For the Rangers, there’s been more positives than negatives in their game through the first three contests of this first-round series against the Devils.
Not only have they limited the Devils to just a single even-strength goal and four tallies overall, but the Rangers had to go 0-for-5 on the power play in order for New Jersey to force overtime and ultimately make it a 2-1 series with a 2-1 overtime win Saturday night at the Garden.
That is why the Rangers are still feeling good about themselves despite dropping Game 3.
That is why the Rangers should be able to stay the course with Game 4 on deck Monday night.
“We’re confident,” Filip Chytil said in a formal press conference with reporters on Sunday, which was an off-day for the Rangers. “We have our heads up. It’s one game. We have another big game [on Monday]. We feel good about ourselves. Nothing changes. We want to win [on Monday].”
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As much as taking a 3-0 series lead was attainable for the Rangers, it is unrealistic to expect this Devils team to roll over in its first playoff appearance in five years.
The Rangers were expecting a desperate push from the Devils, but their execution just wasn’t as efficient as it was in Games 1 and 2.
Still, the Rangers were comfortable with their effort, and appear to have an understanding of the differences in their game between the two wins and the loss.
Despite not giving the Devils much to work with, the Rangers failed to produce much themselves in Saturday night’s overtime loss.
After combining for nine giveaways through the first two games, the Rangers coughed the puck up 19 times in Game 3, indicating just how much looser they were in the loss.
The Rangers have been strong in the neutral zone, which is an area the Devils have been able to exploit all year long.
Special teams has largely swung in the Rangers favor, as has goaltending, puck possession and shot output.
The game plan has not changed for the Rangers, who are simply looking to get back to their high level of execution from the first two games.
“I think everyone is calm, cool and collected about it,” Vincent Trocheck said. “I like the way we handled things. I think we think we’re playing well. I like the way we’re playing, we’re playing good hockey these first three games, so I think we continue to play the way we’re playing.”
Unlike the Devils, who have deployed a different lineup in every game in response to their losses, Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant probably hasn’t even contemplated making any adjustments to his team.
That is because the Rangers haven’t even come close to what would be classified as a bad game.
The Rangers, however, can’t let the Devils regain their confidence after working so hard to diminish it.
An overtime win like Saturday night is the kind of victory that can give this New Jersey squad a jolt of belief.
The locker room conversation the Devils had after their Game 2 defeat — about their turnaround from an 0-2 start to the regular season — is the kind that can motivate a team to turn a series around.
All it takes is for one loss to spiral into another, and suddenly the Rangers’ dominant first two wins mean absolutely nothing.
Feeling like they can continue playing how they’ve been playing and close out this series is certainly beneficial for the Rangers.
“It’s one game and you’ve got to get by those games,” Gallant said. “I’m sure they feel good about themselves, the other team, but we’re OK. We’re fine. We’re in a good spot.”