STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND SERIES
Caps 2, Rangers 1
What – Game #4
When – 7 p.m.
Where – Madison Square Garden
TV – CSN HD
We’ve come to a critical moment in this Eastern Conference quarterfinal. The Caps had a 2-0 lead and dropped their first road test at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. The Rangers appear loose. Their coach, John Tortorella, has been in fine spirits in recent days, radiating confidence. To be honest, he was like that even before Game 3.
Washington’s players were having fun on the ice at the morning skate. Scott Hannan, Boyd Gordon, Brooks Laich and Tyler Sloan played a game where they batted a puck into the air and had to catch it on their stick and toss it to one of the other players. Sloan botched his first attempt, much to the derision of his teammates. Point is – they looked loose, too. Things took a more business-like turn in the locker room after the skate. But this is a team that has won three elimination Game 6s on the road the last three seasons in Philly, New York and Pittsburgh. I think the majority of this group is acclimatized to playoff pressure.
But there’s no question it’s there in force tonight. Bruce Boudreau says there’s zero chance any Rangers player is more jacked to win tonight because of his comments on Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. And he’s right. But the crowd will be. And – as Mike Green pointed out yesterday – New York used that emotion to its advantage early in Game 3.
Whatever happens, the Caps need to do it without veteran winger Mike Knuble, who is not taking warm-ups and is officially out with an undisclosed injury. He did take a shot off the right hand late in the third period of Sunday’s loss. Eric Fehr steps into the lineup, as expected, at third-line right wing. Jason Chimera is on the top line at right wing.
