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The Ottawa Senators had a chance to put away the series on home ice against the top-seed in the Eastern Conference, but the New York Rangers brought their best on the road, picking up a 3-2 victory and forcing a do-or-die game seven.
While the New York Rangers emerged victorious, it took a wild second period momentum shift to propel them towards the third-win through six in the seven-game series.
Having played from behind for the majority of the series, the Ottawa Senators fan base almost blew the roof off of Scotiabank Place after Chris Neil's power-play marker at 7:05 gave the home team a rare lead.
Unfortunately for Ottawa, that turned into the high-point in an otherwise frustrating sixty-minutes.
The New York Rangers rallied all second period, throwing an absurd amount of pucks the way of Craig Anderson, many of which came from a high-quality scoring area. In the middle twenty alone, the New York Rangers had eight premier scoring opportunities -- besting Ottawa's paltry three.
And, this time around, Craig Anderson couldn't bail them out. Derek Stepan's power play goal after a brutal penalty by Milan Michalek two-hundred feet from the net evened the game at one, but it was Brad Richards' marker up two men on penalties to both Filip Kuba and Nick Foligno that pushed all of the momentum in favor of New York.
Frustrated by a questionable goaltender interference penalty to Foligno, the Ottawa penalty kill softened up, and Brad Richards went immediately to work.
To make matters worse, Chris Kreider picked up his first career NHL marker just a couple of minutes later, taking advantage of some sloppy defensive zone play once again by the Ottawa Senators.
In the third, Ottawa fought back valiantly, and managed to turn the pressure back on the likes of Henrik Lundqvist. But, with a two-goal lead, Lundqvist was able to hold off the Senators and secure the victory.
It didn't go as easy as planned, though. New York's collapsing defense worked like a charm on a number of scoring chances for Ottawa, but Jason Spezza did manage to sneak one by the Swedish netminder on a late netmouth scramble. For Ottawa, it cut the deficit to one, but it'd be the last chance for the home team on the evening.
New York G Henrik Lundqvist wasn't thrilled with the goal in the post-game. The goal did go to review, but stood as called. Said Lundqvist after:
It's a joke. Someone wanted them back in the game.
With the victory, New York forces the ever-classic game seven, and they get to play all sixty-minutes (plus) in front of a raucous fan base at Madison Square Garden.
On the other side of the coin, the Ottawa Senators will have to buck up and answer the bell once again in a hostile environment. Empirical evidence would suggest this team is more than capable of overcoming adversity, but blowing a golden opportunity on home ice has to sting.
And, it's not like a frustration angle has been created out of thin air. Paul MacLean's de facto benching of Jason Spezza, Milan Michalek, and Daniel Alfredsson to start the third period was a shot that resonated across the nation's capital, and camera angles courtesy of CBC showed the captain was none too pleased with the decision.
Twitter was in an uproar regarding the officiating, but objectively speaking, the better team quite clearly won tonight. New York out-chanced Ottawa 15-10, and the Rangers simply made the most of a short-window where the Senators fell completely asleep.
So, here we are. Game seven, Thursday night, at the World's Most Famous Arena.
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