Gerard Gallant changed up his lines for Game 3 of the Rangers’ series with the Hurricanes, and it seemed to work out well enough to the tune of a 3-1 victory that cut the Blueshirts’ series deficit to two games to one.
“We killed some penalties, scored a power play goal…that’s how you win tight games,” Gallant said after the win. “Igor (Shesterkin) was outstanding for us, and that was the key. We’re disappointed with losing the first two games, but I liked the way we battled, and tonight we felt like we were going to win.”
After his top six forwards generated just five shots on goal in Game 2, Gallant switched it up by breaking up the “kid line” with different partners; Alexis Lafreniere joined Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome, Kaapo Kakko played on a wing with Frank Vetrano in between Andrew Copp, and Filip Chytil moved up to the first line, playing wing for the first time in a long time next to Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad.
The results for that line, at least: 12 shots, two goals, one assist, and a 3-1 Rangers victory spurred by that trio before Gallant went back to his usual lines at the end of the game for defensive purposes.
“We went with your lines the first half and the lead, and then went back,” Gallant joked. “I like that line to be honest with you. I think Fil did a good job on that line and they made some good plays. The game was different tonight, lots of chances both ways and open-ice hockey. We tried to open it up a little bit.”
“It was different. I don’t think we ever played with that combo, but I thought he did a great job,” Kreider added of Chytil. “A few odd tweaks early on, but the guys spun it positively and it worked.”
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That open-ice hockey allowed Chytil, especially, to flourish in a different role than he is used to, playing wing alongside two veterans and letting them lead the charge while he used his speed and youth to help a flurry that saw his group responsible for two goals.
“I think we finally played 60 minutes. We played how we wanted to play the first two periods, and then didn’t back off in the third period like we did in Game 1,” Chytil said. “Kreids and Mika are top players on our team, and it was an easy adjustment to play with them. We had a lot of great chances as a line, we scored a goal and drew a penalty that led to a power play goal. It was a good experience for me.”
The changes also allowed the Rangers to do something they did in Game 1 but couldn’t protect: play with a lead – a notion helped by the fact that after Zibanejad opened the scoring late in the first, Kreider gave them a 2-0 lead early in the second, so they had a two-goal advantage to work with.
“I think you want to score first in every game, and second and third as well, and probably not stop there,” Kreider joked. “But we had a good start, shored up some details that weren’t there the first couple games. “I think we sat back a little too much (in Game 1), but all three games have been really close games. That’s playoff hockey, so you have to keep working for your bounces.”
“It’s always huge to get that second goal, but (Carolina) plays hard and finds opportunities, so it was nice to get that 2-0 lead for sure,” Gallant added. “I’d like to be able to flip the switch and ask for offense, but this was one of those games. Any given night, things can happen.”
So it was the line changes and Shesterkin that spurred the Rangers to the win, but don’t discount the contributions of the fans helping the Blueshirts improve to 4-1 at MSG in this year’s postseason.
“It’s a terrific environment. So much energy throughout the game,” Kreider said. “They’ve been pretty instrumental in our starts here, and it’s easy to feed off their energy.”
“The energy was unreal – typical of our fans, who are always great and get behind our team,” Gallant added. “And, we play pretty good at home.”
That may be the key for this series, as the Rangers are 4-1 at MSG this postseason but just 1-3 on the road. The Hurricanes are in a similar boat, undefeated in six home games but 0-4 away from Raleigh, so the Rangers are hoping to be able to hold serve long enough to steal one in Carolina on the way to what looks like a date with the Lightning, who went up 3-0 on Florida on Sunday.
“It’s tough to win on the road in this league. But they played hard on the road today,” Gallant said of the Hurricanes. “I think it happens, and hopefully this series will go like that and we’ll find a way to win Game 7 in their building.”
Added Kreider, when asked how this run compares to the 2014 Stanley Cup Final run: “That feels like yesterday, but also feels like forever ago. Things happen fast in this league; it’s hard to put into words, but you try to take advantage of the chances you have to play playoff hockey in front of these fans.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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