In Pittsburgh, the Penguins jumped out to an energetic 2-0 lead in the first period, and looked to steamroll the New York Rangers in Game 6 on Friday night.
Mike Zibanejad scored twice in the middle frame to draw the Rangers even at 2-2, and steal the thunder fro the Penguins.
Zibanejad;s first goal came off the power play, with just five seconds gone on the penalty. He blasted the puck form the high slot for the strike.
Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves in the Rangers win.
Shesterkin also had an assist in the third period.
Jeff Carter and Bran Rust were the Pens strikers in the opening period.
“Nobody said it was going to be easy,” Pittsburgh’d Kris Letang said. “They’re a really good team. They have a lot of skilled players that can score goals. It’s a race to four and we have to regroup, stay positive and get the job done.”
The Rangers scored three times in the middle frame to take a 3-2 lead.
After Zibanejad tied it, Chris Kreider scored to give New York the lead.
“We’ve been able to come together as a team through hard times over the course of the year,” Kreider said. “I think it’s been a long time coming for us. … Proud of the way this team competes, whether we’re down or whether we’re up.”
Kreider’s also came off the power play.
Zibanejad added two assists in the win.
“Anytime you win, it’s a good feeling,” Zibanejad said. “Again, no quit. That’s what I love about this team.”
As happened in the Game 5, the Rangers let up and the Pens struck for the tying goal before the end of the second period.
“Showed some character in our group,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “Being down 2-0, it wasn’t looking too good in the first.”
Evgeny Malkin scored on a breakaway for a 3-3 tie headed to the third.
“I didn’t see our team getting rattled. The demeanor on the bench is fine,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “The conversation on the bench amongst the players is fine. I didn’t see that at all. You have to give their team credit. They have a really good team over there too.
“They can score goals. I think, for the most part, we’ve done a good job of limiting the amount of quality looks that they’re getting, but they’re going to get some.”
Game 7 is in New York on Sunday.
Kreider picked up his second goal of the game with 88 seconds left on the third period clock.
Kreider wristed a shot from the left point that bounced up above the cage, dropped into the blue paint, and agonizingly slowly drifted into the bet for a 4-3 lead.
“It’s exciting,” Gallant said. “Three days ago we were down 3-1, and now we’ve got a chance to go back home and win Game 7. But you know what, the first two were battles and we had to win hard, and nothing is going to change in the next one. I mean, home ice is great. It’s going to be a great game.
“It’s a Game 7, winner goes on and loser goes home. I think it’s going to be a great game.”
Adam Fox had four assists in the New York win.
“I think the issue has more been the second period, where we get on our heels a little bit and can’t capture our game quick enough,” Pittsburgh’s Mike Matheson said. “They’re going to have their pushes. They might score one or two. I think we need to do a better job of not getting rattled in those situations and just staying the course.”
Andrew Copp added an empty-net strike for the 5-3 final.
Louis Domingue made 3 made in the Pens loss.
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