The Rangers forced a deciding game in their first-round series with the Devils, beating New Jersey, 5-2, in Game 6 Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Mika Zibanejad, who had not scored in the series, tallied the goal that put the Rangers ahead for good in the second period. The Blueshirts, who switched up some attacking lines, also got goals from Chris Kreider (yes, again), Vladimir Tarasenko, Barclay Goodrow and Braden Schneider.
Igor Shesterkin, the main reason the Rangers made a deep playoff run last year, was brilliant in goal, making 34 saves. Entering Saturday, the Rangers had allowed the fewest goals per game of any playoff team.
The series now heads to a winner-moves-on Game 7 in Newark on Monday. The Rangers’ Game 6 victory, in front of a sellout crowd of 18,006, was their only one at home in the series.
Here are the key takeaways:
-The Rangers made a habit last year of staving off elimination. They won five elimination games before getting bounced in the Eastern Conference Finals by Tampa Bay. The Rangers are trying to win a seven-game playoff series they trailed, 3-2, for the eighth time in franchise history.
-Entering Saturday night, Jersey goalie Akira Schmid had stopped 80-of-82 shots in the series and was a large part of why the Devs had won three in a row. But the Rangers finally solved the 22-year-old Switzerland native, one game after he had shut them out, and he did not finish the game. In the third period, Schmid gave up goals to Goodrow and Schneider – the first of the playoffs for both – and the goalie was pulled with 7:32 left in favor of Vitek Vanecek, who had started and lost the first two games of the series. Goalie controversy entering Game 7, anyone?
-Zibanejad, who poured in 39 goals during the season to lead the Rangers, had not scored in the series until he notched a tie-breaker with 9:50 left in the second. Kreider flicked a backhand pass from behind the net and Zibanejad beat Schmid to the goalie’s left. The crowd went bonkers after the goal and as teammates mobbed Zibanejad near the glass behind the goal line, he looked relieved.
-The Rangers extended the lead to 3-1 with 1:35 left in the second when Tarasenko snapped a wrister past Schmid on the glove side after a pass from Kreider set him up, too. After scoring, Tarasenko leapt into Ryan Lindgren’s arms in celebration. It was Tarasenko’s third goal of the series and first since Game 2.
-Shesterkin was as brilliant in the second period as the New York offense, making several showcase saves. With the Blueshirts on a power play early in the period, the Devils broke into their offensive zone and Dawson Mercer got off a shot from close range that Shesterkin stopped. Erik Haula snapped a shot on the rebound that Shesterkin denied, too.
A few minutes later, Timo Meier got in close off a pass from Jack Hughes, but Shesterkin stopped Meier’s shot. Shortly after that, Hughes had a clear lane to the goal from the left circle and shot, but it was the same result. Shesterkin made another big save with less than a minute left, turning away Tomas Tatar’s try.
-After the Devils owned much of the first period, the game tilted with less than a minute left. Mercer was whistled for tripping Patrick Kane with 53.1 seconds remaining and Ranger power play, an enormous part of their two early wins that had struggled since, finally clicked again.
Zibanejad blasted a one-timer from the left circle and Kreider was credited with a tip-in, knotting the score at 1. The goal broke an 0-for-14 skid for the Rangers’ power play, dating back to Game 2. It was Kreider’s 16th goal in a potential elimination game, matching Mark Messier’s NHL record. It was Kreider’s fifth power-play goal of the series and sixth overall. He is the fourth player in Rangers history to have six goals in a single playoff series, joining Adam Graves, Mike Gartner and Bruce MacGregor. The Rangers also started the second period on a power play because Ondrej Palat was caught tripping Jacob Trouba at the end of the first period.
-The Devils attacked early and outshot the Rangers, 11-8, in the first. With 8:11 left, they got the first goal of the game. Curtis Lazar pounced on a rebound and did not miss the open left side of Shesterkin’s net. It was Lazar’s first goal of the playoffs. The Devils added a power-play goal with 4:48 remaining, scored by Mercer, to cut the Ranger lead to 5-2.
-The Rangers, who scored just two total goals over the previous three games, juggled some of their lines early, Artemi Panarin started the game on a line with Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko and other combinations were switched around, too.
“I just wanted to mix some things up and I like what we’re doing,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said before the game. “We think it matches up well with their lineup. We’ll see. Time will tell.”
What’s next
The Rangers will play a win-or-go-home Game 7 at the Prudential Center in Newark on Monday, May 1.
