3-3

The Rangers force a Game 7. Clawing back from a 3-1 series deficit in the NHL Playoffs is rare. But once again, the Rangers don’t make it easy for themselves. A 2 goal deficit in the first is back again. On the first goal by Pittsburgh, Igor stopped the first shot and the following 2 rebounds with no help, which lead to the 3rd rebound going in. Then a scant time later, a wide-open cross-ice pass for a one-timer. Again. Awful first period. Then the Pens had an awful 2nd period and what I said needed to happen, happened. Zibanejad and Kreider came through and the special teams did their job.

In the first quarter of the second period, the Rangers go on a powerplay because of Ryan Lindgren. It took 5 seconds for the goal. Win a face off, the puck is passed twice to get to an open Mika and he one-times the rubber off his shot. Hit the back of the net before Domingue could react. That punched the whole arena in the gut, making them sweat that the lead was now cut in half. A few minutes later, the Rangers send the puck around the boards behind the net and Fox gets it to pass to Mika near the blue line. There are like 5 guys in front of Domingue and Mika snipes him dead. Clips Domingue and goes in. The place is dumbfounded. The Penguins get mad, and get called on a high sticking that draws blood, so that’s 4 more minutes in the box. Forty five seconds into the power play, the Penguins clear the puck and Igor comes way out to get it. On the clear, the Penguins went for a line change and Igor takes the advantage, making a perfect pass to Mika that had to have been 100ft. There are only 2 Penguins near enough to do anything. He races off with Kreider right behind him and to his left, the shot is stopped and Kreider is there to jam that meatball into the net with Domingue laid out on his side like a banana. Observation: Domingue isn’t good at staying on his feet with fast shots, he frequently falls to the side.

As rad as all of this, cue up a boneheaded move by the Rangers to ruin it. Actually it’s one Ranger. Jacob Trouba makes a mindboggling stupid pass that Malkin read like a book. He gets his tape right on the puck and takes off on a breakaway and Igor doesn’t stop it. The stuff of nightmares. That’s with a little more than 3 minutes left in the period. Malkin is now the hero.

The 3rd period starts with the game tied and you could feel that this was basically being treated like overtime. More cautious and reserved play. The Penguins had clearly gotten the message that taking a penalty likely means death. The period is a back and forth high wire act until the last 90 seconds. Penguins clear the puck, Rangers pass it back up and it gets to Kreider on the left side. He lets an innocuous slap shot go not far from the blue line and Domingue puts both of his hands in front of him. The knuckle puck rises to the top of his chest and it hits a small part of his glove near his thumb. The puck flips up and over his head. When the crowd realizes it’s going to land right behind him, they scream in horror. Domingue didn’t know where the puck went, maybe he thought he caught it, and it bounces right in front of the goal line and bounces in. 4-3 Rangers, and it’s unbelievable. I was stunned and it was in my team’s favor. Penguins pull the goalie for a last ditch effort and Copp gets the empty net. 5-3 Rangers win, off to the Garden tomorrow.

This crazy disappearing 2 goal lead has happened in almost every game this series. I still can’t believe they made another comeback after being destroyed in Game 4. All bets are off tomorrow. If Crosby feels 80% or better, there is no way he isn’t playing. He’s always on the ice when Zibanejad and Kreider or on the ice and look what happened. They both got two goals. The Rangers were 2/3 and the Penguins were 0/3 on the power play. That’s literally the game.

Game 7 will be one for the history books. The Rangers can’t afford another garbage first period. No bad periods, period! Sixty minutes of hard-fought, grinding hockey is necessary to put down the Penguins. The NY defense has to work smart. Trouba needs to pay attention. Miller has to have an outstanding game. Strome and Panarin need to score on one of their chances (I’d like to know what on Earth is going on with Panarin, he’s shooting everything wide or making crappy passes). Having Tyler Mott back is a huge boon as it ensures Nemeth doesn’t play.

Let’s Go Rangers!