Rangers win 4-3 in OT to advance to the 2nd Round

Controversies

The game was not without controversy.  Danton Heinen scored a power play goal in the first period to tie the game.  The puck had gotten past Igor Shesterkin and a diving Adam Fox appeared to sweep it out of the net.

Some of the Penguins were celebrating the goal, but the teams played on until the situation room stopped play and informed the officials that the puck had crossed the net.

Jake Guentzel’s goal at 10:18 of the second period gave the Penguin a 2-1 lead and the Rangers felt it had been scored with a high stick.  Guentzel had kicked the puck into the air and batted it down into the net.

The officials ruled it a good goal after video review though Coach Gerard Gallant said he thought it was a high stick.

That same power play was the result of Kaapo Kakko shooting the puck over the glass. Some replays showed that it had deflected off the glass, but it wasn’t reviewable and it cost the Rangers.

The last controversy was over the tying goal scored by Mika Zibanejad.  Earlier in the shift, Alexis Lafrenière and Marcus Pettersson were battling behind the Pittsburgh net.   Pettersson had his helmet knocked off and instead of putting it back on, he started complaining to the refs and then had to go to the bench. It gave the Rangers more players on the ice briefly and Mika Zibanejad was able to tie the score.

Mike Sullivan didn’t mince words after the game, saying “He has to come off, by rule. I think it stinks. He has to come off. His helmet got pulled off intentionally but that’s the rule.”

He’s wrong.  Pettersson could have picked up the helmet and put it back on, he didn’t have to leave the ice. Here’s the rule: A player on the ice whose helmet comes off during play shall be assessed a minor penalty if he does not exit the playing surface, or retrieve and replace his helmet properly on his head (with or without his chin strap fastened), within a reasonable period of time.

After the game, Sidney Crosby blamed the goal on a “bad rule.”  Perhaps if Pettersson had put his helmet back on instead of waving his arms and complaining to the referees before going to the bench, the Penguins wouldn’t have anything to complain about.

Here’s the play:

Also, look at the goal being scored.  Do the math.  There are five Penguins skaters on the ice.

One thing that was not controversial was the holding penalty on Brock McGinn on K’Andre Miller’s breakaway attempt.  It was definitely a penalty and it cost the Penguins the series.

Team comeback

After the game, Mika Zibanejad referred to the slogan “No Quit in New York” when talking about the comeback.  During the regular season the Rangers came back to win after trailing in 27 games. That was second only to the Panthers who did it 29 times.  In the playoffs, it’s the same story. Both the Rangers and Panthers lead all teams, coming back after trailing three times already.

The resilience of this young Rangers team is astounding.  It’s almost as if they need to trail in order to win and this series was nothing but a succession of bounce back performances.

They recovered from the double gut punch in Game One of the apparent go ahead goal disallowed, followed by the triple overtime loss and came back to win the second game 5-2.   Then came the ultimate comeback that culminated in the seventh game.