Despite their recent regular-season success, the New York Rangers are not a team rife with championship pedigree.
New York came within two games of the Stanley Cup Final just two seasons ago, but that is as close as most Rangers have come to the big dance. In fact, only three current Rangers players have their names etched on the Stanley Cup.
Yet those three made their impact felt in New York’s 4-1 win in game three of its first-round series with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis and Daniel Carcillo — yes, that Daniel Carcillo — combined for two goals, four points and undeniable leadership in the Rangers’ win.
St. Louis and Carcillo were mid-season acquisitions for the Rangers, and while the St. Louis move was a no-brainer, many wondered where Carcillo fit on a roster full of smart, offensive-minded players. He was a healthy scratch in the series’ first two games, but Rangers coach Alain Vigneault stuck the veteran enforcer in for Jesper Fast for game three.
“Dan’s an experienced player. He brings energy to a team,” Vigneault told the New York Times prior to Tuesday’s contest. “With him in our lineup this year, we’ve had a very good record.”
And Carcillo rewarded his coach by playing right to the edge. Both of his minor penalties were questionable calls — though Vigneault said post-game they both were good calls. Carcillo also took Matt Read out of his game so much that the Flyers’ unlikely 20-goal scorer may be getting a phone call from the league office tomorrow because of his flyby hit to Carcillo’s face.
“I know I got a shoulder square to the chin,” Carcillo said. “What you saw tonight is how we play our game.”
Yet the agitator — who has twice been to the Cup Final, including an unlikely run with the Flyers in 2010 — saved his best performance for the game’s final minutes, when he notched his sixth career playoff goal, redirecting Brian Boyle’s cross-ice pass past Ray Emery.
“It was a good moment for him,” Vigneault said after the game.
Carcillo mocked the Philadelphia fans, who were left to wonder why their team parted with a player who could be so impactful.
And while Carcillo was the story late, St. Louis and his linemates put their stamp on the game seemingly from the get-go. Last season’s Art Ross Trophy champ got the secondary assist on Derek Stepan’s goal that silenced the crowd at Wells Fargo Center just 3:54 into the contest, then registered his second goal in as many games at 10:24.
“That line set the tone for us,” Vigneault said. “They made some real good plays. In the playoffs, you need your top players to play at a high level.”
St. Louis could have been the story after game two, if not for the Flyers’ come-from-behind win. But after notching just one goal and eight points in 17 games after the trade, St. Louis now has five points in the series’ first three affairs and has been as big of a difference-maker as any player, save goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, and has massively outplayed his former linemate-turned-Flyer, Vincent Lecavalier.
Big-game contributions like Carcillo’s and St. Louis’ have been sorely lacking for the Rangers in playoffs past, and while Lundqvist still had to stop 31 shots, the Rangers goaltender is seeing that teammates like St. Louis and Carcillo know how to do the things that win this time of the year.
“We’re playing with a fire,” Lundqvist said. “You need to play on the edge. There’s a fine line.”
