Pouliot’s Revenge: Benoit Pouliot scored the series clincher highlighting the Rangers 2-1 Game 7 win over the Flyers to advance to a second round match up against the Penguins.
Associated Press

Nothing ever comes easy with this team. Once again, the Rangers gave every fan a panic attack. In the end, the battle tested team came out on top eliminating the Flyers 2-1 in a riveting Game 7 at a raucous MSG. Basically, they hung on by the skin of their teeth. It doesn’t matter. What does is they became the first team in NHL history to advance past the first round by winning Game 7. Next up are the Penguins.

It was every bit as intense as the final score suggests. If the first six games didn’t do the rivalry justice, tonight did. For the first time all series, neither side scored after one. Neither goalie flinched. Steve Mason (10 saves) and Henrik Lundqvist (11 saves) each did their part. Predictably, the Rangers power play failed in one chance. Essentially, they advanced despite the power outage finishing 0 for the last 21.

After a tightly contested first, the Rangers seized control by playing a dominant second. They outscored the Flyers 2-0 and outshot them by a healthy 18-5 margin that was every bit as indicative of how lopsided the period was. Following an easy kill of a bench minor served by Daniel Carcillo, a great shift resulted in the game’s first goal. Ironically, Carcillo got it after coming out of the box. Kevin Klein kept the play alive with a pinch getting the puck to Mats Zuccarello. The diminutive crowd favorite didn’t disappoint sending a breathtaking saucer backhand pass across for Carcillo who buried his second at 3:06.

With the Garden alive, the Rangers were all over the Flyers. The entire period was spent in the Philadelphia zone. So dominant were they that the Flyers couldn’t get out of their end. It was the kind of puck possession that translated into results. They only were able to beat Mason twice. Mason’s play was brilliant. He turned away attacking Blueshirts time and again including Rick Nash. Heavily criticized throughout, Nash played a whale of a game. For once, he played like a power forward registering a team high five shots, attempting 10 while delivering five hits and making some key plays defensively. This was by far his best game given the circumstance. Perhaps a positive to take into the second round beginning Friday.

A dubious goalie interference call on Game 6 goat Benoit Pouliot only turned MSG into a hostile environment. Replays clearly showed that he was shoved into Mason by Kimmo Timonen. A flabbergasted Dave Maloney asked the question on most people’s minds. Where was he supposed to go? It didn’t matter. A determined scrappy bunch of Blueshirts wouldn’t allow it. The Flyers couldn’t get anything done on the power play. So dominant was the Ranger penalty kill that they didn’t permit a Flyer shot. Instead, the gritty play of Anton Stralman typified a yeoman effort. The overlooked defenseman gave up his body blocking consecutive shots. As a team, the Rangers blocked 22. They sacrificed.

Mats Zuccarello mobs Derick Brassard following his set up for Benoit Pouliot.
Associated Press

As fate would have it, Pouliot scored the series clincher 3:11 after serving his tainted penalty. On yet another sustained forecheck, Stralman kept a play alive chipping the puck down to Derick Brassard. Brassard circled around before threading the needle for a cutting Pouliot for a sweet finish that made it 2-0 at 11:46. Just a brilliant feed from a player who’s struggled to produce. Since January, Brassard has formed great chemistry with Pouliot and Zuccarello. When they were needed most, they delivered. Pouliot’s second was his first since Game 2.

With MSG bedlam, they came at Mason in swarms. Every time they were on the verge of blowing it open, an acrobatic Mason stood on his head to keep the Flyers alive. There were back-to-back stone jobs on Derek Stepan. Off a Nash set up, Stepan came around the net and had room but a sprawling Mason denied his wrap try and then stuck his glove out to get the rebound. He thwarted Brian Boyle and later robbed Carl Hagelin in the final minute keeping the Rangers up by only two. In total, Mason stopped 16 of 18 in a hectic second. He was heroic in defeat finishing with 31 saves.

Despite being dominated, the Flyers only trailed by two with one period left. When Jason Akeson got a favorable carom of his own shot and surprised Henrik Lundqvist by going far side at 4:32 of the third, they were very much alive. Braydon Coburn and Matt Read picked up helpers. Suddenly, the Garden was on pins and needles. The Flyers came and came. Claude Giroux had a dominant shift that nearly resulted in the tying goal. A period earlier, he blew a glorious chance in which he had Lundqvist dead to rights. But a sliding Stralman might’ve distracted him. He fired over the net.

In a game where Alain Vigneault leaned heavily on his top four defensemen, it was the play of Stralman and partner Marc Staal that stood out. Each saw as many minutes as Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi. The Rangers top pair bounced back from a brutal performance. They were physical combining for seven hits and nine blocked shots. In a chaotic third, that was a big part of the story. Staal and Stralman also had seven hits and seven blocks. If you total it up, the top four combined for 14 hits and 16 of the team’s 22 blocked shots.

When the Rangers weren’t diving in the path of Flyer attempts, Lundqvist was keeping them at bay. If he took some criticism for being pulled in Game 6, he more than made up for it. A busy third saw him stop 10 of 11 shots with several of the tricky variety. Every shot was tough with even odd bounces like one of Giroux’s offerings calmly gloved out of harm’s way by Lundqvist. The Flyers spent most of the third in the Rangers’ end. It literally felt like an extended power play. That’s how difficult a time the Rangers had clearing the zone. They didn’t register a shot the first half of the period.

It wasn’t until Nash had a big shift that they stemmed the tide. A very active shift resulted in rare attack time. A second strong shift from the Zuccarello line resulted in another chance which Mason stopped with eight and a half minutes left. The remainder of the period was the Rangers taking away the neutral zone and getting the puck in deep. Everyone made a concerted defensive effort to limit the Flyers touches.

They iced the puck an awful lot. However, their centers came through with critical wins in the defensive end. That included crucial ones from Brassard, Stepan and the fourth line combo of Brian Boyle and Dominic Moore. In particular, Brassard (8 for 11) and Moore (11 for 20) were huge. Against a good faceoff club possessing Giroux (16 and 16), Brayden Schenn (10 and 6) and Sean Couturier (5 and 9), that was pivotal. The Rangers aren’t a great faceoff team but they more than held their own edging the Flyers 35-33.

A couple of strong defensive shifts forced Flyers coach Craig Berube to wait until about the 1:20 mark to pull Mason. The Flyers finally got the puck in deep. But a disciplined Blueshirts prevented them from really threatening. A final clear saw a hustling Zuccarello outrace a Flyer to a loose puck with 2.7 seconds left. However, the refs mistakenly called it icing before correcting themselves. That put the final draw at center ice allowing the Rangers to skate off with a hard fought series victory.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Brassard–Pouliot–Zuccarello, NYR (1-2-3 incl. Pouliot’s series winner, +5 rating-could’ve given it to any of the top 4 D but they were the impact line.)

2nd Star-Daniel Carcillo, NYR (goal-2nd of series, 2 SOG in 11:32-what a pick up by Slats)

1st Star-Steve Mason, Phi (31 saves incl. 16/18 in 2nd-hard to give a Flyer top star. But he earned it.)