In New York, the Rangers demonstrated a depth across the bench on Sunday night. Mika Zibanejad scored late in the third period to tie Game 7 with the Pittsburgh Penguins at 3-3.
The Ranges made it to Game 7 on the strength of not needing any one player to find the back of the net.
On Sunday, the big names came through and a youngster as well.
Artemi Panarin delivered in overtime with a power play goal to send the Rangers to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on the strength of a 4-+3 win.
“I don’t think I’ve heard this building louder than ‘Artie’s’ OT goal,” Zibanejad said. “I could not hear what I was thinking. … We didn’t want the season to end. I think this has been our team all year.”
Panarin took a pass and danced dow2n the right wing and wristed a shot for the winner.
“I don’t really score that many goals, so I’d say all of them are pretty, pretty big,” Panarin said. “Honestly, [my teammates have] been letting me shoot since the first game. Kind of my bad, I haven’t really been making those shots, but maybe I should listen to everyone’s advice and actually get out there and take shots.”
Igor Shesterkin made 42 saves in the Rangers win.
“He’s done that all year for us,” Zibanejad said. “He really gives us a chance to win every game. … They’re going to get chances and we know who we have back there, and we trust him. He has such a calm presence back there. It just gives us that confidence to go get that next one. We just need one (goal).”
The Penguins dominated most of the game in shots and pressure, but New York responded with their typical play this season. They stuck with their game plan.
“I don’t have to sit here and go through his (Panarin) stats,” Zibanejad said. “I think everyone knows the kind of player he is, but just the way he is, the competitor he is. Always wants to win and I think that’s … guys see that … that’s what brings us the success we’ve had so far.”
Chris Kreider scored in the first period to get the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
“It was a really stressful game,” Panarin said. “There wasn’t that much room on the ice. They were really pressing. One team was throwing it out of the zone, the other team was throwing it in the zone. I couldn’t really get an overall picture of what was going on.
“Overall, honestly, they’ve been letting me shoot since the first game. Kind of my bad. I haven’t really been making those shots, but maybe I should listen to everyone’s advice and actually get out there and take shots.”
The Pens pressure off in the opening period when Danton Heinen tied the game, 1-1, headed to the second period.
“I don’t know, I think we played the right way,” Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby said. “You look at Game 5, we had a tough span of a few minutes. Game 6, probably even a shorter span when they get back in the game. Tonight, we were just on the wrong end of some bad bounces.
“We played a great game tonight. We played some great hockey throughout the series. We didn’t get that next one tonight and that was probably the difference … but tonight was an example of one game, anything can happen, and we didn’t get that extra goal there late in the game.”
In the middle frame, Jake Guentzel put the Pens up 2-1 in a period thoroughly controlled by the Penguins.
“Sometimes we had leads, sometimes they had leads. … It’s hockey,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “They’re a balanced team. They’ve got a dynamic power play. They’ve got one of the best goalies in the league. … Give the Rangers credit. Congratulations to them. They’re a heck of a hockey team. It was a hard-fought series.”
New York will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round.
“They find a way. I’m really proud of them,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “I knew tonight was going to be a battle. We talked about the seventh being game at home. We fell behind at home but found a way to battle back.”
The Rangers youth came to the fore when K’Andre Miller tied the game 65 seconds later to get the game even at 2-2.
“It’s just who he is,” New York’s Jacob Trouba said. “A little quirky, but I kind of get the same feeling listening to what he’s going to say. You don’t know what ‘Bread’ is going to say or what he’s going to do and what he’s capable of. He does it all, especially for this group, for being such a highly skilled, talented player. He’s just another guy, another player on the team, and that’s a pretty cool thing. Happy to have him.”
Evan Rodrigues hit for a shorthanded strike in the 18th minute of the second period for a 3-2 lead for Pittsburgh, the lead seemed almost insurmountable at the time.
“It’s disappointing,” Guentzel said. “I mean, we’re right there. We put ourselves in a good spot being up 3-1 (in the series). It’s just disappointing to think about, that we had a lead in each game and kind of gave that way. This is an amazing group, we believed the whole time and it just didn’t go our way.”
Pittsburgh had outshot the Rangers, 31-20, through the first two periods.
Tristan Jarry made 26 saves in the Penguins loss.
“I think that just being able to play, I was grateful for that,” Jarry said. “… Just trying to work back as quick as I could. It was obviously tough watching. Casey (DeSmith) and Louis (Domingue) did a great job, but obviously, you want to be in there and battling with them every night. That’s something that hurt the most, just not being able to be out there and go to battle with the guys.”
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