New York Rangers
New York, NY — The Rangers are bringing the Stanley Cup back to New York for the first time since 1994 after defeating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in overtime at Madison Square Garden, winning the series 4-2. With 6:28 remaining in overtime, Artemi Panarin’s snapshot was redirected by Alexander Radulov to inside the left post. It was Radulov’s eighth goal in the playoffs.
The win was the fourth straight for New York who fell behind 2-0 in the series. Their turnaround began when they returned to face Chicago at the Garden and cruised to a 5-2 victory in Game 3. From then, the Rangers won the next two games by similar margins.
The Blackhawks, fighting to force a Game 7 back on their own ice, kept Game 6 from getting out of hand. Panarin lit the lamp for New York just two minutes into the first period, hinting that this game also might go the way of the last three games, but Chicago’s Jonathan Toews leveled before the end of the frame. In the second period, Kappa Kakko gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead but the Blackhawks pulled even again before intermission thanks to Jujhar Khaira’s fourth of the playoffs.
Conn-Smythe Trophy goes to Lafraniere
Twenty-year old Alexis Lafraniere was named the MVP of the playoffs. He played in all 26 Rangers postseason games, scored 11 goals, 10 assists, and racked 21 points with a plus-thirteen. Two of his goals came during a Rangers’ power play.
Neither club lit the lamp in the third period despite some very good chances to score. Goalies for each team, Igor Shesterkin and Marc-Andre Fleury made spectacular saves to keep their opponents out of the net.
With the game heading to a second overtime, the Rangers began to fire everything towards the net. Panarin found space high in the slot to launch a shot toward goal. Radulov had positioned himself in front of a defender facing Panarin in the low slot, and stuck his stick out to change the direction of the shot which clanged off the left pipe and into the net — beating Fleury on his stick side.
New York acquired forward Nick Cousins in a deal that shipped Mika Zibanejad to the Predators at the trade deadline. The acquisition paid dividends in Game 5 as Cousins scored twice to lead the Rangers to a 5-2 victory at United Center. The Rangers have a chance to end the series with a win back at Madison Square Garden in Game 6.
The Rangers jumped ahead quickly in the first period with goals by Cousins then Alexis Lafraniere before the nine-minute mark. Chicago matched them with two scores before the period ended. The Blackhawks offensive production ended there.
Cousins racked his second goal 8:12 into the second period giving the Rangers a 3-2 lead.
In the third period, New York put the game out of reach as Artemi Panarin scored his ninth of the playoffs, then Chris Kreider pushed the lead to three with a goal midway through the period.
New York evened the series 2-2 with a second straight home win, powering past Chicago 4-1 at Madison Square Garden. Alexis Lafraniere scored twice to bring his postseason goal total to ten. Igor Shesterkin made 20 saves and earned his 14th win of the postseason.
From the start, the Rangers wanted to be the more physical team. They succeeded by putting 25 hits on Blackhawks players. Defenseman K.Andre Miller led the attack with five hits. On offense, Kappo Kakko was relentless, putting 10 shots on net. He didn’t score a goal but finished with an assists and a +4.
In the second period, the Rangers got a little help from Chicago goalie Marc-Andre Fleury when he and a defenseman got their signals crossed and a clearing pass was tapped back in for an own goal. Miller was credited with the goal and it was the difference maker as it gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead. Lafraniere then put the game out of reach with two third period scores.
New York threw everything but the kitchen sink at Chicago to avoid falling behind 0-3 and their desperation paid off, winning in a 5-2 rout. Filip Chytil’s two-goal performance fueled the Rangers win who now trail 2-1 in the series. Rangers’ goalie Igor Shesterkin benefitted from much-tighter defense and needed to defend against only 16 shots. Marc–Andre Fleury was pelted with 31 shots and he made 26 saves.
The Rangers jumped ahead 3-0 with Chytil scoring New York’s third goal 5:02 into the second period. Chicago answered with two of their own and hinted at another comeback, but New York raised their defensive pressure and prevented a Blackhawks’ rally from materializing. In the third period, Ryan Strome’s fifth of the postseason cushioned the lead (4-2) and Chytil scored on an empty-netter to seal the game.
The Blackhawks rallied from a 2-goal deficit to win Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. Alex Debrincat scored with eight seconds remaining in regulation to break a 4-4 tie. In Game 1, Patrick Kane was the hero when he lit the lamp with less than a minute to play to break a tie and gave Chicago a final lead.
The Rangers will be wondering what went wrong on the way back to New York after back-to-back losses where Chicago tallied the game winner in the final seconds of each game.
New York held a 2-1 lead after one period and a 3-2 lead after the second period. The went ahead 4-2 when Chris Kreider scored 11:19 into the third period, but then New York’s defense wilted under the pressure and surrendered two goals to allow Chicago to tie 4-4. And with eight seconds left to play, Debrincat, the Blackhawks playoffs scoring leader, snapped home the game-winner inside the right pipe.
Patrick Kane scored with less than a minute to play in regulation to lift the Blackhawks to a series opening victory over the Rangers at United Center in Chicago. Kane wristed a shot from the right circle that beat Igor Shesterkin on his stick side and inside the far post with forty-five seconds to play. It was one of two shot attempts by Kane all game.
In a game light on penalties, New York struck first 4:08 into the first period when Kappo Kakko notched his ninth playoffs goal. Later in the period, Jacob Trouba left the ice after an interference call to set up Chicago on the power play. The Rangers almost succeeded in killing the penalty, but just before it expired, the Blackhawks won a face-off near the New York goal and Ian Mitchell quickly snapped in the typing goal at the 9:26 mark.
The New York Rangers will face the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final. New York survived two Game 7’s to earn their way to the series, while the Blackhawks out-lasted Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Final. Both teams will start the series healthy but Chicago hopes to see Patrick Kane go the full series after missing time with an injury earlier in the postseason. Kane finished as the regular season leader in points.
Chicago defeated Tampa Bay to raise the Cup in the 2014-15 season which saw Duncan Keith awarded the series MVP. The Rangers haven’t raised the Lord Stanley Cup since 1994 when, twenty-eight years ago when team captain Mark Messier led New York past Vancouver in seven games.
Gm 6 - NY Rangers score game winner, begin celebration
Gm 4 - Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury's mistake leads to own goal
Gm1 - Patrick Kane comes through in final seconds to put Chicago on top