On Broadway Thursday night, the New York Rangers’ off-Broadway fourth line made an impact as it should. Oscar Lindberg struck twice for the Rangers in a 4-1 win in Game 4 over the Ottawa Senators.
“As soon as you have four lines contributing, whether it’s forecheck or playing good defensively, it’s just getting tough on their [defense],” Lindberg said.
The old refrain of the Rangers’ stars not scoring rings hollow when the balance of the Blueshirt attack makes an appearance on Broadway.
“I think our line’s been doing a really good job of getting pucks back from [our] forecheck, and we had two good chances today and we were able to bear down,” Lindberg said.
Add in goals from Nick Holden and Chris Kreider and the Rangers built a 4-0 lead through early in the third period.
“Nick made a real good play on our first goal,” Rangers’ head coach Alain Vigneault said. “We capitalized on one of our odd-man rushes. We’ve had a few, but we haven’t been able to capitalize.”
Henrik Lundqvist made 22 saves in the Rangers second straight win on home ice; a place that had been a house of horrors as the regular season wound down.
Kyle Turris broke up the shutout bid late in the third period.
Tanner Glass had two assists on the night in addition to his use of the body in slowing the Senators down.
“You look at teams that win the Stanley Cup, they get contributions from all four lines, whether it’s offensively, penalty killing, physical play … it’s got to be some way that you’re going to contribute. It’s nice that we’ve been able to do it on the score sheet lately,” Glass said.
The third period was remarkable for the absence of Erik Karlsson who did not play the final 20 minutes. Reports have stated that Karlsson has hairline fractures in the heel.
“We felt it was better to keep him out after the second period,” Senators coach Guy Boucher said. “He could have come back, but [we] just wanted to make sure.”
His absence was felt across the bench.
“Obviously as players, you’re worried. That’s our leader. The concern level is high. But they’ve got 36 hours to get him ready to go,” the Senators’ Bobby Ryan said.
[WATCH: All Rangers vs. Senators highlights | RELATED: Complete New York vs. Ottawa series coverage]
Craig Anderson got the start but yielded three goals on 20 shots through two periods. He was soft on one but his defense was absent for the other two.
“Sometimes you have to tip your hat to the other team,” Anderson said. “They came out, they’re good players, good team over there, and they stifled us. It’s one of those things where you learn from your mistakes, move forward, adjust, and get ready for the next battle.”
Mike Condon made nine saves on 10 shots he faced in the third.
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