Associated Press
Brad Richards scored the go-ahead goal and Derek Stepan had a goal and two assists as the top-seeded Rangers staved off elimination with a 3-2 victory against Ottawa Senators on Monday.
The series heads back to New York Thursday night for the first Game 7 in any sport at Madison Square Garden in 17 years. No Rangers team has ever lost a Game 7 at The Garden.
Not even the return of Daniel Alfredsson, who missed three games with a concussion, in front of the fired-up home crowd at Scotiabank Place could help the eighth-seeded Senators.
Carl Hagelin returned to the Rangers lineup after sitting out a three-game suspension for his elbow on Alfredsson. The Rangers broke through in the second oeriod with three goals after going six straight periods without scoring.
Chris Neil gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead in the first, and Jason Spezza cut it to 3-2 with 39 seconds left to play in the third.
Stepan tied the game 1-1 during the first of four second-period power polays at 8:55. The Rangers then received a lengthy 5-on-3 after Nick Foligno was sent off for goaltender interference, and Richards took advantage of the extra space by skating off the wall and beating Anderson high at 17:08.
That was soon followed by a back-breaking goal from rookie Chris Kreider, the first of his NHL career. He sneaked a shot through Anderson with 40.3 seconds to play in the period.
• COMMENT ON BLUESHIRTS UNITED | PHOTO GALLERY
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STAT OF THE GAME
Just over two weeks removed from playing college hockey, Chris Kreider became the sixth Rangers player to register his first career playoff point in this series, and the fourth to tally his first career playoff goal. |
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| (selected by newyorkrangers.com) |
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| 1. Stepan |
2. Lundqvist |
3. Richards |
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[51-24-7]
[41-31-10]