Main takeaways from Game 6 as New York Rangers refuse to die
It wasn’t straightforward but the New York Rangers again refused to quit after beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 on Friday to force a Game Seven at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
Heading back to Pittsburgh for another do-or-die situation in Game Six, the Blueshirts somehow began proceedings on the back-foot dispute having the clear advantage of no Sidney Crosby on the ice.
Jeff Carter and Bryan Rust gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead heading into the second period, with it looking likely that New York’s lack of postseason experience would prove to be their downfall.
However, timing is everything in life and everything clicked for the Rangers in the second period as Mika Zibanejad suddenly remembered to score, lighting the lamp for his first two goals of this series before Chris Kreider also tallied on a power play that also exploded back into life.
Kreider would come up clutch with the go-ahead goal from the point, although that has since been credited to Zibanejad for the hat trick goal, and Andrew Copp added an empty-netter as the Rangers lived to fight another day.
It was another lesson in resiliency from this team who will now look to finish the job in Game Seven, but first let’s take a look at some takeaways from a wild, wild Game Six…
Igor The Great
Igor Shesterkin has been talked about plenty in this series having endured a couple of big lows, but Game Six can be considered his signature postseason moment in more than one way.
Having bounced back in Game Five, the Vezina Trophy finalist followed that up with another big outing on Friday, stopping 31 of the 34 shots he faced and coming up clutch at key moments in the game.
Shesterkin looked locked in once again, which is certainly a welcome sign ahead of Game Seven, and he passed a significant test by going back to Pittsburgh and not collapsing under the pressure from the home crowd as he did in Games Three and Four.
However, as good as the young stud was between the pipes, he was generating headlines for what he did outside of the crease.
With the game tied at 2 in the second period and with the Rangers on the power play, the Penguins cleared the puck down the ice to give their penalty killing unit time to regroup.
What a PASS, Shesty. pic.twitter.com/r2zX1sTykJ
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) May 14, 2022
However, there was no planning for what happened next.
Shesterkin glided confidently out of his net and, almost in one movement, slung a jaw-dropping pass through the middle of the ice and onto the tape of Mika Zibanejad, who was off to the races and his shot attempt was pushed into the path of Chris Kreider who made it a 3-2 game.
It was one of the plays of the entire postseason without a doubt, and it wasn’t surprising that both Zibanejad and Kreider were in awe of what their goalie had done, although they weren’t surprised given that Shesterkin has that high-level quality in his locker.
And, it was perhaps fitting that Shesterkin returned to the scene of the crime in Pittsburgh, a place that proved to be a house of nightmares in Games Three and Four, and have a hand in what was a huge goal in the game, and potentially in the entire series.
Resiliency the name of the game
Life hasn’t been boring for the Rangers in this First Round series with the Penguins.
They’ve lurched from one extreme to the other and you never know what you are going to get from period-to-period, let alone game-to-game.
Another trend has been slow starts with the Blueshirts making a habit of digging themselves a hole, although they always manage to find a way to climb out as they’ve emphatically proven in the last two games.
In Game Five they went down two early and the same happened in another do-or-die situation in Game Six, but on both occasions that mattered little with one goal leading to an explosion of goals and the deficits being wiped out.
You could have been forgiven for thinking that maybe luck was going to run out after Jeff Carter and Bryan Rust gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead after the first period but, again, the Rangers rallied and proved they aren’t easy to kill.
Even after Evgeni Malkin had made it a tied game at 3-3 and with the game seemingly headed for overtime, there was no quit and now we are set for what will be a mouthwatering Game Seven at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
It maybe isn’t good for the heart that the Rangers seem intent on living dangerously close to the edge, but it is exciting and the youngest team in the postseason are also proving that they have the ingredients needed to navigate and survive the war of attrition that is the playoffs.
There appears to be a special bond in that locker room and the toughness, grit, character and sheer resiliency to overcome every bit of adversity thrown their way so far this series should serve as a warning to the rest of the NHL that the Rangers are ready to compete right now.
Stars, power play come up big at perfect time
Most of the talk around the Rangers heading into Game Six was based on the fact that they hadn’t got any production from their top line, with the Mika Zibanejad line too busy trying to chase the shadow of Sidney Crosby.
Well, with Crosby out of the lineup on Friday with an upper-body injury, there was no excuse for Zibanejad, Frank Vatrano and Chris Kreider to not produce.
And they didn’t disappoint.
Free from his Crosby-led shackles, Zibanejad exploded in the second period with two goals, firing a warning shot not to count him out in the process.
His first goal was impressive as he won the face-off in the offensive zone before getting to the circle and ripping a shot past Louis Domingue, and his second tally was also an absolute snipe.
Zibanejad had originally been been credited with a hat trick, but ended up with an assist on Chris Kreider’s go-ahead goal in the third period, and the Swede finished with a four-point night to remind everyone of just how dangerous he can be.
If the center can now get hot, that could spell trouble for the Penguins in Game Seven and indeed the Carolina Hurricanes in Round Two if the Rangers can get the job done on Sunday.
It was also important for Kreider to record a multi-point night (two goals), as it was for the power play to click back into life.
While the man advantage wasn’t as bad through the first five games of this series as some had made out – operating at a 25% clip – the Rangers had only scored one power play goal in the last three games.
The fact that both Zibanejad and Kreider tallied on the PP on Friday should serve as a big confidence booster for that top unit in particular, and if the man advantage can get hot again in Game Seven then that could prove to be the difference.
You need production from your top lines and your special teams in order to win in the postseason, and the Rangers will hope that they continue to get both by the bucketload as they now look to advance to the Second Round.
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