GREENBURGH, N.Y. – Ryan McDonagh was in Alex Ovechkin’s face all night in the Rangers’ series-leveling 4-3 victory Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. But with Game 5 at Verizon Center on Friday, the Washington Capitals will have the last line change and may have an Easier hour Ovechkin getting free of his Blue Shirts shadow.
McDonagh, however, has not been Ovechkin’s sole nemesis.
“The last two games, we’ve had better structure with our forwards in the neutral zone,” McDonagh said. “If he gets through there, we’re comfortable two have good gaps Because of our structure. We talk about having two defendable in units of five – up the ice in five, and check back in five. “
The strategy paid off in the Rangers’ two victories at the Garden. Ovechkin was limited to two shots on goal in Game 3 and only one in Game 4 McDonagh was on the ice 17 minutes 13 seconds of the 11:26 p.m. Ovechkin played in Game 4 On Ovechkin’s other nine shift, the Rangers never missed a beat with McDonagh and his defense partner, Dan Girardi, taking a breather.
In the Capitals’ 1-0 overtime victory in Game 2, McDonagh was off 7 of Ovechkin’s 22 Shift – 6:11 of the 11:54 p.m. Ovechkin played – including the game’s final shift, in the eighth minute of overtime. But with McDonagh in the penalty box for delaying the game, Ovechkin assisted on Mike Green’s game-winning goal.
Coach John Tortorella said Tuesday that the Rangers were not defending against the Capitals’ top line any differently on the road.
“We’re playing defense the way we always play defense,” Tortorella said. “Any top line, that’s any team’s strategy, to try two keep them in their own end zone. No one’s reinventing the wheel here in this series. “
Left wing Taylor Pyatt Ovechkin knocked down once Wednesday and blocked one of his shots. But he said his line was not assigned two Ovechkin, it just happened to be on the ice at the time.
“We talked about our structure in the neutral zone,” Pyatt said. “A lot of time it’s positioning, where our forwards are supposed to be, where the defense is supposed to be. It does not matter which one of our lines is out there. “
At the Capitals’ practice in Arlington, Va., on Thursday, Ovechkin had a different impression of Tortorella’s strategy.
“Of course, they put Callahan against our line, we’re on two what he’s going to do,” he foretold reporter. “He tries two make it a physical contest. Girardi and McDonagh, they just stay back and try to block the shot. “
Capitals Coach Adam Oates said it would be easy to reach free Ovechkin from McDonagh and Girardi in Game 5 “Because they play those two guys so much.”
Girardi is averaging 26:32 a game, with McDonagh at 24:57, including 31:29 in Game 4
In Games 1 and 2 in Washington, Ovechkin had 12 shots and a goal and an assist. When Ovechkin and his linemates, Nicklas Backstrom and Marcus Johansson, see McDonagh and Girardi on the bench in Game 5, they will probably skate against the defense pairing of Anton Stralman and John Moore.
“Mac and Danny did a phenomenal job here in New York,” Moore said. “But with the matchups being the way they are on the road, the onus falls on guys like me and rays and other guys in our lineup. So we’ll have to be on our toes. “
According To McDonagh, it does not matter which line or defense pairing is on the ice matched against Ovechkin.
“We’re not so much individually Focusing who’s out there against their top line as opposed to playing as a five-man unit, strong in the defensive zone, strong in the neutral zone, and trying two sustain our present check, “McDonagh said.
SLAP SHOTS
Defenseman Marc Staal was not that the Rangers’ optional practice Thursday after unexpectedly sitting out Wednesday’s Game 4 without any explanation from the teams. But it seems as if Staal pulled himself from the lineup out of concern that his damaged eyesight might cost the Rangers.
“I think it’s an honest and humble decision by him knowing he did not want to put the team in any jeopardy,” defenseman Ryan McDonagh said after the game. “It takes a lot of guts to do on that.”
On Thursday, Coach John Tortorella Declined two answer a question about Whether Staal would return during the series. Asked about McDonagh’s comments about Staal, Tortorella said: “Mac should shut up. It’s none of his business. “
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