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Tortorella: Rangers ‘almost paralyzed’ on power play

New York Rangers v New Jersey Devils - Game Three

NEWARK, NJ - MAY 19: Head coach John Tortorella of the New York Rangers speaks to the media after they defeated the New Jersey Devils 3 to 0 in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Prudential Center on May 19, 2012 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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The New York Rangers haven’t been blown out in their games against the Washington Capitals, but the fact is they’re still heading home down 2-0 in their first-round series. At this point, one of the most blatant areas of concern for the Rangers moving forward is their special teams.

Through two games they’ve only killed 71.4% of their penalties and have failed to score a power-play goal despite seven opportunities.

“We’re just too stagnant,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said in his very brief postgame press conference. “We’re almost paralyzed.”

This isn’t a problem that’s unique to this series for the Rangers. They had a 15.7% success rate with the man advantage in the regular season, which put them in the bottom third of the league in that regard. The Rangers were a middle of the road team when it came to killing penalties, although they were among the best in the league when it came to staying out of the sin bin in the first place.

Overall, the Rangers have scored only one goal in this series and squandered goaltender Henrik Lundqvist’s performance this afternoon.

Lundqvist finished the game disappointed, but still optimistic about the Rangers’ chances.

“We can beat this team. There’s no question. We’re right there,” he said, according to the Bergen Record’s Tom Gulitti.

In other news, if you want to see Tortorella’s complete press conference, you can do so below. Don’t worry, it won’t take too much of your time: