The Rangers return home tonight and look to take a 3-2 series lead against the Panthers. Florida has carried play most of the series, yet the teams sit on Thursday tied at two. As we saw from the Dallas-Edmonton series, momentum vanishes from game to game. Wipe the slate clean from Tuesday, win a game and go to Florida on Saturday for Game 6 with a chance to clinch.

It’s the playoffs. This is not supposed to be easy. Maybe not as difficult as we have seen, but these are the top four teams in the league playing. Each round should get progressively harder, which has been the case. The playoffs will cause you to question everything you belief. It will shake your faith in your team and the players you root for. You will wish that the pain ends and in the same heartbeat, ask for more as you can’t wait for the next game to start. It eats at your core. You will pace and panic, rejoice and retch, revel and revile, but you will come back for more because we are hockey fans. Either you believe or you don’t, irrespective of what is happening on the ice.

We are Rangers’ fans. It’s in our blood. We may express our feeling differs, but at our core, we bleed red, white and blue. Tonight will be no different.

We know what the Rangers need to do. Play as they did in the first period of Game 4. New York did to Florida what the Panthers did to them. The Blueshirts carried action, forcing their opponent on their heels. They cycled the puck, forechecked like madmen and took a 1-0 lead into the locker room. Then it all changed.

The penalty kill, a strength all season, has been a weakness this series. Florida is 5-for-12 on the man-advantage the past three games. First and foremost, the ideal would be to stay out of the box. But if the Panthers continues to dominate puck possession as they have, penalties will continue to arise as the Rangers are either reaching or hooking to slow them down, causing the short-handed opportunities. When short handed, what make New York great was maintaining their structure. The box bent and morphed but didn’t break. This round, as seen in the game-winning goal Tuesday, the box has shattered. Jacob Trouba chased the puck to the board, leaving a massive gap in the coverage, which led to the 2 on 1 down low and goal. New York has to maintain their structure and not get out of place.

Lines are a question right now. New York’s second trio, which is their best group, should stay together. Don’t mess with what works even if Artemi Panarin is scuffling. Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider have been invisible. Numerous wingers have been tried to little success. If Peter Laviolette wanted to be bold, he would play Will Cuylle there. But I expect either Jack Roslovic, Filip Chytil - if healthy, Kaapo Kakko or Blake Wheeler to be the right wing next to that duo. My guess is Chytil or Kakko.

Matt Rempe will be in the lineup and should be used judiciously but frequently enough to make an impact and rev up the crowd. The construction of the bottom-six does depend somewhat on who is top line right wing. New York misses Jimmy Vesey, especially on the PK, but also 5x5 as he was ballast for the bottom unit and could be moved up as needed.

Get a win tonight and the narrative changes again. A victory puts New York one game from the SCF and the pressure on Florida. By any means possible is all that matters.

We need a hero or two. Who will it be? Let’s Go Rangers!!!

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