The NY Rangers and TB Lightning are set for Game 4 of the NHL playoffs eastern conference finals and the game is on NBC Sports Network and streaming online live from the NBCN Live Extra website on Friday and the matchup from Amalie Arena is crucial for New York, as they cannot afford to go down 3-1 again after doing that in the last series.
The Rangers come in after a tough loss in overtime and they are now down 2-1 after a horrible performance the past two games by Henrik Lundqvist. The King has allowed 12 goals in the past two games and while some of those were not his fault, too many of them appeared to be easy and now the Rangers have to find a way back. The team has not been able to score consistently and when they do, they score five goals and allow Tampa to score six.
The Rangers showed resiliency by scoring at the end of Game 3 to tie the game and send it to overtime, but it was too little too late. Lundqvist whiffed on an easy save and now he has to find a way to bounce back. The Rangers did something no team has by coming back from 3-1 down two years in a row after doing it to the Penguins and Caps and now they could end up in a situation where they have to do it two series in a row, which means they are probably toast if that happens.
The team has come back from near certain death, as they had a one percent chance of winning the Caps series before scoring in Game 5 at the end to send it into overtime, but it will be hard to do that again. The Rangers were the top team in all of the NHL and while Tampa has been very good, overall this Rangers team has basically been pathetic through the postseason. Sure they won over the Penguins in five and came back against the Caps, but every game was a one-goal game.
The Rangers have not "beaten" any team through the playoffs this postseason, but they have won games. The team has won some tight games, but they really have actually beaten a team like how the Lightning have been beating them this series. Rick Nash, no one is sure he even plays for this team on offense, while Martin St. Louis looks like a shell of his former self. Those two players have been pathetic and without some strong play from Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider, this team would be home already.
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