The Rangers, with 89 points and clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, visit Boston for a matinee today, and both Michal Rozsival and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist will dress. Rozsival manned one of the points on the power play after missing the last five game with a knee injury; Lundqvist's shoulder and neck remained sore after a collision with Tuomo Ruutu in Thursday night's 4-2 loss, but he will start.
The Rangers have been outscored 20-11 in third periods since Tortorella replaced Tom Renney. ?No one?s off the hook,? Tortorella said after a brief meeting with the team here before leaving for Boston. Against the Hurricanes, the Rangers fumbled away a 2-2 game, allowing two goals in 28 seconds in the final period. ?We have to solve that. Their second goal, breakdowns, but we come back and score, and we get to a third period with eight minutes left, that?s where you have to get it (bleepin) done,? Tortorella said, punching one fist into his open palm, ?and we didn?t. ??
?There were breakdowns right on through,? he continued. ?It?s goaltending, it?s coverages, it?s backchecking. It?s everything?The biggest point for us now with four games left---you throw out some of the power plays----they weren?t as bad as I thought they were, we gave up 10 scoring chances, we generated 14.
It?s that someone has to take it in the third period and show us the way in the det ails of the game. That has to come from our top guys. That is the stumbling block we have right now, our third periods. We have to find a way to have a stronger mental toughness, and if we don?t, in a week we?re done. We?re done?To me, it?s an easy thing. You?re not looking at a grind of an 82-game season. We?re in a capsule here and that third period is such an important thing.?
As for the 3-for-35 power play, Tortorella said "what we were trying to concentrate on today was to move the puck from low to high quicker to open up the top half of the ice instead of skating it up. And having people in front, but not having it so crowded that rebounds come out and it goes through you. I thought at times last night we had a good setup, and we just didn?t get our shots through and some of that is because we?re so close to the goalie."
Defenseman Corey Potter, who scored his first NHL goal on Thursday, was returned to Hartford.
The Rangers have been outscored 20-11 in third periods since Tortorella replaced Tom Renney. ?No one?s off the hook,? Tortorella said after a brief meeting with the team here before leaving for Boston. Against the Hurricanes, the Rangers fumbled away a 2-2 game, allowing two goals in 28 seconds in the final period. ?We have to solve that. Their second goal, breakdowns, but we come back and score, and we get to a third period with eight minutes left, that?s where you have to get it (bleepin) done,? Tortorella said, punching one fist into his open palm, ?and we didn?t. ??
?There were breakdowns right on through,? he continued. ?It?s goaltending, it?s coverages, it?s backchecking. It?s everything?The biggest point for us now with four games left---you throw out some of the power plays----they weren?t as bad as I thought they were, we gave up 10 scoring chances, we generated 14.
It?s that someone has to take it in the third period and show us the way in the det ails of the game. That has to come from our top guys. That is the stumbling block we have right now, our third periods. We have to find a way to have a stronger mental toughness, and if we don?t, in a week we?re done. We?re done?To me, it?s an easy thing. You?re not looking at a grind of an 82-game season. We?re in a capsule here and that third period is such an important thing.?
As for the 3-for-35 power play, Tortorella said "what we were trying to concentrate on today was to move the puck from low to high quicker to open up the top half of the ice instead of skating it up. And having people in front, but not having it so crowded that rebounds come out and it goes through you. I thought at times last night we had a good setup, and we just didn?t get our shots through and some of that is because we?re so close to the goalie."
Defenseman Corey Potter, who scored his first NHL goal on Thursday, was returned to Hartford.
