7th Heaven

For the first time since 2017, the New York Rangers won a playoff series. And for the third time in eight years, they overcame a 3-1 series deficit to do it. A power play goal at 4:46 of overtime by Artemi Panarin, who despite his six points looked lost in this series, sealed the deal.

Make no mistake about it, the Pittsburgh Penguins were the better team throughout a good chunk of this series. After getting a split at the Garden in the first two games, they successfully chased Vezina trophy finalist Igor Shesterkin in games three and four, and led by two goals in games five and six and one goal twice in game seven before the Rangers mounted their comebacks. 

The low point was a 7-2 rout in game four, in which their coach Gerard Gallant accused them of playing "soft." The Rangers would never lose another game. The most resilient team in the NHL this season became the first team to post three consecutive come from behind wins while facing elimination in the same series.

But while game seven may have seemed like a given, it was anything but. The Rangers trailed 3-2 late in the third, and unlike the previous two games, there was no indication that they had anything left in their tank to mount another comeback. In fact, had it not been for Shesterkin standing on his head, the Pens would now be on their way to Carolina to face the Hurricanes.

Gallant did everything he could to jumpstart his team, going so far as to shake up his top two lines. He put Andrew Copp, Alexis Lafreniere and Mika Zibanaejad together and the combination finally came through. With less than five minutes remaining in their season, Copp out muscled a Penguins defender along the boards and fed Zibanejad for the game-tying goal. The Pens accused Lafreniere of "intentionally" pulling off defenseman Marcus Pettersson's helmet prior to the goal, but like the accusation that Jacob Trouba deliberately injured Sidney Crosby, it was just a lame excuse to try and justify yet another postseason failure. The fact is that since 2019, Pittsburgh has failed to advance past the first round. If coach Mike Sullivan is looking for a scapegoat, he and his team should look in the mirror.

So how did the Rangers pull off this most improbable comeback? 

Igor Shesterkin settled down after his less than inspiring performance in games three and four. Indeed, the team MVP saved 217 of 232 shots for a .935 save percentage in games one, two, five, six and seven. And since the game one triple OT loss, he has not allow a goal after the second period. Penguins fans may have had some fun serenading Shesterkin earlier in the series, but in the end, it was Shesterkin who got the last laugh.

Mika Zibanejad finally woke up. Going into game six, the all-star center had only four points - all assists - yet recorded three goals and seven points in the final two contests. I've watched Zibanejad since his arrival from the Ottawa Senators prior to the 2016-17 season and this was, by far, the best I've seen him play. Any doubts some may have had about the contract extension Chris Drury gave him hopefully have been put to rest. With all the hoopla surrounding Crosby, it was Zibanejad who came through when his team needed him most.

The return of Ryan Lindgren and Tyler Motte. Since Barclay Goodrow and Lindgren both went down in game one, the Rangers have had problems in the own end. While Goodrow's status remains week to week, the return of Lindgren in game five, followed by Motte - who was injured, ironically, against the Pens earlier in the season - in game six, has given this team the lift it so badly needed. Both will be invaluable against the Hurricanes.

Gerard Gallant pushed all the right buttons. In addition to mixing up his lines, the Rangers' coach called a timeout at the beginning of the overtime power play in game seven that gave his number one unit the rest it needed to stay on for the full two minutes. Without that timeout, Panarin likely would not have scored the series clincher and who knows what might've happened. But even before that, his calm and steady demeanor throughout this series allowed his team to stay focused even when they weren't playing well. I never want to hear a peep from anybody again about this man's ability to motivate his players. This team has grown leaps and bounds since David Quinn was sent packing.

So, round one is in the books. Round two begins Wednesday. I will unveil my predictions for all eight of the remaining teams in my next piece. Not to toot my own horn, but I got seven out of eight correct in the last round. Almost as good as Shesterkin.