Quote: Rangers Played with Desperation
Before the game, MSG showed the locker room with signs that read “STRUCTURE” as a way of preaching the concept John Tortorella was trying to get through to his players. No matter what the coaches attempted to get into the players’ minds, there’s really only one word that can describe the Rangers‘ efforts right now and that’s “desperation.”
Henrik Lundqvist described the feelings in the locker room to Steve Zipay of Newsday:
“It felt like do-or-die almost,” echoed Henrik Lundqvist, who made 29 saves in a 5-2 defeat of the Thrashers to rebound from being yanked after five goals against the Devils on Wednesday. “We had a really good feeling going in, I think everybody felt ‘It’s today or we might have to’…I don’t even want to think about it.”
Jody Shelley also caught up with A.J Perez of AOL FanHouse:
“We are at the nub,” Shelley said. “It’s exciting. This is why you play. We are one of those teams who don’t have the luxury of giving away games. We’ve done that enough. We’re desperate.”
…At this point in the season, three points out of the playoffs, with 14 games remaining, there really should only be one thing on the Rangers minds and that’s to find a way to earn a win. If the Rangers come out flat in any of the remaining games, then I’m going to seriously question their motivation. And we can’t really place the blame on Torts’ coaching, either. I’m not sure there’s much he can say at this point to get them fired up to play, as this is pretty much playoff hockey now. If you can’t get up for this, I’m not sure what gets you excited to play.
…Larry Brooks at the NY Post has more on the Rangers urgency from Lundqvist and Prospal
