A new chapter for the Rangers-Penguins playoff history book tonight?

The New York Rangers go into Game Six of their First Round series with the Pittsburgh Penguins facing a must win situation. It’s the third time that the Rangers are in an elimination game against Pittsburgh on this date.   Which path will the Blueshirts follow? Will it be bitter disappointment or an inspired comeback?

Parallel #1 – Bitter disappointment

In 1992, the Rangers had won the Presidents’ Trophy with the best record in the NHL.  Mark Messier would win the Hart Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award and Brian Leetch would win his first Norris Trophy.  They were a powerhouse and were the favorites to hoist the Stanley Cup. After a hard fought first round series against the Devils that went seven games, the Rangers took on the Penguins.

The Penguins were the defending Stanley Cup champions and though they had finished fourth in the Patrick Division, they had an all-star roster including Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Jaromir Jagr, Larry Murphy, Rick Tocchet, Kevin Stevens and Tom Barrasso.

This was the Adam Graves “slash heard around the word” series.  In Game Two, Graves slashed Mario Lemieux on the wrist, fracturing it and knocking him out of the series.  Graves played in the next game which the Rangers won in OT, but was then suspended for four games.  Pittsburgh went on to win the next three games against the Graves-less Rangers and took the series.

It was on May 13 that the Rangers were eliminated, losing 5-1 in a one-sided road loss.

So, in 1992 we had a series where a Ranger knocked the Penguins  best player out of the series with what was regarded throughout the NHL as a dirty play, though the league ruled that there was no intent to injure.

The Penguins were able to shake off the loss of Lemieux and go on to win the series.  They would then sweep the Bruins in the Conference Finals and win the Stanley Cup in a sweep over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Will the 2021-22 Penguins rise to the occasions and do the same if they lose Sidney Crosby?

Parallel #2 – An inspired comeback

On this date in 2014, the Rangers beat the Penguins 2-1 in Game Seven of their Second Round playoff series.  It marked the first time that the Blueshirts had come back from a 3-1 deficit in a series to win.

The Penguins had beaten the Rangers 4-2 in Game Four at Madison Square Garden to take a 3-1 lead.  The Rangers faced the daunting task of having to win three in a row, with two of the games on the road.  The day after that loss, Rangers’ star Martin St. Louis learned that his mother had died of a heart attack at age 63.

What happened next is the stuff of legends.  St. Louis surprised the hockey world by playing in Game Five and an inspired Rangers team beat the Penguins 5-1.  In Game Six at Madison Square Garden on Mother’s Day, St. Louis opened the scoring with one of the most famous goals in franchise history to spur the Blueshirts to a 3-1 win.

On May 13, the Rangers completed the comeback, winning 2-1 in Pittsburgh.  The winning  goal was scored in the second period by Brad Richards, assisted by who else? Martin St. Louis.

About tonight

Tonight’s game may not be a seventh game, but it is an elimination game.   The Blueshirts’ odds of winning are greatly improved if Sidney Crosby does not play, but his absence could inspire the Penguins to play their hearts out in front of a rabid home crowd.  Remember 1992.

Ranger fans may want to see more of a parallel to the 2014 Rangers.  In that case the Rangers were an overachieving team that finished 11th overall in the NHL.  They weren’t expected to go far in the playoffs and in their series against the Penguins were facing Sidney Crosby at his peak, the Hart and Art Ross Trophy winner that season.

This year’s Rangers team is the definition of overachievers and though they finished with a  better record than the Penguins, most hockey cognoscenti had Pittsburgh prevailing in this series.

In a few hours we’ll know which chapter the Rangers will write in their long playoff history with the Penguins.