Two losses from the end of their season, Alain Vigneault shared a simple and strong message about what needed to change after the Rangers’ underwhelming Game 3 performance:
“Our top players need to find their game,” Vigneault said. “They obviously don’t have it right now.”
In Game 4, Ryan McDonagh answered the call.
The Rangers captain was at his best in the dual role of team leader and top defenseman, combining his All-Star form with much-needed desperation and physicality. McDonagh helped tie the first-round series at two, with the deciding assist in a 2-1 win over the Canadiens Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
McDonagh was also credited with four hits in the inspired effort, adding two takeaways and two blocked shots.
“We need to match that energy and execution going forward,” McDonagh said. “We just got to continue to play consistent here and keep playing with that bite and that edge. … There’s no real key. It’s just doing it.”
McDonagh was brilliant defensively, stopping rushes before they could start, and diving on the ice to prevent potential game-tying shots from ever being taken. The captain gave the crowd reason after reason to stay engaged and increasingly optimistic.
He was everything he is supposed to be, an example for what is needed to extend the Rangers’ season.
“I’m feeding off it maybe as much as they are,” McDonagh said of his teammates. “I just want to make sure we’re playing fast and playing aggressive.”
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On a night in which he had several standout plays, McDonagh swung the momentum of the series back to the Rangers after turning an ordinary-looking shift into art.
When the Canadiens attempted to clear their own zone early in the second period, McDonagh prevented the puck from crossing the blue line, gloving the puck and dropping it to his skates.
He then pulled a rabbit out of his helmet, dekeing Montreal’s Max Pacioretty and firing a beautiful pass through two defenders to a cutting Rick Nash, who scored the game-winning goal with 15:32 remaining in the period.
“I actually lost the handle of my own stick … and he got a whack at it, but thankfully I was able to keep the puck alive with my feet,” McDonagh said. “I just tried to find somebody around the net, and a stick blade there, and [Nash] made a good read jumping behind them, and had a pretty good finish as well.”
The Rangers got everything they needed, from exactly who they needed it from.
“There’s no doubt that he was one of our most effective players on the ice,” Vigneualt said.