Jersey.
The Blueshirts had entered that series as prohibitive favorites after going six-for-six against New Jersey during the regular season while knocking rookie goaltender Martin Brodeur out of all four games he’d started against them.
The 112-point, Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers had swept the Islanders in the opening round and had taken out the Caps in five games.
The Devils, who had finished second overall with 106 points, had survived a seven-game first round against Buffalo before beating the Bruins in six games, with Chris Terreri starting and winning the three games in Boston.
The Rangers held a 3-2 lead late in Game 1 at the Garden when Claude Lemieux scored to tie it at 19:17 after Brodeur had been pulled. And then when Stephane Richer beat Mike Richter in double overtime, New Jersey held a 1-0 lead in the series.
Fast forward through Blueshirts’ coach Mike Keenan benching Brian Leetch in Game 4 at the Meadowlands, the Devils’ Game 5 victory at the Garden for a 3-2 series lead, Mark Messier’s “We’ll Win Tonight” hat trick in Game 6, and 59:52 of spectacular high-stakes hockey in Game 7 through which the Rangers had a 1-0 lead.
Fast forward through it all until, with Brodeur pulled and the Devils a mere 7.7 seconds away from extinction, Valeri Zelepukin scored from the goalmouth to tie the game and send Richter into a frenzy in which the goaltender accosted referee Bill McCreary while arguing that the New Jersey winger was in the crease and interfered with him.
McCreary could have assessed Richter a gross misconduct for abuse of official, but he did not, thus setting the plate for Stephane Matteau, Game 7 glory and a matchup in the Cup final against Vancouver.
And then, after twice losing late leads against the Devils, the Rangers did it again in Game 1 against the Canucks when Martin Gelinas scored at 19:00 of the third to tie it 2-2 before Greg Adams won it for Vancouver in overtime on a night that Kirk McLean made 52 saves.
Three times in eight games! But of course in Game 7, the ’94 Rangers controlled the chaos. So maybe there is hope for the ’17ers.