Coming off a devastating 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators in the opening game of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Thursday night, the New York Rangers wanted to bounce back in a big way. Unfortunately, their hopes were crushed and many hearts were broken as the Blueshirts fell 6-5 in double overtime, after surrendering a 5-3 lead with just 3:19 left in regulation. The team is now down in the series, two games to none.
Michael Grabner opened the scoring with a short-handed goal to make it 1-0 Rangers, but Jean-Gabriel Pageau tied things up a little over ten minutes later to make it 1-1 after one. Chris Kreider finally broke his playoff scoring slump to make it 2-1 Rangers to kick off the second. Followed by teammate Derek Stepan who also broke free from his struggles. Marc Methot soon made it 3-2 Rangers, but rookie defenseman Brady Skjei netted one to give New York the two-goal lead back. Mark Stone closed the gap to make it 4-3 Rangers just a minute and a half into the third, but Brady Skjei once again helped New York re-gain a two goal advantage. Sadly, that would be the last time New York would see the back of the net. Pageau netted the last three goals of the game, having his first career playoff hat trick, and allowing the Senators to take a thrilling 6-5 victory.
New York was visibly upset and heartbroken after the game. Goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who stopped 28 shots in the loss, told reporters, “We need to go home and regroup.”
The series moves back to Madison Square Garden for games three and four on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. They may be down, but don’t count the Rangers out.
