Even in loss, Rangers show MSG crowd what's been missing with return of playoff hockey
Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers makes a save in the second overtime against the Pittsburgh Penguins during Game 1 of the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. Credit: Jim McIsaac
This was what all that rebuilding fuss was about, the five-year wait for a return to relevance, the Garden rocking and every play full of meaning and drama.
It was all there on Tuesday night, and nearly into Wednesday morning, as much as anyone could have hoped for out of the first game of the playoffs — an epic, triple-overtime extravaganza that sent statisticians scrambling for historical notes.
But Rangers players and fans also were reminded in the end that earning one’s place in the Stanley Cup tournament means risking heartbreak along the way.
When Evgeni Malkin redirected a John Marino shot past Igor Shesterkin at 5:58 of the third extra period, giving the Penguins a 4-3 victory in Game 1 of a first-round series, the arena went silent and reality set in.
Losses on this stage hurt, and some hurt more than others. That is the price of being here.
Because it only was Game 1, the Rangers were able to be philosophical afterward, as they must be.
“Gutsy efforts by a lot of guys,” Ryan Strome said, “and unfortunately just came out on the wrong side of a triple-overtime, great hockey game.”
Also encouraging was the play of Shesterkin, who merely made 79 saves. Seventy-nine!! It was the second-most in the history of the NHL, behind only the 85 for Joonas Korpisalo of Columbus in a quintuple-overtime game in 2020.
“He’s our best player, and he showed it tonight,” Strome said of the young Russian.
But the Penguins goalies were good, too, even after Louis Domingue replaced Casey DeSmith when the latter abruptly left the ice with an injury in the second overtime.
It was the longest NHL game played at the current Madison Square Garden, which opened in 1968, and the first that went three overtimes since 1971.
For those who watch on television or in person, it was an instant classic that provided something for everyone.
The Rangers played a fantastic first period, then an awful second one, before things got tense and close in the third period and overtimes.
The whole night reminded everyone who plays or cheers for the Blueshirts of what has been missing since 2017.
It included the first goal of the playoffs coming from Jericho’s own Adam Fox, two beautiful passes from Sidney Crosby to set up goals by Jake Guentzel for Pittsburgh, a shorthanded goal by the Rangers’ Chris Kreider, a back-breaking Pittsburgh score on a 5-on-3 power play after an ill-timed penalty by Jacob Trouba and a disallowed go-ahead goal by Filip Chytil late in the third period.
And saves. So, so many saves!
The last time the Rangers hosted a playoff game before Tuesday was on May 9, 2017, when the Senators beat them, 4-2, to close out a second-round series.
Sure, Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, who scored the Rangers’ goals on that May night in 2017, still are pillars of the overhauled roster.
But the starkest reminder of the passage of time was that the man who was in goal that night in 2017 watched Game 1 across the street from the Garden at MSG Networks studios, working as an analyst rather than a netminder.
“That excitement is something that is still fresh for me,” Henrik Lundqvist said on Monday, “so it’s hard not to be excited for the guys right now.”
Lundqvist joked that he might walk across the street at some point to watch in person. But he was there in spirit as the 2021-22 Rangers channeled some of Lundqvist’s excellent teams of the 2010s.
Now the rebuild is complete, and the juice is back in the building.
Before the game, Trouba confirmed that everyone in the dressing room was looking forward to experiencing an electric atmosphere.
“This basically goes back to pre-pandemic, the last time we had a raucous playoffs, so we’re all really excited,” he said.
On Tuesday night, it finally was “game on” for the Rangers, and it was well worth waiting for. But it also was a loss, and three more in this series will end what has been a magical season.
Come Game 2 on Thursday night, the playoff novelty will be over. Winning will be all that matters.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
