NO QUIT as the Rangers top players show up in yet another come from behind victory to bring this series back to the Garden. It didn't matter how, the Rangers just had one thing on their agenda last night and that was to do whatever it takes to get this series back to the Garden and that's exactly what they did. It certainly hasn't been an ideal start to these playoffs, nor has it been an easy road up to this point but the Rangers took care of business and got this series back to where it needs to be. Down to one game, on Garden ice. No Crosby for Pittsburgh and Tyler Motte would return to the lineup in place of Patrik Nemeth. Puck drops and we're underway.
The Rangers got off to a good enough start to keep Pittsburgh off the board for the first half of the period but struggled to confidently grab a hold of this game from the jump. They would get out-shot by the Penguins in the games first twenty and sure enough with about six minutes to go, Jeff Carter found the back of the net to put his team up one. At first glance, it did seem as if a Penguins player bumped into Shesterkin but evidentially not enough for Gallant to consider using his challenge, play went on. Playoff hockey. You can't get too high, you can't get too low and the Rangers definitely fell on the lower end of that scale after Carter's goal as just a minute and a half later, Bryan Rust finished on a perfect play to give Pittsburgh a two goal lead they would take to the second.
Down 2-0 with plenty of time left, where have we seen this movie before? Thankfully, the Rangers have been there before and came out much better in the second period. Exactly five minutes in to the period, Ryan Lindgren delivered a hard hit on Evan Rodrigues. Rodrigues evidently did not like the hit and ended up taking a bad retaliation penalty that put the Rangers on the power play. This would be. huge turning point in the game as Mika Zibanejad would put a slap shot away just five seconds into the man advantage. 2-1 hockey game. Less than a minute and a half later it was Mika Zibanejad again with a slap shot that beat Louis Domingue to tie the game up at two. It was no secret the Rangers needed more from their top guys and Zibanejad couldn't have picked a better night to chime in on that front.
With about six minutes to go in the period, the Rangers were back to the power play, this time for two minutes as Frank Vatrano got cut up from a Mike Matheson high stick. In the first half of the man advantage, Igor Shesterkin made an absolutely beautiful pass to Mika Zibanejad at the far blue line and it would be Chris Kreider finishing on the rebound to give the Rangers their first lead of the night. Of course nothing can ever be easy in Rangerstown as Evgeni Malkin found himself on a breakaway off a bad turnover by Trouba to tie the game back up at three. Just like in game four, it comes down to one period of hockey after two periods of hockey locked up at three. Could the Rangers give a repeat performance from Wednesday night?
To be honest, for a while it seemed like it was going to go to overtime, not so much from the pace of the game but it just had that feel to it. Before you knew it time was running out and the score was still locked at three. Total shots in the third were only 8-8 but the one that mattered would come with a minute and a half to go in regulation. What do you do when you're in a playoff hockey game, especially against a team who is down to their third string goalie? SHOOT THE PUCK. Chris Kreider came in and took a slap shot that would ring off of Louis Domingue's glove... AND LAND BEHIND HIM INTO THE BACK OF THE NET.
Enormous goal at such a huge part of the game and the series that silenced PPG Paints Arena and sent Pittsburgh into desperation mode. Mind you, Mike Sullivan opted to use his timeout very early in the game when his team had a 5-on-3 power play so there was no time to chalk anything up. The Penguins tried to get back but the Rangers were not budging and with less than 30 seconds to go, Andrew Copp put the empty netter away to solidify a huge win. The Rangers will take this series back to the Garden and have to feel pretty damn good about themselves going into it.
It all comes down to one game on Sunday night. The Rangers have to keep their foot on the gas and take care of business against Pittsburgh one more time. This team has shown resiliency through these last two games but you have to look at making it easier for yourselves in game seven. Get on top of things early, find the back of the net early, play with the mentality that it's a tied game but with the confidence of a lead. Frankly, whatever they want to do as long as they come out on top. The Rangers are finally getting more from their top players in Zibanejad and Kreider but still need a lot more from Panarin especially on the effort side of things. Game 7 at the Garden, it's going to be electric and their play has to match the energy of the building. Rest up, enjoy the win and get ready for the biggest game of your lives, this series belongs to New York, let's get it done.
Chris Feldman
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