New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault admitted that he must be the one to find a solution for his team’s aimless power play after it failed once again in a 3-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 2 of their second-round series on Sunday.
Correct quote from AV on PP is "ultimately is my responsibility and I’ve got to findd the right trigger points to make it work."
— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) May 5, 2014
With less than 24 hours rest between tonight’s contest and Monday’s Game 3 at Madison Square Garden, it might behoove the Rangers to score a few “easy” goals.
Then again, power-play goals certainly haven’t come easily. The Rangers have now gone seven straight games without a tally on the man advantage, going 0-for-25 in that span. That unit hasn’t found the net since Benoit Pouliot beat Ray Emery in the first round of Game 2 during the Rangers’ first-round series against the Philadelphia Flyers.
To be fair, it’s common to forget that a slump often demands strong play from an opponent. Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma raved about his team’s penalty kill unit after leaving the Rangers 0-for-4 for a second straight game.
Bylsma: "Might have been our best penalty kill of the year." Says it was there all game, from top of lineup to the bottom.
— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) May 5, 2014
If things remain tight between the Rangers and Penguins, losing the special teams battle could really hurt. The Penguins have scored at least one power-play goal in five of their eight playoff games this postseason, so Vigneault has to hope to at least break even in that area as this series goes along.