Yeah, Sanders needs a great debate if he's to win New York.
The impact of debates is overrated, in a 2 candidate field. Sanders had a YUGE debate performance right after Michigan, and it gave him jack squat on March 15th.
Super Saturdays & stuff hugely favor the established candidate. it is meant to kill the smaller candidate - Limited time & resources mean it gets divided. The smaller candidate needs 7-10 days at a stretch & put time & money to get the message out.
Plus i think the Castro remark hurt Sanders bad with the Latinos in Florida. Also Missouri, IL & NC were decent performances but Ohio with Kasich running probably threw up a weird result - Difficult to judge because of that.
But a good debate performance may not help him win but should help!