NHL Playoffs 2012: Does Tortorella's Calmer Presser Bode Well For Rangers?

Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals saw the New York Rangers endure their broadest margin of defeat to date in the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs. The 4-1 loss to the host New Jersey Devils, which knotted the series at two games apiece, was also their first multi-goal falter since Game 5 of the opening round.

Yet somehow, head coach John Tortorella subsequently stayed at the podium for literally three times the length of his typical post-loss press conference.

His uncharacteristically placid demeanor was all the more impressive considering the sideshow that broke out in Monday night’s third period.

In the wake of Mike Rupp’s double-roughing infraction and the all-out dustup in the Devils zone, Tortorella engaged in an altercation with New Jersey counterpart Peter DeBoer, whom he had called out to the media the day prior.

That was with a mere 13:42 remaining in the game, at which point the Rangers were nursing a 3-0 deficit. Things only soured with time as the Rangers took two additional unanswered penalties.

Both were the fault of Carl Hagelin, who has been grossly unproductive throughout the playoffs with three assists over the first two rounds and nothing in this series. Earlier, a comparably disappointing Derek Stepan watched from the sin bin as the Devils tallied only their second power-play goal of the series, effectively wresting the game out of reach.

No more than a half-hour afterward, Tortorella was fielding 10 questions from the metropolitan hockey press corps and never issuing a terse interruption or a monosyllabic non-answer.

He even said, without mentioning the likes of Hagelin and Stepan by name, “I still think some guys are close to getting their games. I don’t think all of us are there, but...they always find a way to find a good game, so I’m truly confident we’ll answer it the proper way.”

All the Rangers need to do for a favorable response in Wednesday’s Game 5 is repeat recent history.

Dating back to Game 5 of the opening round, the Rangers are on a five-game winning streak when coming off a loss. They are 6-1 overall in that situation during these playoffs and went 19-7-4 in the regular season following a non-win of any kind.

Then again, they have also had trouble sustaining their command from game to game. So far, they have won the first and last game of each playoff series, but have only beat the same adversary on back-to-back nights once. That was when they needed two consecutive wins over Ottawa just to sustain their season.

Managing to win only one of the next two bouts with the Devils will mean a third Game 7 in as many rounds at Madison Square Garden. In that event, the combination of a peak in intensity, residual wear-and-tear and Devils’ goaltender Martin Brodeur’s history of winning the Prince of Wales Trophy on the road would be outright ominous for New York.

Surely, Tortorella recognizes this and wants to do what he can to change this iffy road for the better.

Facing the media more willingly and clearing his thoughts publicly may be a good step for the Rangers' skipper. It is an exemplary means of addressing and assessing the situation and, when necessary, bringing proper closure to certain elements.

Although he graciously declined inquiries on his feud with DeBoer, Tortorella at least discussed the Rupp incident, the other penalties and his hope that there would be no further repercussions.

He and his pupils can help themselves in that regard, starting with the faceoff for Game 5. If the coach has been as rational and poised in the locker room as he was in the press room Monday night, the Rangers should have little trouble putting up a cleaner, tougher 60-minute fight on Wednesday.

There may be only so much they can do to neutralize the Devils’ newfound sense of conviction. But Tortorella would have done his team no favors had he given another 75-second press address on Monday, effectively admitting the opposition and other outside disturbances were in his head.