New York Rangers face key opportunity to make a huge statement in Game Six

Every Stanley Cup Champion has a defining moment woven into their journey to the promised land, and there is every chance we could look back on Game Six as being exactly that for the New York Rangers.

That may sound like hyperbole, but Friday’s elimination game at PPG Paints Arena really does present a huge opportunity for the Rangers to send out a clear statement about where they are at and where they are going.

If they can bottle the fight, the courage and grit they displayed in Game Five to rally from two goals down and stave off elimination and use that magic sauce again in Game Six, it would not only go a long way towards vindicating a superb regular season no one saw coming, but it would also prove that this core and the supporting pieces around it are capable of winning when it really matters.

Because, if the Rangers can enter the heat of battle in Pittsburgh, learn from the harsh lessons they were dealt in Games Three and Four and silence what will be a frenzied PPG Paints Arena, then you’d back them to go on and win Game Seven on home ice and advance to the Second Round.

It would also send a clear warning shot to the rest of the NHL that this team are out of diapers and firmly in big boy pants in terms of being ready to take that next step and establish themselves as legit cup contenders.

And there’s a few key storylines at play that could go a long way to deciding the Rangers’ fate in Game Six.

No Crosby

Firstly, and most importantly, is the absence of Sidney Crosby. Knocked out of Game Five in the second period after being caught in the head by the formidable elbow of Jacob Trouba, the influential Pittsburgh Captain has been ruled out of tonight’s game.

That is absolutely massive for New York for a couple of reasons. One, Crosby has been playing like vintage Sidney Crosby in these playoffs, clearly drinking from the fountain of youth to put his team on his back and put them on the verge of advancing.

His nine points (two goals, seven assists) lead the Penguins in point but he’s been dominant all over the ice, spearheading a stupidly good 92.8 percent expected goals rate for his line in Game Four, while making big plays in the defensive zone, creating space for others, generating offense in transition and sustaining zone time.

So Crosby will be a huge loss for his team.

An opportunity for the Zibanejad line

Secondly, the Rangers’ top line of Mika Zibanejad, Frank Vatrano and Chris Kreider have been so focussed on trying to keep Crosby quiet that they’ve been almost a non-factor in this series.

Zibanejad has yet to light the lamp in this series and, while Vatrano and Kreider have five and four points respectively, that usually formidable and dominant line has combined for a grand total of just two points in the last two games.

Between the three of them, they’ve tallied just eight points (four goals, four assists) through the first five games of the series, while Kreider hasn’t scored since Game Two.

That just isn’t going to get it done.

But, logic dictates that with Crosby out of the lineup, the Rangers should now start to see an offensive surge from a trio of players that tore it up in the regular season, particularly Kreider who scored a career-high 52 goals.

There’s now no excuse for Zibanejad, Kreider and Vatrano to remain in a scoring slump with Crosby out, and if they can rediscover their offensive groove and get on a torrid run in Game Six, that could be enough to force a Game Seven.

Domination from their top line has been the biggest ingredient missing for the Rangers in this series so, if they can get that on Friday and on Sunday, if given the chance, that could be the key to overturning a 3-1 series deficit and advancing to the Second Round.

Momentum shifts is what the playoffs are all about, and Crosby being out for the Penguins could be the biggest one of the entire series for New York.

The Domingue factor

The other factor tonight is the fact that third-string goaltender Louis Domingue will get the start once again.

Having come in relief for the injured Casey DeSmith in Game One, the veteran has done nothing but perform miracles for the Penguins ever since, although he was living on easy street in Games Three and Four with the Rangers unable to get pucks on net and create traffic in-front of Domingue.

That all changed in Game Five as the Blueshirts were finally able to break down Pittsburgh’s suffocating net-front coverage, driving pucks on net with Domingue eventually collapsing under the pressure and the dam burst as he allowed four goals on four shots in a span of 7:42 with his team going from holding a 2-0 lead to all of a sudden staring a 4-3 deficit in the face.

It goes without saying that the Rangers must go after Domingue again in Game Six, and creating shots in traffic as Adam Fox did with his goal in Game Five will be crucial. With all due respect to the former Tampa Bay Lightning goalie, Domingue is not a playoff starter and there are chinks in his game that can be exploited if Gerard Gallant’s team can keep it simple, get pucks in deep and keep driving hard to the net all while generating non-stop traffic.

Opportunities present themselves at key moments in life, and the Rangers have now been handed a couple of pretty significant breaks as they look to force a Game Seven. The Hockey Gods have done their part, it is now up to the players to make the most of the chance they’ve been given and prove that they belong this time of year.

And make a pretty significant statement about their true intentions in the process.