Mood.
That was a hot topic around the Devils on Sunday, in the aftermath of Saturday night’s Game 6 loss to the Rangers at the Garden.
What was the mood of the Devils after they failed to close out the Rangers, who were teetering on the precipice of playoff elimination after three consecutive wins had given New Jersey a 3-2 lead in the first-round series?
“I wouldn’t say loose,’’ Devils winger Erik Haula said Sunday, describing his team’s mood. “There’s not a letdown in our group of doubt. There’s no doubt in the locker room. We’re confident in our game, we’re confident in our ability to play our best game in Game 7, and we’re confident that that’s going to be enough.’’
Two Devils defensemen echoed Haula’s sentiments.
“We’re a very good hockey team and if we play our game we’ll win,’’ Ryan Graves said.
“We know what we need to do,’’ John Marino said. “We’re here to win championships. We’re here to win rounds. We put [Game 6] behind us and now we have Game 7.’’
Ah, Game 7. It’s one of the many splendid elements to playoff hockey, one of the most thrilling and nerve-wracking days in the sport.
The balance in a Game 7 is a complicated one — how to balance fun and stress across the two hours of one of the most important games of your life. Every NHL player, since they were kids skating on frozen ponds shooting pucks at makeshift goals, dreamed about playing in a Game 7.
Embrace the moment.
But how do you do that — manage the thrill of being a part of it and the stress that comes with knowing that if you lose, you’re done?
“Yeah, it’s stressful, but you want to enjoy the moment,’’ Marino said.
“You may enjoy it more looking back on it than you do at the time when you’re stressed and nervous,’’ Graves said. “There’ll be a lot of nerves, but it’s one of the most exciting things in hockey, the winner-take-all game. You have to find a way to try to be able to make plays through the stress and try to manage your emotions.”
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Haula called Game 7 “a great game to be a part of,’’ adding, “It’s a lot of emotions. You’ve got to use it as a great opportunity to be at your best. It’s a big platform. This is the biggest game of the season. One team keeps going and one goes home. Everybody gets to show what they’ve got.’’
The core of this Rangers team has shown what they have in playoff elimination games, and that hardened seasoning showed through the way they overpowered the Devils 5-2 in Game 6 on Saturday to force Monday’s Game 7.
“Seems like we play in a lot of them unfortunately,’’ Rangers wing Chris Kreider quipped after Saturday’s game.
The Rangers went 5-1 in elimination games last postseason. After falling behind Pittsburgh, 3-1, they went 3-0 in elimination games and won the series in seven. Then they went 2-0 against Carolina in the next series, turning a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 win. The only elimination game they lost last year came when Tampa Bay ended their season in the Eastern Conference Final.
Counting those games and the Game 6 win over the Devils, that makes the Rangers 6-1 in the last seven elimination games they’ve played across the past two seasons.
“Good for them,’’ Haula said. “I live in the present. I don’t really care about the past.’’
Marino also doesn’t buy into the Rangers’ experience in staving off elimination as something that will factor into Monday’s game.
“I’m sure they’re not looking back at their history [in these situations] right now and thinking, ‘We have this game under wraps,’” Marino said. “Anything can happen in a Game 7.’’
So, back to the Devils’ mood.
New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff made it clear on Sunday how much he likes his team’s mindset entering Monday’s ultimate game.
“Mood is great,’’ Ruff said Sunday. “We were able to deal with the emotions of being down 0-2 when it looked like — and people thought — we were dead and gone. After losing those two games, to turn it around and win three in a row … we lost a game [Saturday]. I look at it like we’ve won three out of four and now we’ve got to go out and win one game.
“We played all year long to have home ice. We played great in our last home game here [a 4-0 win in Game 5] and we want to build off of that.’’