Now New York must respond on home ice to avoid being pushed to the brink of elimination.
The Rangers weren't thinking about the streak of home-playoff losses, weren't thinking about the previous no-show performance, weren't thinking at all about the big picture.
While the Montreal Canadiens have a chance to put NY on the brink of elimination, the Rangers are keeping a positive focus knowing that a win could alter the series.
New York Rangers' Rick Nash (61) shoots the puck past Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price (31) for a goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Game 4 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Tuesday, Apri.
The Rangers are looking for a win.
Torrey Mitchell earned the one goal for Montreal, with Alexander Radulov tallying his sixth point in the last three games, but it wasn't enough to earn a third straight victory. "We got this one done and now we've got to start worrying about the next one".
NY coach Alain Vigneault also stressed he isn't thinking about the previous post-season struggles at home, including three losses to Tampa Bay in the East finals two years ago, and two to Pittsburgh in the first round last year.
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"We kind of came to the rink today and (thought) it can't get worse", Marc Staal said. "Different group, different year". Ott, a veteran pest with 1,555 penalty minutes in 848 career regular season games, has not been penalized this entire series.
The Leafs blew a 2-0 lead in Game 1, or they could potentially have had a 2-0 series lead against this year's President's Cup winning team.
Considering the Rangers have been surprisingly better on the road and already have a win at the Bell Centre this series, they could be confident going into the next battle.
A year ago, NY trailed Pittsburgh 2-1 going into Game 4 at home and was shut out 5-0 before the Penguins closed the series in five games en route to winning the Stanley Cup. Montreal also had good zone penetration and a number of legitimate scoring chances in high-danger areas. "This thing's far from over".
There had been more energy in the Garden when the game started compared to Sunday night's Game 3. "Taking that ice in front of us if it was there and if not, moving it behind them and really pressuring the whole length of the ice trying to not give them a lot of time to make their plays". That's just the way it goes in the playoffs. "It's up to us to try to limit that and also try to stick to our game plan".
So far, that strategy has prevented the Rangers from using the up-tempo style they're best at, with the Canadiens clamping down defensively and forcing NY to dump and chase. That hasn't happened yet, while the Canadiens special teams came up huge in Game 3 scoring on two of their three power play chances and killing off all three of New York's. "As far as minutes (played) go, we'll be fine, we've got young legs. It's gotta be on the tape in order not to turn the puck over". You've got to find a way to get pucks behind their D and get it back. "Not so much of what we have to do to make it hard on them, but what we can do to make it successful for us".
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