Less than two weeks removed from being a point away from the bottom of the Eastern Conference, the Rangers appear to be surging again, winning four of their past five games heading into Thursday’s match at Ottawa.
The team has been here before this season, achieving three different three-game winning streaks.
They haven’t been able to sustain that success, but there’s confidence that they are on their way after perhaps their best win of the season — certainly at Madison Square Garden — on Tuesday.
Following the comeback overtime victory over red-hot Dallas, the Rangers believe they’ve figured out the recipe for winning under Mike Sullivan.
“It’s pretty simple with our group,” captain J.T. Miller said after Wednesday’s practice in Tarrytown. “Half the year, we were a certain version and half a year we were a certain version. When we play to our identity, we’re really hard to play against [and] really hard to beat — especially when we put the puck on the net and play with a lead.”
Too often during stretches this year, the Rangers have gotten away from that, in part due to frustration from not getting the results they were looking for, particularly at home, where they often couldn’t buy a goal.
As they continue a tough stretch of games against strong opponents, there have been signs that’s changing.
Another one occurred in Tuesday’s win, when they trailed by a goal late in the third period, despite being the better team for most of the night.
But Will Cuylle tied the game with just over two minutes left in regulation and Vladislav Gavrikov won it early in overtime.
Miller said the win was another example of the Rangers being rewarded for doing the right thing.
“It’s just mindset-driven,’’ Miller said. “It has nothing to do with X’s and O’s, nothing to do with ability. It’s all about determination and what our intentions are.”
That’s something Miller said Sullivan points out often.
“Intention is everything,” Miller said. “What’s your mindset for every game? What are your goals for the game?”
And that hopefully translates to the ice.
“You have to move your feet and [play with] physicality,” Miller said. “Two things that are accomplishable. When we play like that, we seem to play faster and the game opens up. It’s a big part of our identity.”
Against the Stars, it resulted in a season-high 41 shots on goal, one game after a season-worst 13 shots in an ugly loss to Tampa Bay.
“Winning cures a lot of ills,” Sullivan said. “These guys are proud guys and care an awful lot about this team and where, potentially, we could go.”
That includes playing as well as any team in the NHL.
“We know we have the makeup of a team that can compete with any team on any night,” Jonny Brodzinski said. “If we play that style [like Tuesday], we can beat anybody.”
According to Brodzinski, that means, “Play a little more simple.”
It worked versus the Stars and has helped the Rangers inch closer to the playoff picture.
With three games in four days beginning Thursday, Miller said the team is on its way.
“We should feel proud we stayed with it [against Dallas],” Miller said. “We had every reason to roll over. We’ve been through a lot as a team this year and I feel it’s only making us stronger.”
As for the upcoming schedule with the match in Ottawa followed by home games versus two of the top teams in the Western Conference in Colorado and Vegas, Miller said the Rangers would be ready.
“I think we prefer that at this point,” Miller said. “There’s no reason not to get up for these games.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
