Comeback Rangers ready to face Penguins in Game 7
When the New York Rangers came back from Pittsburgh earlier in the week, they were on the brink of being eliminated by the Penguins after two bad losses on the road.
Following two spirited comeback wins, they return home for a deciding Game 7 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night (7 p.m., TBS) with some momentum on their side.
“Game 7 is huge for us and now we’ve got to make sure we finish it off tomorrow and play the right way,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said Saturday. “We worked hard to get back. I think everybody’s really excited. … It’s a big game, for sure. It’s a lot of fun and I look forward to it.”
After falling into a 3-1 series hole, the Rangers have a pair of 5-3 wins — at home and then back on the road — to even the series. In each of the last two wins, they fell behind 2-0 before surging ahead with three consecutive goals in the second periods and letting the Penguins tie it again. New York then pulled away in the third periods.
Gallant said he isn’t concerned by the team’s seemingly slow starts as long as they end up winning.
“As long as we finish the right way, I don’t care. It’s all
about winning the hockey game,” he said. “It’s worked out for us so far, but I don’t like it obviously.”
Clawing back from a deficit is nothing new for these Rangers. During the regular season, they had 27 comeback wins — just two fewer than the league-leading Florida Panthers.
“We show no quit — that’s what I love about this team,” Mika Zibanejad said after the latest win. “We’ve shown it throughout the year, throughout this series. … It’s something special about this group and we’re going to try
to keep it going.”
The Penguins have been through this before: They are 3-0 in Game 7s under coach Mike Sullivan, including the deciding game on the road against Washington in the second round of the 2017 playoffs.
“We’re confident in our game plan,” Pittsburgh forward Jeff Carter said. “If you go in with the right mindset and you leave it all out there, most of the time you’re going to come out on top. That’s what we’ll look to do.”
The Penguins could get a boost with the possible return of injured players Sidney Crosby, Tristan Jarry and Rickard Rakell. They all practiced Saturday and will travel to New York for the series finale.