In New York, Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant put the Rangers names in a hat and must have pulled randomly to set his line up for Saturday’s Game 6.
“Backs against the wall, you’re going to leave it out there,” Rangers defenseman Adam Fox said. “No one wants the season to end. I think we maybe rode our high a little too high for the first two games and understood that we have a lot better in here. We were able to get into this Game 7, and we’re excited for it.”
It was a slow developing response as the Rangers fell behind 1-0 to the New Jersey Devils on an early goal from Curtis Lazar.
“What a game to be in,” New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. “Where would you rather be, playing at home in front of your fans? Game 7 is something that if you’re a little kid growing up, you’re going to sit there and go, man, I’d love to play in that game. We’ve worked hard all year to get to this point. I know that team that’s in that locker room is going to give me everything they’ve got.”
Chris Kreider scored his sixth of the series, on the power play, off a tip in, to tie the game with less than a minute to go in the fist period.
Mika Zibanejad hit for his first goal of the series midway through the second period to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.
“I can sit here and lie and say it wasn’t a good feeling seeing the puck go in,” Zibanejad said. “The wins are all that matters. We got the win that we needed and wanted tonight. Now we just keep going.”
Vladimir Tarasenko extended the New York advantage to 3-1 at 18:25 of the middle frame.
In the third period, the Rangers were outshot, 17-8, but managed to post two more goals.
Barclay Goodrow bunted in a airborne rebound of a shot from Kimmy Vesey for a 4-1 lead to the Rangers at 7:23 of the third.
“When your backs are against the wall, you play your best game, and I thought they did tonight,” New York coach Gerard Gallant said. “We talked about getting hungry and getting into the blue paint. That was the biggest thing we talked about before the game. We didn’t get there enough. Tonight, we got there. We got some opportunities and things worked for us.”
Braden Schneider then airmailed a shot from the left point that drifted in for a 5-1 lead at 12:25.
New Jersey’s Dawson Mercer hit for a power play goal at 15:12 for the 5-2 final.
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Akira Schmid got the start for New Jersey and surrendered five goals to the Rangers, and made 24 saves before getting the hook in the third period.
Vitek Vanecek iced the final minutes of the game, but did not face a shot in relief.
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