NEW YORK – In game on their Eastern Conference Finals with the New Jersey Devils, the New York Rangers were dominant in a third period outburst of scoring in a 3-0 win. Game two on Wednesday night will be another test of the will and discipline of head coach John Tortorella’s club.
Asked about his young players and their ability to mesh in the lineup Tortorella mentioned Ryan McDonagh who stopped two breakaways in game one’s first period.
McDonagh has progressed quickly in the Rangers’ lineup and has taken advantage of being there as a result of injuries this season.
“It’s funny how it works out when you end up with injuries. We always talk about when there’s injuries, another guy gets an opportunity. You never know where it’s going to lead you,” Tortorella. “So with Mack (McDonagh), the amount of time he got so quickly in key situations because of that injury has accelerated his process, where that may be a year down the road if we didn’t have an injury. So you never know how this works out. I’m not sure if I’ll ever split those two guys up. That’s just the way it works, and that’s the interesting part when you have injuries, how things work out.”
The two breakaways in game one were a topic of discussion after Monday’s practice session for McDonagh.
Ryan McDonagh – Photo by Lewis Bleiman
“Obviously you’re not trying to be behind guys and give them breaks like that. But when it happens, you want to be smart and try not to take a penalty if you can do that. You always want to be moving your legs all the way back,” McDonagh said after practice. “You never know, might be one stride that can get you back in time. “And, like you said, you just try to keep to the outside on (Ilya) Kovalchuk there and not let him get too much forward, and hopefully Hank (Lundqvist) can make the save.”
McDonagh has benefitted greatly from playing alongside Dan Girardi as a defensive pairing. That playing time has permitted McDonagh to learn and develop quickly resulting in solid defensive work.
Asked about how he felt the pairing would work on the ice Tortorella said no one really knows how a pairing will work until they players hit the ice.
“It just does. It’s just like when we put lines together. I don’t know if the line’s going to work. You try to put some guys together. You don’t know if it’s going to work. You just have a feel. You watch it and you see if it does. And that’s what happened with Mack and Danny,” Tortorella explained. “It certainly was out of necessity. We talked about Michael Del Zotto. But Michael Del Zotto was still in the process of coming out of the minors and starting to play again. So you never — and if any coach tells you that he knows this will work, he’s lying. Because we don’t. You try it and you make a judgment and hopefully your judgment is the correct one, keeping them together or splitting them up.”
Girardi echoed his head coach’s comments and commented on McDonagh’s play this season and the post season.
“Well, obviously it’s easy to play with Mack (McDonagh) on the ice. He’s such a good skater it makes my job pretty easy out there,” Girardi said. “And I think just kind of our mix. I’m more kind of stay at home and get the puck up to the forwards and get it moving, and he likes to get it in the rush. And I get in the rush here and there. But I think he takes care of that for the most part.”
Girardi acknowledged that the pairing with McDonagh was an unknown as to outcome. But that once on the ice the two blueliners had a good feel for each other.
“And it happened in the beginning of the year obviously Staalsy (Marc Staal) being out and me and Mack got paired together, and I think sometimes it works between guys and sometimes it doesn’t. And it just seemed to gel. I really couldn’t tell you why. I think it’s just kind of read off each other from the beginning and talking on and off the ice about different things we could do, and it’s been good so far.”
Tortorella has never been one to single out specific players for high praise or effort. While he has recognized individual effort and success he has focused his attention on the team concept here in New York and wherever he has coached.
“ This isn’t golf. This is a team sport. It has to be. I don’t think — you push as a coach. You push every individual within the team sport to be the best they can be. But you have to combine that within a concept, in a team concept,” Tortorella explained. “And especially the team since I’ve been here in New York, especially the group of people we’ve had and we’ve involved to, that’s how we end up staying consistent and have any chance to win a hockey game, is to play as a team.”
The Rangers team hits the ice Wednesday night in Madison Square Garden for game two of the conference finals with the Devils looking to take a two-game lead in the series.
Contact LM.Davis@prohockeynews.com
Photographer Lewis.Bleiman@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.