Everyone knew this game was going to be insane and it was. I gave the odds at 50/50 for each team to win and the pattern of the game played out like the last 2 games in the series where the Rangers had to come from behind and won. Every second period of this series was chaos on ice. This was 60 minutes of non-stop battles with Crosby and Jarry back in the game, bringing Pittsburgh almost back to full strength.

Kreider opened up the scoring in the first period with a sweet set up from Zibanejad. The Penguins tied the game with about a minute left in the period.

Things, of course, went off the rails in the second. Guentzel kicked a pass up to himself for a ludicrous goal that gave the Penguins the lead halfway through the period. A wave of dread washed over MSG. On the next play, Igor made two outstanding back-to-back saves. This was key as this kept Pittsburgh from taking total control. Going down two in less than 90 seconds could have made too big a hill to climb, something Pittsburgh had done before. Igor did this numerous times on penalty kills, keeping multiple rebounds out of the net. The world’s best goalie planted his flag last night and it stood strong. I cannot stress enough how well he played last night, it was all the difference.

And then it happens less than a minute later: K’andre Miller ties it up with a wrist shot that bounces off two Penguins and rolls passed Jarry. It was ridiculous. He was down on his knees to block the shot that never went to him so he couldn’t move over fast enough to grab it. The period ends with a horrific turnover by Chytil at the end of a Rangers power play. I have no idea who he thought he was passing it to. It went right into Rodrigues who took off and Igor didn’t stop. Igor is typically excellent on breakaways, but not in this series.

The third period starts with the Rangers down one. More and more intensity. Halfway through the period, the score remains the same and the Penguins are on the power play. Tyler Motte is all over Crosby who sends the puck in Trouba’s direction for a turnover and Trouba makes a beautiful pass back to Motte who gets a breakaway but doesn’t score. Five minutes later,, play is in the Penguins’ zone and there’s a long battle along the boards. Clearing and pass attempts, but it bounces over to Zibanejad who quickly turns and fires on Jarry who is caught by surprise. Tie game with less than 6 minutes left. Absolute pandemonium.

In the opening minutes of OT, Miller gets a breakaway and is held during his shot. The Rangers go on the powerplay. You can see what happens in the video above. Panarin the game-winning hero! Insane comeback, and an insane win.

The next challenge: Round 2 vs the Carolina Hurricanes. The Rangers made a lot of mistakes last night and Carolina is much more likely to take better advantage of those blunders. 1/4 on the power play with Pittsburgh 2/5. That’s all the difference in a blowout vs a hair-raising comeback fight. The Rangers have to work on their defense in every situation. You cannot rely on Igor to do it all.