Rangers hang tough at Ottawa, force Game 7 at MSG

2011-12 Playoff Game No. 6; Road Game No. 3	Series tied 3-3
VIDEO: HIGHLIGHT OF THE GAME
• Full Highlights | Tortorella | Kreider, McDonagh | Henrik, Prust, Richards		• Melrose CU Save of Game

GAME RECAP 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

PHOTO OF THE GAME 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. THREE STARS (selected by newyorkrangers.com) 1. Stepan 2. Lundqvist 3. Richards

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THE BIGGER PICTURE These Rangers have all the momentum on their side for a Game 7, where no Rangers team has ever lost at The Garden. You also have to go back 12 years to find any No. 1 seed that lost a first-round playoff series in Game 7 after winning Game 6 on the road.

RANGERS LEADERS Icetime -- Girardi (28:42) Shots -- Richards, McDonagh (3) Hits -- Callahan (6) Blocks -- McDonagh (4) Takeaways -- Callahan (3) Faceoffs -- Richards (23)

NEW YORK RANGERS' GAME 6 LINEUP AT OTTAWA
FORWARD LINES
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Carl Hagelin	Brad Richards	Marian Gaborik
Chris Kreider	Derek Stepan	Ryan Callahan
Ruslan Fedotenko	Brandon Dubinsky	Brandon Prust
Mike Rupp	Artem Anisimov	John Mitchell

DEFENSE PAIRINGS
Left Defense	Right Defense
Ryan McDonagh	Dan Girardi
Marc Staal	Anton Stralman
Michael Del Zotto	Stu Bickel
Goaltenders: Henrik Lundqvist, Martin Biron Starting Lineup: Lundqvist, McDonagh, Girardi, Hagelin, Richards, Gaborik.

POWER PLAY UNITS
FORWARD LINES
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Ryan Callahan	Derek Stepan	Marian Gaborik
Ruslan Fedotenko	Artem Anisimov	John Mitchell

POINT MEN
Left Point	Right Point
Brad Richards	Anton Stralman
Michael Del Zotto	Dan Girardi

PENALTY KILLING UNITS
FORWARD UNITS
Forward	Forward
Ryan Callahan	Brandon Dubinsky
Brandon Prust	Derek Stepan

DEFENSE PAIRINGS
Left Defense	Right Defense
Ryan McDonagh	Dan Girardi
Marc Staal	Michael Del Zotto