Game 4: Get out there and win a hockey game!

Los Angeles Kings @ New York Rangers, Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final

The Rangers are back in the action tonight when they host the Los Angeles Kings in the Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Kings beat the Blueshirts twice in LA, both wins came in overtime and on Monday night they shutout the Rangers 3-0 at MSG. Now the Rangers are playing with their backs against the wall. Only one team in the NHL history has made a comeback from 3-0 deficit in the Cup Finals, the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942. Winning four straight against this Kings team is highly unlikely but all you can do right now is to believe. When the Rangers were down 3-1 against the Penguins in the 2nd round, many of us lost the hope – look what happened? Yes, the Los Angeles Kings are playing very well and they seem to get every single bounce their way but to be honest, the stranger things have happened before. So get out there and win a hockey game. If necessary – repeat that four times.

LAK:

The Kings are getting lucky but the truth is when you’re playing well, you usually get lucky. Jeff Carter, Mike  Richards and Jake Muzzin scored for Los Angeles while Jonathan Quick got 32-save shutout. Kings are known for their comebacks in this year’s post season but when this team is leading – nothing will stop them. On Monday night, they killed of 7 power plays and scored one power play goal. If you lose the battle of the goalies and the special teams, don’t get your hopes too high. When asked if he can already taste his second career Stanley Cup, Quick’s response was short and simple “nope”. The Kings are close but they have a one more pit stop to make. Lord Stanley’s Cup is in the house tonight and Dustin Brown and the Kings know that.

NYR:

It isn’t about the chances, the Rangers are getting enough scoring chance – but it’s about the quality. Mats Zuccarello had a wide open net in the first period of the Game 1. Jonathan Quick made an unbelievable save and eventually Jeff Carter gave the Kings 1-0 with only 0.7 seconds left in the clock. The Rangers aren’t using their chances and that’s one of the reasons why they are down 3-0 in the series. Henrik Lundqvist had a tough night in net in Game 3 but as we head into tonight’s, you wanna believe that King will bring his A-game tonight. Lundqvist has won 7 straight elimination games at the Garden and he’s 4-0 this year. New York needs Lundqvist now more than ever. One shutout or one win isn’t enough – he needs to steal four games in a row. He’s supposed to get help from his team mates but when looking at Richards, Nash and St. Louis – King Lundqvist is on his own.

Daniel Carcillo is eligible to make a return to the line-up and he will presumably to do that. Alain Vigneault has a lot of thinking to do, how to get this team to play with more urgency and with more heart. The Rangers have worked so hard to get in here, they won’t quit until the final buzzer. You can’t win four games tonight and the mindset going into the Game 4 must be a simply “one period and one game at a time”. Situation isn’t the best one but when you get to play a Cup Final game at Madison Square Garden with Rangers, it isn’t the worst one either.

Let’s Go Rangers!

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