- The Rangers had the prospect of a Game 7 at the start of the third period
- Left-wing Chris Kreider took over to ensure the winners of the Presidents’ Trophy
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Rangers fans went into delirium during the team’s Game 6 viewing party at Madison Square Garden as New York prevented the Carolina Hurricanes from returning to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
On Thursday, thousands of fans in red, white and blue watched their team on the Garden’s jumbotron as many bounced around the arena after New York defeated the Hurricanes 5-3 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
It was the first time the Rangers reached the Eastern Conference Finals since the 2021-2022 season.
New York went from cruising through the NHL playoffs with an undefeated record to suddenly struggling to close out a second-round series despite blowing a huge lead (3-0) before Carolina won two games in a row .
Even worse, the Rangers found themselves entering the third period facing the prospect of a Game 7.
A sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden showed up for the Rangers’ Game 6 viewing party
New York returns to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since the 2021-2022 season
Instead, Chris Kreider took over to ensure the Presidents’ Trophy winners would finally close out the Hurricanes.
Kreider had a hat trick in the third period to help the Rangers erase a two-goal deficit, a stunning turnaround after their postseason momentum had gone decidedly the wrong way.
“We talk about a resilient group and a competitive group,” Kreider said, “and I think we showed that tonight.”
Kreider single-handedly erased the Hurricanes’ 3-1 lead entering the final period. The go-ahead came when he got position on Jalen Chatfield at the top of the crease and tapped in Ryan Lindgren’s pass to make it 4-3 at 15:41.
Rangers lefty Chris Kreider had a hat trick in the third period to lead New York’s late comeback
That made Kreider the third Rangers player to score three goals in a decisive game and the first since Mike Gartner in 1990. It was also reminiscent of famed captain Mark Messier’s ‘guarantee’ game in 1994, when he scored in the third period scored a hat trick. in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final against New Jersey after promising the Rangers would force a seventh game. The Rangers went on to win the series and their most recent Stanley Cup title that season.
“We just had to go out there and make a decision in the third period,” said Vincent Trocheck, a former Hurricane who scored the Rangers’ first goal on a deflection in the second period. “Show up and play and be part of the series, or don’t. I think we had 20 guys in the third.”
Barclay Goodrow capped this off by getting to the boards on a loose puck and scoring a long empty-net goal in the final minute, sending Goodrow to the nearby Rangers bench to be mobbed by teammates.
That sent the Rangers through to the Eastern Conference Final to face the winner of Boston-Florida, with the Panthers leading that series 3-2.