New York. Changing the landscape of New York Klee.
When the New York Rangers won the first two rounds by a 10-2 margin, it looked like the “Battle of the Hudson River” was decided.
But last night, the New Jersey Devils tied the series after their second straight win at Madison Square Garden.
– I never doubted that we would be able to return, says Jesper Pratt after the 3-1 victory.
You could see it in the eyes of Rangers fans walking away from what is known as “the most famous arena in the world” last night.
They were… sneaky. After the opening matches in Newark, when the “Blues” really dominated the opposition, winning 5-1 twice, they really believed that the showdown for supremacy in Metropolis was over.
But no way.
He won a fair victory
The Devils quickly adapted to the new conditions and won fairly at the third meeting in Manhattan – and in the fourth round last night they won even more fairly.
– Yes, I think we again put in a good effort for 60 minutes, says Jesper Bratt when we meet him in a cheery dressing room after the final whistle.
– Each formation did its job and took most of its scoring opportunities. I don’t think their best players have taken too many risks. Then we took advantage of the opportunities we had for ourselves.
Bratten himself, who provided the assist for Ondrej Balat’s 3-1 goal last night, was not at all surprised by the change of scenery.
– No, I never doubted that we would be able to return, he continues.
– We were a little nervous in the first games and made mistakes that you can’t make in the playoffs, while the Rangers really showed that they’ve been through this before. But when we got here we said, now we can relax and play and we did.
He played great in goal
Another difference is that young Swiss goalkeeper Akira Schmid, who had to replace Vitek Vanicek after a double-flip at the Prudential centre, has been outstanding and has now beaten Igor Sistyorkin in two games.
“He’s been fantastic in every game he’s played with us this season, so he really had the chance,” says Jesper.
– He’s incredibly calm and gives us a huge amount of confidence knowing we have a guy at the back who takes those balls that need to be taken in the qualifiers. After all, it is often the teams that win the playoff series that have the best goalkeepers.
Now the Devils and Rangers have two days off before their fifth showdown in Newark on Friday night.