What's Behind the New York Rangers' Elimination-Game Magic?

GREENBURGH, N.Y. — There was a time when the New York Rangers handled elimination games with all the grace of a heavily intoxicated person on a high wire. From 2006 to 2011, the Rangers went 1-5 in elimination contests and never advanced past the second round of the postseason. 

Since 2012, the Rangers have become experts at tip-toeing their way through trouble.

With their season on the line the past four postseasons, the Rangers are 13-3 with two of the losses occurring after regulation. They went 5-1 last year, succumbing to the Kings in double overtime of the Stanley Cup Final and have a chance to improve to 3-0 in 2015 when they face the Washington Capitals in Game 7 of their second-round series Wednesday night. 

The Rangers have faced elimination against the Capitals five times since 2012 and have won all five matchups. 

“So many guys have been through it before,” said Carl Hagelin, who made his postseason debut in 2012 and now has 65 playoff games to his credit. “Guys aren’t too tense. Guys aren’t too serious. I think guys are ready to play the game when the puck drops. That’s when we get intense.”

It’s easy to forget how much roster turnover has occurred with the Rangers over such a short time span. This isn’t a case of the same players delivering on the same stage time after time. There are just seven players that will be in the lineup Wednesday who were part of the 2012 run to the conference finals. 

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Meanwhile, the Capitals, despite their history of collapses and letdowns, will have 12 players dressed Wednesday that were part of their Game 7 loss to the Rangers in 2012.

Hagelin, Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Henrik Lundqvist, Chris Kreider, Ryan McDonagh and Derek Stepan are the only seven holdovers of a roster that endured a major overhaul during the summer. Past elimination-game heroes and important pieces Brad Richards, Marian Gaborik, Ryan Callahan, Anton Stralman, Benoit Pouliot, Brian Boyle and Ruslan Fedotenko have all left the organization over the years, but the success has remained.

Even Dan Carcillo, who scored in Game 7 of the first round against the Philadelphia Flyers last year, is no longer with the team. The player who made that pass, Mats Zuccarello, has missed the entire series with a likely concussion.

The 13-3 record, which includes five straight wins in Game 7s, also bridges two coaches: John Tortorella and Alain Vigneault. 

It’s best to think of the Rangers’ ability to thrive in elimination games as something that has been passed down over the years, like your grandmother’s marinara sauce recipe or the Dread Pirate Roberts' identity.

“We just really trust each other in the room,” McDonagh said. “We trust our structure. All season long, we bought into our roles. Each player understands what their job is each time they go out there, so they focus on that and everything takes care of itself.” 

The mental side of pressure-packed games like these can’t be ignored. There’s a belief in the system, in each other and a confidence the Rangers have that’s indispensable during these times.

It also helps to have arguably the best goaltender in the world, at least in these situations.

Year/Round	Game	Opponent	Saves	Shots	Sv%	Result
2015/Second	Game 6	Washington	42	45	.933	W, 4-3
2015/Second	Game 5	Washington	28	29	.966	W, 2-1
2014/Cup Final	Game 5	Los Angeles	48	51	.941	L, 3-2
2014/Cup Final	Game 4	Los Angeles	40	41	.976	W, 2-1
2014/Second	Game 7	Pittsburgh	35	36	.972	W, 2-1
2014/Second	Game 6	Pittsburgh	36	37	.973	W, 3-1
2014/Second	Game 5	Pittsburgh	31	32	.969	W, 5-1
2014/First	Game 7	Philadelphia	26	27	.963	W, 2-1
2013/Second	Game 5	Boston	29	31	.935	L, 3-1
2013/Second	Game 4	Boston	37	40	.925	W, 4-3
2013/First	Game 7	Washington	35	35	1.000	W, 5-0
2013/First	Game 6	Washington	27	27	1.000	W, 1-0
2012/Third	Game 6	New Jersey	26	29	.897	L, 3-2
2012/Second	Game 7	Washington	22	23	.957	W, 2-1
2012/First	Game 7	Ottawa	26	27	.963	W, 2-1
2012/First	Game 6	Ottawa	25	27	.926	W, 3-2

Lundqvist is 13-3 in these last 16 elimination games (you didn’t think Martin Biron or Cam Talbot was in net for any of these, did you?) with a 1.42 GAA, .955 save percentage and two shutouts. Over the past two postseasons, he is 7-1 with a 1.37/.960 split.

It’s not as if the Rangers make life easy for Lundqvist in these games. He’s faced at least 35 shots in seven of the past 12 games and an average of 38.7 shots per game since the second round last season. 

In the three elimination games the Rangers have lost since 2012, Lundqvist has a .928 save percentage. It took 51 shots across five periods in Game 5 against the Kings last season before he yielded the third and winning goal of that contest. 

Structure, confidence, pucks deep and the right way, believing in each other, jam, heart and grit are all well and good, but without Lundqvist’s .955 in these games, none of this is remotely possible. 

“You have to see good things happen to your team,” Lundqvist said. “But it starts with believing. When we’re in a tough spot, we believe we can force another and another game. And now we’re here.”

Nick Wass/Associated Press

Or maybe you do need a little more than just one guy to do what the Rangers have done in recent postseasons? After all, Lundqvist’s record in elimination games before 2012 was 1-5 with .905 save percentage. 

Is it possible that the team around a goaltender, having a blue line anchored by Marek Malik, Michal Rozsival and Tom Poti and a forward group led by Petr Sykora, Marcel Hossa and Steve Rucchin, could play a role in the team’s success? That’s it not just one magical Swedish man in heavy padding dictating the outcome of these games on his own? That maybe having Pouliot, Zuccarello and Derick Brassard on your third line in 2014 can be helpful?

“He’s one of the best, if not the best, goaltenders in the world, so it’s nice when he’s on your team,” Kreider said. “But we got to help him out. We can’t put all the weight on him. We have to do our job. And we know he’ll do his.”

There's no secret to the Rangers' success when pushed to the brink. They were the East's top team in 2012, a 96-point team the next two years (pro-rated for 2013) and won the Presidents' Trophy this year. They've been a good to great team for nearly four years, and sources confirm that good teams tend to win more games than they lose.

The 13-3 record has a lot to do with Lundqvist, but with a lot of new faces and old faces in somewhat bigger roles in 2015, this group has a chance to put its own personal stamp on the elimination-game success.

All statistics via NHL.com.

Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @DaveLozo.