-Ed-Mulholland-USA-TODAY-Sports-2023-04-27T100344.204
(New York, NY) — It’s the moment of truth for the New York Rangers.
Losing games is expected, but not meeting your own standard is not acceptable.
The Blue Shirts are in dire need to correct what went wrong in Game 3 & 4, as they prepare to hit the road to face the New Jersey Devils Thursday in Newark, N.J.
“We didn’t show up,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “We didn’t play hard enough. We didn’t compete hard enough. All we did was yap at the linesman for getting thrown out of faceoffs. A lot of bad things.”
The Rangers opened the series with consecutive 5-1 victories, but the Devils responded with a 2-1 overtime win followed by Monday’s 3-1 victory — which included an empty-net goal to round out the scoring.
The road team has won all four games.
“It might not have looked like it, (but) I think we’re overworking in a few situations,” Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad said. “I think we’re trying to do it all in one play and not just chip away and get into the game and earn our chances. When that happens, then I think we might wait for someone else to do it. We’ve got to get back to playing the way we played all year. We’ve got to trust ourselves.”
They’re great expectations for the Blue Shirts following last year’s run to the conference finals. Greater expectations were only enhanced by the all-in acquisitions of Vlad Tarasenko and Patrick Kane.
As for 77WABC’s Sid Rosenberg and Mike Daddino? They’re not expressing much confidence.
Are the Rangers in trouble?@mike_daddino and @sidrosenberg think so. pic.twitter.com/7uQ9RAYcpQ
— 77wabcsports (@77wabcsports) April 27, 2023
The beauty of it? All of our questions will be answered tonight.
