Why Ryan Reaves will have a big role to play in Game 4 for New York Rangers

Ryan Reaves isn’t exactly the first name that springs to mind when it comes to working out who needs to step up for the New York Rangers in Game 4, but he could end up making one of the biggest impacts.

While tonight isn’t quite do-or-die for the Blueshirts, it is pretty close given that no team wants to go down 3-1 in a best-of-seven series.

And, while the Rangers have actually come back from a 3-1 series deficit twice out of the last four times it has happened, trailing two games to a Pittsburgh Penguins team loaded with postseason experience would be a very tough mountain to climb.

Therefore, they need their big guns to deliver in Game 4 and deliver big time, while Igor Shesterkin must also pitch a gem between the pipes.

However, there is also a strong case to be made that Reaves will also have a big role to play in a game the Rangers can’t really afford to drop.

While he’s averaging just 11:04 minutes of total ice time in this series so far, Reaves has already shown that he can leave his mark on his former team and contribute in a big way. Granted, he won’t show up on the scoresheet, but he does hold a certain value in the playoffs.

Just go back to that dominating first period by the Rangers in Game 1. They were all over the Penguins with their aggressive forecheck, and they were also playing a physical brand of hockey with Reaves and Alexis Lafrenière leading the way in particular.

Reaves finished Game 1 with eight hits but he was most effective in the first period, finishing some thunderous checks and sending jolts of energy through an already pent-up Madison Square Garden.

And that’s why he will be key tonight.

While Reaves didn’t even reach the seven-minute threshold in Game 3 – logging a grand total of just 6:43 of ice time – the Rangers need a clear response tonight in-front of a home crowd that will be up for grabs early.

Chasing a 3-1 series lead, PPG Paints Arena will be buzzing and it was clear that atmosphere got the better of a very young Rangers team in Game 3. That lack of experience, compared to the wealth of postseason experience at the disposal of the Penguins, clearly hurt Gerard Gallant’s team who don’t have the years of playoff scars that the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang have.

As a result, it perhaps wouldn’t be a bad idea to give Reaves a few early shifts tonight so that he can do what he does best – disrupt the hell out of games and rattle his opponents.

If Reaves can go after the likes of Crosby and throw a few monster hits in to get under the skin of the Penguins and silence the home crowd, then that can only help the Rangers.

Plus, while he’s only got a total of 87 games under his belt in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, that is still a lot more than a large chunk of the Blueshirts roster and having Reaves’ experience of postseason hockey will only help in a game as big as this one.

He thrives in the dark arts of hockey and if the enforcer can use some of his tricks to help his team, and maybe even drop the gloves to spark a momentum shift in the game, then that could be a big difference.

So, while the likes of Shesterkin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox will ultimately be expected to lead a bounce-back for the Rangers in Game 4, don’t be surprised if Reaves ends up having a role to play in the fight to even this series back up.