Artemi Panarin redeemed himself somewhat by becoming the latest in a long line of Game Seven heroes as the New York Rangers eliminated the Pittsburgh Penguins in thrilling fashion on Sunday.
As was the case for most of the First Round, the Blueshirts made life hard for themselves as they twice found themselves in a hole, only to somehow climb out of it and advance to the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2016-17.
Chris Kreider got the Rangers on the board in the first period with his fifth goal of the postseason, but the Penguins were able to take a 2-1 lead into the second thanks to two goals on the power play from Danton Heinen and Jake Guentzel.
K’Andre Miller’s first career postseason goal made it a tied game before a shorthanded effort from Evan Rodrigues put Pittsburgh back on top, and you just got the feeling that maybe their superior playoff experience would prove to be the difference.
However, as they proved time and time again in this series, the Rangers don’t go down without a fight and, after Mika Zibanejad scored the game-tying goal at 14:15 in the third period, that set the stage for Panarin to play hero and score the winner in OT to help the Blueshirts eliminate the Penguins and advance.
And, we’re going to start our takeaways feature with a look at the key ingredient that has spearheaded the Rangers’ considerable postseason efforts so far…
Fight until the bitter end
This has been a theme throughout the playoffs for the Rangers so far, and it will likely continue to be a trend given that the Rangers just don’t know when they are beat.
Finding themselves 3-1 down in their series against the Penguins, the Rangers had to come back and erase deficits in Games Five, Six and Seven. In doing so, they became the first team in Stanley Cup Playoff history to come from behind and win three consecutive elimination games in the same series.
That should tell you everything you need to know about the makeup of this team, and it is a good omen going forward given that it will only get tougher from here on out.
Game Seven was perhaps the microcosm of the Rangers’ entire year in that they had to withstand body blow after body blow, going 2-1 down and then 3-2 down, with the Penguins well-versed in grinding out games in the playoffs given their recent history.
However, as they’ve made a habit of doing, they refused to quit and they hung on in there, with Mika Zibanejad making it a tied game late in the third with a wicked shot, while also proving that getting pucks on net is always the right thing to do.
We know the rest of the story as Artemi Panarin had his best moment of the series with the game-winner in OT, sealing an incredible comeback and hammering home emphatically that this team will not be an easy out in the playoffs.
As talented as they are, Head Coach Gerard Gallant has instilled a toughness and a grit in the locker room that is paying dividends, and that key ingredient could prove to be an unstoppable weapon that could fire the Rangers towards a deep, deep run.
Because, no matter who they play, they won’t go down without one almighty fight and it could be tough for any team to kill that spirit and never-say-die attitude in a best-of-seven series.