henrik lundqvist mark stone

Credit: AP / Sean Kilpatrick

The Rangers are in a pretty pickle right now, down 0-2 to the Senators and coming back to MSG for a must-win Game 3.The good news is that the series in not out of reach, and both games could have gone either way. The bad news is that the Rangers need some breaks. After the debacle that was Game 2, where terrible coaching, poor defense, and an off-night by Henrik Lundqvist cost them the tie, the Rangers need to make some adjustments to have a chance of coming back.

1. Goaltending

Sorry Hank, but you need to be the first item on this list. Hank did not have a good game on Saturday. He’s far from the main cause of the loss, as I went into yesterday, but when the Rangers score five goals, it’s a game you need to win. The weak first goal by JG Pageau really stands out to me as the type of shot Hank needs to stop. Does stopping that shot guarantee a win? Nope. But it’s one of those “what if” moments.

2. Roster Decisions

I feel like I’m beating the dead horse, but Alain Vigneault simply can’t continue to lean on veterans that have burned him in the past. At the writing of this post, we don’t know if there will be roster changes, but this goes beyond who dresses for the game (that horse has been beaten so much he might actually be glue). In game deployment needs to significantly improve. That means no longer leaning on Marc Staal and Nick Holden in pressure situations. That means giving Brady Skjei and Brendan Smith more ice time. That means giving Oscar Lindberg –one of maybe three forwards who has been consistently good this postseason– normal ice time. Being a veteran doesn’t mean you’re good. It just means you’re older than the rookies.

3. Consistent Scoring

This is a big one. The Rangers finally got through to a goalie for the first time since the 2015 Eastern Conference Final. The Senators are a very beatable team, and the Rangers showed that they can beat that defense and goaltending. It helped get Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider off the schneid. They need to continue pressuring and scoring. Now if Saturday’s goals mean that Stepan and Kreider are finally getting hot and can put pucks in the net, then this is a step in a right direction. However the Rangers need JT Miller and Kevin Hayes to start being JT Miller and Kevin Hayes. If this happens, then the series can swing back to the Rangers.

4. Consistent Defense

I feel like this is self explanatory. But yea, stop allowing deflections please. Also, someone toss Pageau into the stands.

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