Rangers live to play again with 5-3 win

The New York Rangers came through, beating the Pittsburgh Penguins on a Chris Kreider goal with only 88 seconds left in regulation.  It was another nervewracking that saw the Rangers fall behind 2-0 in the first period, only to come roaring back to take the lead which they then surrendered within minutes.  It wasn’t a perfect win, but it was enough to guarantee a Game Seven.

One question was how Igor Shesterkin would do, returning to Pittsburgh after being pulled in his last two games and allowing 10 goals.  He was excellent.

The big question was how Sidney Crosby’s absence would affect the outcome.  It did in numerous ways.  Mika Zibanebad broke away from the shackles of trying to check Crosby to score two goals.  Jake Guentzel failed to score for the first time this series. Perhaps most important was that the Penguins failed to score on three power plays including 67 seconds of five on three.

The Rangers had been waiting all series for ZIbanejad and Kreider to show the form that made them on of the most formidable duos in the NHL.  This was the game as they combined for four goals and six points.

Before the game Zibanejad  had admitted that he had probably been preoccupied with defending against Crosby and that had  hampered his offense.  He was flying this game and had a team high six shots with two goals and two assists.

After the game, asked if it was hard to stay positive, Zibanejad said “I don’t think it’s easy because, then it would have been easy to stay positive through all this but I think I owe a lot of credit to the teammates…at the end of the day of the hard work is there it’s going to turn around eventually.”

Kreider made a spirited defense of his friend, saying “Even when the pucks not going in, he still does so many things that are unappreciated. It’s insane. I think the only people who can really see it are the ones who are maybe in our room who are understanding the game and he’s been getting his chances, you know he’s going to break through. I think sometimes the playoff can reveal who you are and the kind of character you have and for him to stay with his game and continue to work…he’s been a huge leader for us all year.  He’ s been an absolute horse, he’s been our engine and you knew it was going to turn for him and he was going to have his moment and he’s certainly not done.”

Kreider actually took the ipad from Zibanejad and threw it after the Swede hit iron on a shorthanded breakaway.  His message to his linemate?  Stop second guessing himself.

Adam Fox had a sublime game, notching four assists as he continued his dominant play.

Gallant could only laugh about the slow start.  “It started out the same way as the other two games here. Fortunately  we found a way to battle back again. It was good, we battled  back after that, showed some character in our group, being down 2-0 it wasn’t looking to good in the first.”

Notes on the game

Adam Fox had four assists, one off the NHL record for a defenseman. He tied the franchise record set by Dave Maloney in 1983.  It was the first four assist game for a defenseman in nine  years.  He is second to Cale Makar in scoring by a defenseman in the playoffs with nine points.

Mika Zibanejad had two goals and two assists, his first two goals of the series.

Chris Kreider’s go ahead goal with 1:28 left was the second latest in franchise history  behind Cam Connor who scored with 1:09 left in 1982.

The goal was Kreider’s eighth playoff game winner, giving him sole possession of first place in franchise history.

Igor Shesterkin got an assist on Kreider’s second period  power play goal when he headmanned the puck to Zibanejad.  He joined Louis Domingue as the only netminders with assists this postseason.  The only Ranger goalie with a playoff assist before th is year was Henrik Lundqvist in 2014.

Shesterkin has rebounded from his two bad outings.  He had 31 saves on 34 shots and made some excellent stops in the third period.

This will be the the fifth time the Rangers have come back from a 3-1 deficit with the team winning the last two times.

This was the third time in NHL history that a team has rallied from two goal deficits in consecutive elimination games.

The Rangers have played 15 game sevens with a record of 9-6.

Tyler Motte came back and  played his first game in over a month, skating for 9:32 and he was on ice for the game winning goal.

Brian Boyle played only two shifts and left the game after he was hurt trying to check Jacob Trouba in the first period.

Ryan Lindgren is an iron man.  At one point he limped to the bench after turning awkwardly.  Of course, he was out for his next shift.

Here’s the word on Game Seven from the NHL. The start time for Game 7 of the First Round series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers is set for 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 15, in New York. The game will be televised on TBS in the U.S. In Canada, the game will be broadcast on Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario, Sportsnet Pacific and SN360. Of course, the MSG Network will televise the game, the last game of the postseason for Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti.