Just last season with the New York Rangers, Raphael Diaz found himself in a worse situation than he's currently in.
His Rangers were down 3-1 in their second-round playoff matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins. They battled for the remainder of the series, and ended up stealing the series right from under the Pittsburgh's nose.
"It was really exciting," Diaz said. "Stepping up from something like that, it was crazy."
And Diaz and his team finds themselves in a bit of a hole, but not nearly as bad as Diaz has experienced. The Rangers went to the Stanley Cup Finals last season, where Diaz and his teammates ultimately ended up falling to the Los Angeles Kings.
“Of course, there are similarities," Diaz said. "I think you feel the power in the group. There, we were down three-one. Here, we were down two-nothing. We never gave up the whole year, you see. It doesn’t matter — 19 seconds left, we score. The whole season was like that. I think this is really special. It feels really good. Everybody is going. A really tight group here. It’s nice to be a part of this team.”
The Flames just need to look at the series and realize that they are only down a single game. After tonight, should they win, it comes down to a best of three series. Diaz recognizes that, and he's ready to give it his all.
“Playoffs, it’s day by day,” Diaz said. “Every second day is a game. So if you’re winning or losing, it doesn’t matter. You don’t have to go down or go high. You have to stay in the middle, I think. This is really important."
(h/t Calgary Herald)
Photo Credit: Aaron Doster/USA Today Sports
