Artemi Panarin played heroes in overtime as the New York Rangers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Sunday night in the series finale.
With just nine seconds left on the penalty to Brock McGinn, Panarin accepted a pass from Adam Fox and he unleashed a wrist shot that snuck between Kristopher Letang’s legs and to the left by Tristan Jarry.
“Generally they’ve let me take shots since the first game,” Panarin said after directing six shots on net in Game 7. He had 17 shots after the first six games.
“It’s my fault, I didn’t manage to take advantage of those shots. Maybe I should listen to everyone’s advice and take more shots,” he added.
New York Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant had a feeling Panarin was going to be the hero for the Rangers.
“He’s the guy,” Gallant said. When the game went into overtime, I said to myself: “I know he will score if we score. If we have the winning goal, it will be him”. »
Rangers, who trailed 3-1 in this series, rallied to advance to the second round of playoffs for the first time since 2017.
“It’s a big win for the team, for the franchise,” noted defenseman Jacob Trouba. It’s a performance that clearly illustrates our resilience. We came from behind again. This mantra of ‘no one gives up in New York’ is true enough for this group”.
Mika Zibanejad threaded the needle twice as Chris Kreider added a goal for the Rangers, who will now face the Carolina Hurricanes.
Igor Shesterkin had a few tough moments during the series against the Penguins, but he booked a 42-save performance for Game 7.
Danton Heinen, Jake Guentzel and Evan Rodrigues replied for the Penguins, who were looking to win their first series since 2018. This is their fourth straight first-round outing for them.
Jarry, who hadn’t played since April 14 due to a foot injury, gave up four times on 30 shots from the Pittsburgh goal.
Rangers wanted to test Jarry quickly, but the two teams started by studying each other and they didn’t take too many risks.
Rookie defenseman Braden Schneider stopped an attack at his blue line and started a 2-on-1 build. Zibanejad made a cross pass to Kreider, who fired such a powerful and accurate shot that Jarry couldn’t do anything even though he moved in time.
The Penguins replied before the end of the first frame, during a numerical superiority. Jeff Carter sent the disc in front of the net and Heinen managed to deflect it over Shesterkin’s pad. The puck was saved by Adam Fox, but the replay confirmed that it had just crossed the red line.
The visitors took a 2-1 lead midway through the second period, still on the power play. Guentzel showed spectacular coordination kicking the puck with his right skate before hitting it on the fly. Again, the replay confirmed that Guentzel’s stick was well and truly below the horizontal bar.
Rangers, however, tied the game just 65 seconds later. Miller received the puck at the fulcrum and fired a low shot that touched Mike Matheson’s right skate before ending in the net.
The special teams once again served the Penguins cause, but this time it was the shorthanded unit that stood out. Rodrigues intercepted a pass from Filip Chitil and he partially escaped in front of Shesterkin. Even harassed by Miller, he lodged the puck in the top corner with a backhand shot.
As the minutes ticked away in the third period, hard work by Rangers in enemy territory forced an overtime game. Andrew Copp picked up the puck in the corner and spotted Zibanejad in the slot. The Swede fired a sharp shot that thwarted Jarry.