5 Things That Make 2022 Stickout for the New York Rangers

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Rangers and Penguins shake hands after the Rangers eliminated the Penguins in round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 15: Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers shake hands following the Rangers’ overtime victory in Game Seven of the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 15, 2022, in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Penguins 4-3 in overtime to move on to round two. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

The comeback

In the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the New York Rangers found themselves down 3-1 in the series to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sidney Crosby and his crew were winning the series and doing it without their starting goaltender for the most part. It looked like New York’s great season was going to come to an end in the first round, and that was okay given the success they had endured.

However, that would all be changed going into game 5 back at Madison Square Garden. New York got into a 2-0 hole early in this one but managed to fight back to grab a 3-2 lead thanks in large part to the kid line that was starting to emerge as the force it would be during this playoff run at the time. Pittsburgh would tie it up but the Rangers would again use the kid line to power through and grab the win in game 5.

That left the Rangers down in the series 3-2 going back to Pittsburgh. However, this one had a similar pattern to game 5. Pittsburgh grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period, the Rangers would flip the game and grab a 3-2 lead before the Penguins would tie it. From there, the Rangers managed to overcome their Metro division rivals and force a winner-takes-all-deciding game at the Garden.

This one would not follow the script that had been written in the games prior. New York would grab the 1-0 lead, but Pittsburgh would fight back to make it 2-1. New York would tie it at 2, but the Penguins would re-establish their lead. New York would tie the game in the third set up a next-goal-wins overtime in the series decider. Artemi Panarin would be the hero and the Rangers would come back from 3-1 down to knock off the grizzled Pittsburgh Penguins.

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