NEW YORK -- Even though his New York Rangers could be swept in the Stanley Cup Final tonight at Madison Square Garden, coach Alain Vigneault was in a good mood this morning.
Certainly, it was better than the mood he was in yesterday, when he asked reporters to excuse his players if they weren’t “real cheery” the day after they’d fallen behind the Los Angeles Kings, 3-0, with a tremendously disappointing loss on home ice.
“I didn’t think anybody would be making cartwheels yesterday,” Vigneault said this morning. “Today, we’re back at work. We had a good meeting this morning. We’re getting ready for a good hockey game tonight.”
The coach even ended his media availability with a joke: “I had my Netflix imitation for you guys today. Nobody asked.”
Not surprisingly, the Rangers are also trying to take inspiration from their opponents, who earlier in the playoffs fought back from a 3-0 series deficit to defeat the San Jose Sharks in seven games. Not to mention, New York had its own big comeback this postseason, battling back to beat Pittsburgh after trailing 3-1.
“We know it can be done,” said defenseman Kevin Klein. “It’s been done before. I don’t know if it’s been done before in the Stanley Cup finals*, but it’s one of those things where you know it can be done.
“Right now our focus is on this game. You take it one game by game like we did against Pittsburgh and we managed to come back from a 3-1 deficit, so we know it’s possible.”
*Once, by the 1942 Maple Leafs.