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 Left winger Carl Hagelin scored the game-winning, series-ending goal
with 9:08 remaining in overtime to give the Rangers a 2-1 victory
against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 5 of their first-round
series at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
The Rangers won all four games of this series by one goal and
captured a series in fewer than six games for the first time since
2008, a span of 14 postseason series.
"The rest is definitely beneficial," Rangers defenseman Marc Staal
said. "It's not something our group is used to, but it's definitely
a nice change of pace."
The winner of the series between the Washington Capitals and New
York Islanders will face the Rangers in the second round. The
Capitals lead that best-of-seven series 3-2 with Game 6 scheduled
for Saturday afternoon.
"Pick your poison there," Staal said.
Both goaltenders played exceptionally well Friday. The Rangers'
Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 36 of 37 shots; the Penguins'
Marc-Andre Fleury had his best playoffs since 2008, but he was the
loser despite making 34 saves in Game 5.
Hagelin's goal developed after some strong work in the corner by
Rangers center Dominic Moore. He was able to get the puck to
Hagelin, who skated out from behind the goal line to the front of
the net and beat Fleury with a wrist shot to the glove side.
"I didn't do much that shift until I saw Dom was in trouble behind
the net," Hagelin said. "I went behind there to pick up the puck
then I just skated around the circle and took a shot and somehow it
went in."
The Penguins had a chance to win every game in this series but fell
short in most cases because Crosby and center Evgeni Malkin were
consistently held off the scoresheet. Crosby had two goals in the
series, both coming in Pittsburgh's Game 2 victory, while Malkin did
not register a single point.
The Penguins were also without key players on defense: Kris Letang
and Christian Ehrhoff both suffered late-season injuries that
prevented them from dressing in this series.
It all conspired to send the Penguins home before the second round
for the first time since 2012.
"We found a way to get ourselves in the playoffs and definitely had
opportunities to win games in this series and change the outcome,"
Crosby said. "Usually you go through a span of injuries and get
through it and settle in, but we went through it all year. (Fleury)
gave us a chance to win every night.
"We were one goal away from being on the other side of it."
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"We played a good team and kept it close," Fleury said. "But at the
end of the day, we still lost."
The Rangers scored first for the fourth time in the series when
center Derek Stepan was there to knock home a rebound early in the
first period. Defenseman Dan Boyle's point shot was stopped by
Fleury, but Stepan cleaned up the garbage for a 1-0 lead and New
York's third power-play goal of the series.
Late in the second period, left winger Nick Spaling scored a similar
goal to pull the Penguins into a 1-1 tie. Crosby's pass toward the
crease was knocked away by Lundqvist, but the puck bounced off
Spaling and just across the goal line.
The score remained that way until Hagelin played the hero and earned
the Rangers a much-needed weekend off, especially with right winger
Mats Zuccarello leaving the game with an undisclosed injury.
"I think any time you can win in overtime twice (they won Game 4 in
overtime), it shows that your team has a lot of character," Hagelin
said. "A lot of guys in here are willing to go to the extra step to
win games. We are definitely looking forward to the next series."
NOTES: The Penguins were without D Kris Letang (concussion), D
Christian Ehrhoff (upper body), D Derrick Pouliot (upper body) and
LW Beau Bennett (upper body). For the third straight game, rookie LW
Scott Wilson took Bennett's spot on the third line. ... Penguins RW
Craig Adams was a healthy scratch. ... Rangers LW James Sheppard was
a healthy scratch. ... Rangers D Kevin Klein (arm) was given a 50/50
chance of playing by coach Alain Vigneault in the morning, but Klein
did not take part in pregame warmups. Klein has not played since
March 11.
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