PITTSBURGH — With Ryan Lindgren’s status still up in the air for Game 4 on Monday, after the defenseman missed Games 2 and 3 with a lower-body injury, Justin Braun is getting a chance to show why his playoff experience is so valuable for the Rangers.
It’s been quite a while since Braun made his NHL playoff debut way back in 2011 with the Sharks when he was 24.
“My first one was against LA and it was stressful,” Braun said. “A guy got hurt and I got in for my only game in that playoff run. It was just a blur. The game was fast, the hitting was a lot. Every play was important and there’s that extra stress of not letting your teammates down, not letting the guys on the ice down. That kind of heightens.
“But I think guys get a couple more games and you kind of settle in.”
The now 35-year-old, who has 102 playoff games under his belt, clearly relates to what a lot of his new Rangers teammates are going through in their first postseason experiences.
“Just try and calm them down,” Braun said of how he can share his familiarity with the playoffs with the young Rangers. “They’ve played well all year. There’s no reason to get overly stressed because they can play at this level. They’re good. Even talking to [rookie Braden Schneider] last night, you know, ‘Don’t worry about it man, just keep going, you’re getting your chance, get a couple goals this series.’ He’s had a couple of great chances that unfortunately have gone wide.
“You got to take a breath and not get too stressed out by the loud crowd and the intensity of everything. You just got to go out there and make the plays you got to make.”
Braun, who has filled in for Lindgren on his off-side, the left, next to Adam Fox, was relatively steady in Games 2 and 3. While he was disappointed he was a healthy scratch in Game 1, Braun came to the Rangers in a trade-deadline transaction from the Flyers, a team that hasn’t qualified for the playoffs in the past two seasons. For those reasons, Braun is grateful to be in his position.
Gerard Gallant didn’t have much of an update on Lindgren. The Rangers head coach said he hopes the defenseman will skate Monday prior to Game 4, but he is still considered day-to-day.
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Forward Tyler Motte, who suffered a “significant” upper-body injury toward the end of the regular season, did not make the trip to Pittsburgh. However, he is still skating and working his way back.
Another trade-deadline acquisition in Andrew Copp has scored a goal in every game for the Rangers this postseason.
“That’s what we traded for him for,” Gallant said. “He’s played great. He’s playing on the top two lines in the National Hockey League, a lot of times he’s played on the third line, so he’s getting more opportunities. And he’s taking advantage of them. That’s what he’s done for our team and he’s played great every night.”