This first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Penguins has turned into a microcosm of the Rangers’ whole season.
Every time they have …
This first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Penguins has turned into a microcosm of the Rangers’ whole season. Every time they have been counted out, the Rangers have defied the odds. Each time the uphill battle has seemed too steep to overcome, the Rangers have made it to the top anyway. Their resiliency, devotion to a team game and knack for finding ways to pull out wins have carried the Rangers to this point — and all of that will have to come through when they take the ice for a do-or-die Game 7 on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden.
“We approached the last two games as Game 7s,” head coach Gerard Gallant said after practice Saturday, referring to how the Rangers avoided elimination in Games 5 and 6 after falling behind 3-1 in the series. “Really, we had to win those games, they were must-wins and we found a way to win those hockey games. So tomorrow is no different.
“If you lose, you go home, so just keep trying to play and keep winning hockey games, and then you can move on.”
There is no stage bigger than this one. The pinwheel ceiling at the Garden hasn’t looked down upon a Rangers Game 7 since May 29, 2015, when the Lightning handed them their first-ever loss under such circumstances, to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
