Star Wars geeks rejoice, the New York Rangers forth line powers the road to a victory over the Ottawa Senators to tie the series at two games apiece. It wasn’t quite the start as game three but the same sixty-minute effort was put forward by the Blueshirts. The series shifts back to Ottawa with the Rangers looking to be in control.
It was defensemen Nick Holden that got the scoring started for the Rangers as he took a feed from Kevin Hayes. There has been tremendous effort up and down the line up for the Rangers as they have been getting contributions from all over. For Hayes, this was a much better game and more visible game for him because he has been struggling thus far in the playoffs. The story though has been the fourth line effort yet again as Oscar Lindberg contributed with two goals, along with two assists from Tanner Glass and one as well from J.T. Miller.
Chris Kreider was finally able to get on the board in this series and cash in on the power play to put the game away in period three. The Rangers can now hope as they go into game five guys like Kreider, Hayes and even Holden can breakout and continue to contribute.
The resiliency has been terrific from the Blueshirts who battled back from two games down to tie this series and swing the momentum. Head coach Alain Vigneault talked about getting the contributions from all four lines by saying, “I’ve said this many times this year we have to have four lines that can play. Definitely tonight Oscar’s line came up big for us with a couple of big plays. If you expect to win you’re going to need contributions from your whole team and we definitely got that tonight.”
The Broadway Hat recipient Oscar Lindberg talked about his lines contribution as well as having the team roll all four lines with confidence by saying, “I think definitely we are playing a little tougher here at home and we are able to get some more hits and making it tough on their defense. From doing that, I think we’ve been able to get some more pucks back and spend a longer time in their zone.”
It has been a team effort and Rangers net minder Henrik Lundqvist, who, finally doesn’t have to stand on his head and make tough saves talked about how the team has come together to rally back in the series, “I think it’s the last couple of games. It’s not a one-man show here. It’s about four lines doing everything right and that’s what you need this time of the year. Every game is tough and you’re not going to get anything for free. You have to earn it. When you have good structure and you pay attention to all the little things and do that right and then let skill take over I think we’re a pretty good team. But it’s 2-2. That’s all it is. I feel good about what we did here at home and now we prepare for I think the toughest game yet, Game 5.”
The Rangers will now look to carry the effort over once more for game 5 as it heads back to Ottawa Saturday at 3pm. Despite the fireworks towards the end of the game and the Senators frustrations the Rangers must stay the course and play the game they have played in games 3 and 4 in order to take the lead and bring it back home for game 6 scheduled for Tuesday and a possible advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.