Carl Hagelin has been known by his team as a clutch player that thrives in big-time games, and he lived up to that billing on Friday night. Hagelin scored the game-winning goal at 10:52 of overtime to help the New York Rangers sink the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1, giving them a 4-1 series win. Each victory for the Rangers was by the score of 2-1, with the last two coming in overtime.
New York will now play the winner of the Washington Capitals-New York Islanders series, which is tied at 3 heading into game 7. The Rangers will surely enjoy a few days off before their next series begins. Hagelin also assisted the game-winning overtime goal in game 4 that was scored by Kevin Hayes.
Henrik Lundqvist finished the night with 37 saves, with the most entertaining one being the save that robbed Brandon Sutter. The Rangers continue to enjoy success this season, finishing the year with the NHL's best record. They were pushed all series long by Pittsburgh, the team that finished 15 points behind them in the regular season standings.
The Rangers had never defeated the Penguins in the playoffs before last season, but have now eliminated them 2 years in a row. Last season they came back from a 3-1 series deficit in the second round to stun Sidney Crosby's team. Crosby finished this year's series with just 4 points overall, while Evgeni Malkin did not register one.
Derek Stepan scored the only other goal for the Rangers, while Nick Spaling netted the lone goal of the game for the Penguins.
Neither team was successful on the power play in the series, with the Penguins finishing 2-for-13, and the Rangers going 3-for-20. One question mark for the Rangers heading into the next round is Mats Zuccarello, who left the game in the first period with an undisclosed injury. His status for the second round is unknown.
New York will now play the winner of the Washington Capitals-New York Islanders series, which is tied at 3 heading into game 7. The Rangers will surely enjoy a few days off before their next series begins. Hagelin also assisted the game-winning overtime goal in game 4 that was scored by Kevin Hayes.
Henrik Lundqvist finished the night with 37 saves, with the most entertaining one being the save that robbed Brandon Sutter. The Rangers continue to enjoy success this season, finishing the year with the NHL's best record. They were pushed all series long by Pittsburgh, the team that finished 15 points behind them in the regular season standings.
The Rangers had never defeated the Penguins in the playoffs before last season, but have now eliminated them 2 years in a row. Last season they came back from a 3-1 series deficit in the second round to stun Sidney Crosby's team. Crosby finished this year's series with just 4 points overall, while Evgeni Malkin did not register one.
Derek Stepan scored the only other goal for the Rangers, while Nick Spaling netted the lone goal of the game for the Penguins.
Neither team was successful on the power play in the series, with the Penguins finishing 2-for-13, and the Rangers going 3-for-20. One question mark for the Rangers heading into the next round is Mats Zuccarello, who left the game in the first period with an undisclosed injury. His status for the second round is unknown.
