The Rangers will be mightily relieved that Ryan McDonagh didn’t sustain a shoulder injury in Monday’s game six victory as, after an inconsistent start to the playoffs, the Rangers captain has improved after each and every game. The proof is in the pudding and the pudding is Alex Ovechkin. The Capitals captain has been a factor of course, whether it through his physical play (as McDonagh himself can attest to) or the mere fact he’s constantly throwing pucks toward the net but his influence has been minimized in large part because of Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi.
McDonagh has not only scored a huge, game winning goal in the series that kept the Rangers’ season alive (indeed, both of his goals this postseason have stood up as game winners) but McDonagh has been on the ice in almost every critical situation for the Rangers including the dying moments of game six when McDonagh was the one who eventually cleared the puck to ice the game. McDonagh wasn’t a factor early in the series but his influence has surely been felt as the series has progressed.
McDonagh leads all players in ice time in this series (averaging 24:22 minutes per game) and while he’s not been at his very best his form is certainly pointing in the right direction. At time of writing only four players remaining in the playoffs have averaged more ice time than McDonagh and three of those are on a Blackhawks team that have already played two multiple overtime games this spring.
The Rangers rely on McDonagh not only for playing big minutes and for generating offense from the backend but also to marginalise the league’s best forwards and he’s traditionally done well against Ovechkin even if Ovechkin did start the series impressively. Since the first couple of games, Ovechkin has been held in check. Ovechkin has gone pointless in four straight even though his ice time has jumped by almost 6 minutes per game in that time frame. He’s taking much longer shifts which is a habit he has had in the past when he’s been guilty of trying to do too much on his own. A result of McDonagh’s play? Quite possibly.
It’s not just at even strength that McDonagh has been strong. The Rangers penalty kill has done an impressive job at keeping the leagues scariest powerplay off the board, killing 11 of 12 penalties thus far while Ovechkin has the lone powerplay goal which came on the rush, up against Dan Boyle. McDonagh is averaging almost 3 minutes per game on the penalty kill unit, beaten only by Dan Girardi in PK ice time but, unlike Girardi, McDonagh plays in every situation.
McDonagh has been physical, he’s got the puck on net to good effect, he’s blocked shots, he’s playing big minutes and he leads the blueline in points scored so he’s doing everything he can to keep the Capitals at bay. McDonagh hasn’t been perfect of course. He has given the puck away more than he’d like although compared to his playing partner Girardi, McDonagh has been dependable with the puck.
The key though, is that McDonagh is improving and growing into the playoffs perhaps just in time to help extend the Rangers season at least one more series. The Rangers will need one more big game from McDonagh and that’s something he’ll relish bringing to the table particularly after Ovechkin’s ‘guarantee’. Ovechkin does a lot of talking but in the playoffs he hasn’t often backed it up. McDonagh’s play does his talking for him. Tonight, let’s hope McDonagh is the one giving the victory speech at the end of the game. His improving form suggests he’ll be the one.
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