Rangers won’t take ‘momentum’ for granted ahead of Game 3 vs. Lightning
Ahead of Game 3 against the Lightning, the Rangers will not take "momentum" for granted."
This is where it's at: TAMPA, Fla. It's not something that Gerard Gallant is convinced of.
The head coach of the New York Rangers believes in living in the present moment. Yesterday's events have no bearing on today's. Because of that, it's hard for him to change it now. On Saturday, even Gallant had to make a minor concession."We're playing well," he said ahead of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Lightning on Sunday. "The last four games, we've been playing our best hockey." That's exactly what I'm saying.
"Does tomorrow begin?" In my opinion, that's not true."
Even if the Rangers do not have momentum, they appear to have found something within themselves that few outside of the room believed they had. The Rangers lead the Lightning 2-0 in the series. They've won their last four games in convincing fashion, including 5-2 and 6-2 victories over the Hurricanes and 6-2 and 3-2 triumphs over the Lightning to clinch the Eastern Conference title for the first time since 2014.
Tampa Bay, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion, will not be taken lightly. The Lightning, on the other hand, are on the ropes thanks to the Rangers.
As Tyler Motte put it the day after a dominant performance in Game 2, the team is "maybe more confident" than they were before the game. There are a lot of good players in our group, which is great because we travel a lot and play in a variety of venues against a variety of opponents and in a variety of climatic conditions. However, I believe that the level of confidence has increased from game to game."
Throughout the playoffs, the Rangers' confidence has grown brick-by-brick as they overcame 3-1 and 2-0 series deficits in the first two rounds. It was the first time in the playoffs that they had a 1-0 lead in a series before the final game against Tampa Bay. Watching them, you'd never guess.
The Rangers sped around the ice in New York for two games, never letting up in their control of the game. Since 2019, no one has ever swept the Lightning in seven games in a series. The Rangers aren't there yet, and Sunday's game at Amalie Arena against a team that knows exactly what's at stake will be a new challenge.
However, the evidence is mounting that this Rangers team could be special with each passing game. Gallant, when asked about the team's confidence, will cite the team's 27 victories after a comeback.
In his view, "no quitting is the ideal situation for us." As long as we keep working, we'll find a solution. A lot of people have confidence in us now because we've done it so many times this year."At some point or another, every professional sports team utters the same self-congratulatory cliches. When it comes to backing up their words, the Rangers appear to be one of the few groups that can.
He said, "I think we always have a desire to compete," Motte. In particular with one another, we crave conflict. That's what I think you're seeing. When the game is over, there's a scrum, and we're all rolling around in it. All of us have each other's backs.Throughout the Carolina series, this was a recurring scene. It's been a reoccurring theme in the series against the Buccaneers.
Motte explained that this group "fights and battles for one another" in a number of different ways. Being a part of something like this and having it ingrained in our DNA is an honour in and of itself.
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