New York | Alexis Lafrenière has a big beard with red highlights. Despite his young age, he is in his 20s, he maintains an old tradition with more chin hair at this time of year. But Quebec does not intend to get his mousse out quickly.
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After losing 3-1 in Game 5 to the Hurricanes in Raleigh, the Rangers will play for survival in Game 6 tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden.
Example of penguins
For the fourth time since the start of the qualifiers, the “blue shirts” will seek to avoid disqualification. Lafrenière was inspired by his team’s resilience against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the playoffs to secure his chances against the Hurricanes.
“Against Pittsburgh, we were eliminated three times. We were down 3-1 in that series,” Lavrinier told reporters at the Rangers training center. We played well in the decisive games. We know what to do. We don’t have to change our approach. As a team and maintain our identity.
“We have confidence, continued the 2020 Draft category leader. We know we can come back. We did it in the playoffs. We will need to play as a team. And that is what we will do on Saturday.”
Gerard Gallant gave a speech similar to that of his young striker
“When you stumble 3-2 in a series, you have your back against the wall,” the Rangers coach said. You know that if you lose the next match, there will be no tomorrow. Despite this, we have to play our game. We’ve done really well against the penguins. I hope we do the same. There is a sense of urgency. It’s very clear. »
back to home
Since the start of the series, the Hurricanes have won their three games at the PNC Arena, while the Rangers have claimed two victories at the legendary Madison Square Garden.
“Obviously they are a better team at home than on the road. I can say the same for our team,” Gallant noted. “I really don’t know why. In the last game, we didn’t really have a chance to win. But in the first two games in Carolina, we were involved.” For the fifth game, they dominated the disc, producing shifts in the neutral zone.”
no blame
Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider failed to live up to their talent in the last match by not firing a single shot in Antti Raanta’s direction.
In New York, the two star strikers have been a talking point. But Galant did not fall into the trap.
“I can’t criticize Panarin. Two games ago he was our best player even though he didn’t get a point. In the last match, there were a lot of guys who didn’t have a great night. I’m not going to sit here blaming Panarin and Kreider. They will bounce.
Chris Kreider has scored 58 goals this year [52 en saison et 6 en séries]. He’s having a great season. I can say one thing. The closer it is to the network, the more likely it will be recorded. »
In this sixth match, the Rangers will put a lot of hope for their goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin. The Russian has had five wins and one loss with 2.05 GAA and 0.949 MSG savings since the start of qualifying.
“Igor makes us believe that we can win all our matches,” Galant sums up. It’s still amazing. »
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