The New York Rangers completed another comeback defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in overtime on Artemi Panarin’s power-play goal.
The New York Rangers didn’t want their season to end. In order to get that done, they would need to complete another comeback in this series and for the 30th time this season, the Blueshirts did just that as they went on to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime when Artemi Panarin scored the winning power-play goal at 4:46 of the extra stanza.
The win sends the Blueshirts to the second round of the playoffs where they will play the Carolina Hurricanes with game 1 on Wednesday in Raleigh, NC.
Not Looking Good
Things were not looking promising late in the third period with the Blueshirts down a shorthanded goal scored by Evan Rodrigues with just ver three minutes left in the second period. The Rangers were only able to strange four shots on goal prior to Mika Zibanejad (3G) scoring the tying goal at 13:15 of the third period.
When the third period concluded, the two teams were deadlocked 3-3 heading into overtime with the series outcome on the line.
The Rangers were awarded an early rare OT power play when the Penguins Brock McGinn held defenseman K’Andre Miller as he drove to the net. At the time the Ranges were 0-3 with the man advantage, but that didn’t deter the 18,000 plus fans who were all standing on their feet waiting to blow the roof off the Garden if they could connect on the power-play.
Artemi Panarin, who struggle for most of the game and the series as a whole, scored to the gloves side of Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry, over his glove, to send the Rangers to the second round of the NHL Playoffs.
Panarin realized his poor round and his decision not to shoot the ouch when he had quality scoring chances speaking through a translator following the win.
“I don’t really score that many goals, so I’d say all of them are pretty, pretty big, honestly, [my teammates have] been letting me shoot since the first game. Kind of my bad, I haven’t really been making those shots, but maybe I should listen to everyone’s advice and actually get out there and take shots.”
Panarin had three goals in the seven-game series, but none were bigger than his winner on Sunday night.
Chris Kreider put the Rangers on the scoreboard first, but the Penguin’s power-play and penalty kill had earned them the 3-2 lead before Zibanejad tied the game. The Pens were 2-5 with the man advantage and 1-4 on the penalty kill along with a shorthanded goal by Rodrigues in the second period.
Zibanejad’s tying the goal with 5:45 remaining in regulation marked the first time in franchise history a Rangers player has tied a Game 7 in the final 10 minutes of the third period.
Defenseman K’Andre Miller netted an unassisted goal at 11:23 of the second period which even the game 2-2. It was his first NHL playoff goal which tied the game 2-2. Zibanejad had two assists as did Andrew Copp
Igor Shesterkin made 42 saves and went 4-2 in seven starts with a 3.67 goals-against average and .911 save percentage in the series despite being pulled in both game 3 and game 4. Shesterkin recorded 255 saves in seven games, the most in a single series by a Rangers goaltender (since 1955-56 when the League began officially tracking shots on goal). Shesterkin is the third Rangers goaltender (Mike Richter, John Vanbiesbrouck) to post a win in his first career Game 7 and is now the youngest Rangers goaltender to win his first career Game 7 (26 years, 136 days).
During the post-game presser, Zibanejad discussed the euphoria that occurred when Panarin clinched the victory,
“I don’t think I’ve heard this building louder than ‘Artie’s’ OT goal, “I could not hear what I was thinking. … We didn’t want the season to end. I think this has been our team all year.”
The Rangers had trailed in the series 3-1 but found a way to come back and win the best of seven series 4-3. The team trailed in each of the last three games, but found the will to battle back and win each contest. With Sunday’s win, they became the first team in Stanley Cup Playoff history to record three consecutive comeback wins in elimination games within the same series.
Defenseman Adam Fox Adam Fox is the 4th defenseman in NHL history with at least one point in all 7 games of a playoff series. Fox Joins Miro Heiskanen (2020 Dallas Stars), Larry Murphy (1995 Pittsburgh Pens), and Paul Reinhart (1984 Calgary Flames). Fox is the first New York Ranger to accomplish this feat.
Game Notes (via NYR PR)
- New York won a series after trailing 3-1 for the third time in team history (2015 R2 vs. WSH, 2014 R2 vs. PIT) after coming into these playoffs with a 2-18 series record when trailing 3-1. The Rangers won three of four games in comeback fashion.
- Kreider scored his 29th career playoff goal to surpass Adam Graves, Ron Duguay,
- Braden Schneider (20 years, 237 days) became the youngest player in Rangers history to record a point (A) in a Game 7, besting Alex Kovalev (21 years, 110 days) in the 1994 Stanley Cup Final. and Brian Leetch and pull into a tie with Mark Messier for second place in franchise history behind Rod Gilbert (34).
- Ryan Strome tallied his fifth assist of the playoffs to give him points in six of seven games this series.
What’s Next?
On Wednesday, the Rangers visit the Carolina Hurricanes for Game 1 of Round 2.
Wednesday, May 18 @Carolina 7 p.m.
Friday, May 20 @Carolina 8 p.m.
Sunday, May 22 @New York 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, May 24 @New York 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 26 @Carolina TBD*
Saturday, May 28 @New York TBD*
Monday, May 30 @Carolina TBD*
Follow Frank Curto on Twitter at @RangerProud