The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers are playing live on the NHL schedule for Game 5 of the first round in the eastern conference on Friday and the matchup from Madison Square Garden has NY up 3-1 in the series and the game starts at 7 pm ET and is streaming from the NBC Sports Network and NBC Live Extra website as the Blueshirts try to close out Sidney Crosby.
The Rangers won the last game in overtime and that came after the team tied the game 1-1 and came back from a 1-0 deficit early on. The Rangers actually looked terrible in the Game 3 matchup early, allowing the Penguins to muscle them around and the team only had two shots in the first period. The Rangers were able to get out of it after allowing an early goal and they basically held the Penguins in check the rest of the way.
The Rangers should feel good that up 3-1 they have not yet played their best hockey, but the team also knows that a comeback is possible. Last year the Rangers did that to the Penguins in this exact situation, with the Pens as the home team up three games to one. Last year's Rangers team is better than the Penguins team from this year, but any team with players like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin can make a comeback at any time.
The Rangers have won all of these games 2-1 and now they have the chance to close things out. The team comes in as the top seed in the east and the entire NHL and this divisional matchup could get tough if they let the Penguins survive. The team got an overtime winner from Kevin Hayes in a mad scramble in front of the Pens net and it came after a good scoring chance for the Penguins.
The team made it into overtime after a goal from Derick Brassard and he has stepped his game up in the playoffs. The next game will be on Sunday in Pitt if the Penguins win this game, but Henrik Lundqvist will try his best to end things here at MSG. The Rangers scored three minutes into overtime and with the Penguins unable to clear the puck, the team was able to work some magic and got a solid scoring chance and they took advantage.
Martin St. Louis got free for about a second behind the net and after putting the puck into the slot for a shot, Hayes was able to direct the rebound after the Penguins could not clear it. The Rangers are the favorites for the Cup and the east is wide open and now they have the chance to end the series.
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