The New York Rangers were in a position to get eliminated from the playoffs down 3-2 in Game 6 at home at Madison Square Garden, but knowing they had Henrik Lundqvist in new was all the team needed, as one goal was enough and now Game 7 is going down right away on Monday night against the Capitals in Washington D.C. at the Verizon Center.
The Rangers have had issues scoring all series, but one constant for the team has been Derek Brassard, who came over at the trade deadline for Marian Gaborik from the blue Jackets and now he is the leading scorer for the team. The Rangers had hoped that Ryane Clowe would be the one to help the team in the playoffs after acquiring him at the deadline, but he has yet to play in the postseason, while Brassard is leading in points, goals and assists with seven points total. In Game 7 the Rangers will need players like Rick Nash and Brad Richards to step up and Henrik Lundqvist will need to play another amazing game like he did on Sunday.
It will only be the sixth time in NHL history since the 1967-68 season that a team will be playing Games 6 and 7 back to back and it will happen twice on Monday, as the Bruins and the Maple Leafs are also playing Game 7 on Monday night in Boston. The Rangers needed to win Game 6 to force a Game 7 obviously, but their strong play at the end and their physical demeanor may carry over into the next game and they will need it, as all the home teams have won each of the six games so far. Braden Holtby had a shutout in Game 2 against the Rangers, but he was bested on Sunday after allowing the goal to Brassard and the Rangers will need to have a game like that again.
The team had its power play goal streak snapped by Brassard in Game 3 and so far he has been the MVP of the series over players like Rick Nash and Ryan Callahan. Mike Green has been the top scorer for the Capitals since the Rangers have done a solid job on Alex Ovechkin, but he made a big mistake that put the team down one player on a penalty with under seven minutes left on Sunday. Lundqvist was forced to make a number of big saves at the end like he did previously in the series when the Caps had a six on four advantage with a penalty, but like before, he came through in a big way and held on for the lead and the shutout win. The Rangers played two seven game series in a row last season and are ready for it again and after Monday night the second round will be set with both series finishing and both the Caps and the rangers want to be on top for it.
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