To put things plainly, the New York Rangers have to figure out a way to get things done at home.
Tuesday night’s Game 4 against the Montreal Canadiens provides another opportunity for the Rangers to snap a home playoff losing streak that extended to six games after Sunday’s 3-1 loss to go down 2-1 in the series.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of Game 4:
Date: Tuesday, April 18
Time: 7 p.m.
Venue: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
TV: NBC Sports Network, MSG
Radio: 98.7 ESPN Radio
New York’s offense looked lost on Sunday night, getting just 21 shots on Carey Price’s goal in the loss.
The first and second periods saw them record just 12 shots combined despite getting four minutes of power-play time.
Their power play has been dreadful as well, going 0-for-10 and looking out of sync.
Price has faced 29 fewer shots than Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist has through the first three games of the series, which is the equivalent of an entire game’s worth.
Lundqvist has already faced more shots through three games this postseason (118) than what he faced during the entire first round last season against the Pittsburgh Penguins (113).
For a team who is down in a series with the home crowd behind them, the formula should be a simple one: Be aggressive, get pucks to the net and try to limit the number of shots getting to Lundqvist.
If they can do that, New York has a great chance to draw this series level.
Projected forward lines:
Chris Kreider – Derek Stepan – Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey – Mika Zibanejad – Rick Nash
Michael Grabner – Kevin Hayes – J.T. Miller
Pavel Buchnevich – Oscar Lindberg – Jesper Fest
Defense:
Ryan McDonagh – Dan Girardi
Marc Staal – Nick Holden
Brady Skjei – Brendan Smith
Goalie:
Henrik Lundqvist
