Against the Ottawa Senators, Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers learned that the tougher team wins in the playoffs.
- New York Rangers 2 (2-4)
- Ottawa Senators 4 (4-2)
- Stanley Cup Playoffs, Round 2
- Game 6, Final, Box Score
- Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Perhaps now that the New York Rangers have been eliminated from the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs will Jeff Gorton and Alain Vigneault realize the true recipe for hockey success in the spring.
It’s rarely the most talented team who wins in the playoffs. It’s the tougher team physically and mentally who gets it done and in the case of the second round matchup between the New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators, the tougher team will be advancing thanks to a 4-2 victory in Game 6 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.
For the first time this series, Ottawa scored first. In fact, the victors — who only enjoyed the lead for a grand total of 13:10 the previous five games — led the entire way tonight.
Mike Hoffman deflected a beauty past Henrik Lundqvist:
One of the snazzier tips you're going to see. The @Senators jump right ahead. #StanleyCup #OTTvsNYR pic.twitter.com/9JcOkj3Nfx
— NHL (@NHL) May 9, 2017
A little under 10 minutes later, Mark Stone showed off a world-class snipe to put Ottawa up 2-0:
Stone's snipe made it 2-0. #ALLIN pic.twitter.com/TruyU8A0sn
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) May 10, 2017
Lundqvist, while he wasn’t sharp again, made a phenomenal stop in the first to keep the Rangers within two instead of three.
Finally, New York was able to breakthrough just under seven minutes into the second period. It was a semi-breakaway courtesy of Mats Zuccarello who found Mika Zibanejad in stride:
There's one. Let's go. #NYR pic.twitter.com/D9KExNo7Xb
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) May 10, 2017
As they’ve done all postseason long, the Rangers relented a goal as quickly as they tallied one. Erik Karlsson finished one off a great feed by Bobby Ryan to provide the Sens another two-goal lead:
Smooth pass. Smooth finish.
Bobby Ryan and @ErikKarlsson65 are quite the combo. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/vnYHE5ZOI2— NHL (@NHL) May 10, 2017
New York made it interesting the rest of the way thanks to a Chris Kreider breakaway goal early in the third, but could never muster that game-tying goal.
There's two. Chris Kreider. 3-2 Ottawa still early in the third. #NYR pic.twitter.com/EWFQ17IcvU
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) May 10, 2017
The man who scored four goals in Game 1, J.P. Pageau, buried the empty-netter with under 10 seconds remaining.
Lundqvist, again, wasn’t sharp. He continued to get beat up high while he sat back in his goal. Those Sens snipers looked high early and often. Hank stopped 22-of-25 shots.
On the other side, Craig Anderson played his best game of the series. In essence, he stole the game in stopping 37-of-39 Ranger shots.
It’ll be a long summer for the Blueshirts considering the way this series played out. For the most part, New York outplayed Ottawa. The most telling stat is the fact that Ottawa won the series with a total goal differential of -1.
The Rangers now golf while the Ottawa Senators await the victor of Game 7 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals.
Always a hard post to write. The #Blueshirts fall in 6 games to Ottawa. pic.twitter.com/ytZbMpLKmP
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) May 10, 2017
?⚪️?⚪️? pic.twitter.com/Y3SCm8uC8D
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) May 10, 2017
THE #SENS ARE HEADED TO EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS! #ALLIN pic.twitter.com/luDSlLkyc3
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) May 10, 2017
These guys. #ALLIN pic.twitter.com/tQKhOPDjGV
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) May 10, 2017
