Rangers Survive Game 7, Advance to Eastern Semi’s

RANGERS 4 - PENGUINS 3 - GAME 7

The miraculous comeback by the New York Rangers is now complete. The Blue Shirts, once down 3-1 in this best of seven quarterfinals series against rival Pittsburgh, stormed all the way back to win it in seven games.

As has been the case all series, nothing comes easy for these Rangers.  New York found itself down 3-2 after the second period thanks to Evan Rodrigues's shorthanded stick goal with less than three minutes remaining in the period that gave Pittsburgh the lead.

Come the third and final period, it was all Rangers.

Nearly six minutes into the third period, Mika Zibanejad netted his third goal of the series on a pass by Andrew Copp to tie the proceedings up at three a piece.  Both teams remain deadlocked for the remainder of the period, forcing overtime.

In OT Artemi Panarin sent Rangers fans into a tizzy when he fought his way to the front of the net and bounced the puck in for the game winner as Madison Square Garden erupted with jubilation. 

After the game Zibanejad said that MSG was so loud he couldn't hear anything.

On the defensive side, Igor Shesterkin, who was much maligned earlier in the series, recorded 42 saves on 45 shots on goal. After giving 16 goals in the first four games of the series, Shesterkin allowed only nine the rest of the way as the Rangers pulled out three straight victories.

New York's next challenge? The Carolina Hurricanes. The team the Rangers have struggled to overtake all year out of the Metro Division. Game 1 is Wednesday night in Carolina at 7 p.m.