The New York Rangers entered this Game 6 in a must-win situation. Both the Rangers and New Jersey Devils have something to play for, and every inch of ice must be earned in this pivotal game.
Madison Square Garden was loud from the beginning but anxious at the same time. Would the Rangers live to play another day? They would as they got the win 5-2 and forced a Game 7 Monday night.
The New York Rangers got a huge win to tie the series 3-3.
The first period started with New Jersey getting immense pressure on the Rangers defense and goaltender Igor Shesterkin. After keeping the puck inside the offensive zone with a nice play at the blue line, Devils forward Curtis Lazar made the Rangers pay.
Parked in front of the net, Lazar buried a rebound to put the Devils up 1-0 with assists to defenseman Kevin Bahl and Damon Severson.
The Devils were 30-9-1 when scoring the first goal during the regular season. After the goal by New Jersey, the Rangers desperately tried to find holes in the Devils defense to no avail.
The two teams played more of a puck-possession game, not wanting to make a mistake that could end up in their net. The Rangers finally cracked Devils goaltender Akira Schmid.
With Dawson Mercer in the box for tripping, Chris Kreider would score on a deflection in front of the net. Defenseman Adam Fox slid the puck to forward Mika Zibanejad, who one-timed the puck, and it was tipped by Kreider.
The period ended in a 1-1 tie, with the shots in favor of New Jersey, 11-8.
The second period started with the New York Rangers on the power play due to a minor penalty against Devils forward Ondrej Palat at the 20:00 mark. The Rangers had some great looks but came up empty.
Zibanejad got on the scoreboard later and gave the Rangers the lead, 2-1 off of a beautiful pass from behind the net. Kreider placed the pass perfectly on the stick of Zibanejad in the slot, and he wasted no time wristing the puck past Schmid. Rangers forward Vladimir Tarasenko received the other assist.
Kreider would be at it again, this time finding Tarasenko in the slot before Tarasenko sniped it past Schmid. Kreider and Fox got their second assists apiece. The second period ended with the Rangers ahead on the scoreboard 3-1 and in the shot department 21-20.
The third period started with the New Jersey Devils putting pressure on the Rangers in the defensive zone. The puck came loose and ended up with Rangers forwards Barclay Goodrow and Jimmy Vesey on a two-on-one with Vesey taking the shot.
The shot was stopped, but the rebound came right to Goodrow, who placed it into the empty net for a 4-1 Rangers lead.
Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider then gave New York a 5-1 lead thanks to a one-timer from the blue line, with assists going to Niko Mikkola and Filip Chytil. The puck looked as if it tipped off of a Devils stick.
That goal would be the end of the game for Schmid, who had been the story of this series so far. Devils forward Dawson Mercer got the Devils to 5-2 as he put back a shot from Nico Hischier. Jack Hughes would get the other assist at the 15:12 mark.
The Rangers took this one, 5-2, and there will be a Game 7 in New Jersey on Monday night.