This One’s For You Marty: Chris Kreider is mobbed by grieving Martin St. Louis after scoring a power play goal. The Rangers staved off elimination with a resounding 5-1 Game 5 win over the Pens to force Game 6 on Sunday.
AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

From the outset, the effort was unmistakable. Shift by shift, they poured off the bench and controlled play. Tonight, a defiant bunch of Blueshirts got back to playing hockey. Facing elimination, they ratcheted up quieting a hostile building to defeat the Pens 5-1 in Game 5. There will be a Game 6. It’ll be on Sunday at MSG with it scheduled for 7 PM.

They did it by showing character. Playing with pride, the Rangers were the aggressors throughout. It started right away. Unlike Wednesday, they forechecked and got plenty of shots through. In the early going, the Rangers had 10 of the first 13 shots. A big reason why was Alain Vigneault pinched his defensemen. They joined the attack and kept the pressure on the Pens. A welcome change.

The ounce of desperation forced Pittsburgh into mistakes. The first critical one came when Robert Bortuzzo took a delay of game penalty. In place of injured defenseman Brooks Orpik, he cleared the puck over the glass handing the Rangers a man-advantage. They’d gone 36 straight without scoring. Only this time, something was different. They actually scored a power play goal. The defining moment came when Chris Kreider hustled to a Ryan McDonagh rebound and buried the puck from a bad angle past Marc-Andre Fleury. It was Kreider who kept the play alive allowing Brad Richards and McDonagh to play catch. The net presence drove hard and got just reward for a 1-0 lead at 9:36.

With Kreider putting them ahead, it was Henrik Lundqvist’s turn to make a huge save. It came on Sidney Crosby. With Evgeni Malkin flying, he got a step on the defense and set up a driving Crosby for a one-handed deflection that an athletic Lundqvist gloved out of harm’s way. It was the kind of save that told the Pens it wouldn’t come easy. Lundqvist was strong the entire night finishing with 31 stops. That included some critical ones when the Pens made a strong push following a Malkin goal in the second.

Knowing they needed to continue taking it to their opponent, the Rangers did just that by scoring their second of the period. It came courtesy of their best line. A great cycle from the dynamic trio of Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello and Benoit Pouliot resulted in their first two-goal lead since Game 1. Also the last time they won. With the Pens scrambling around, Pouliot combined with Zuccarello to set up Brassard for a tap in. It was his second goal of the series and first point since his overtime winner.

Kreider nearly made it 3-0 off an odd-man break. But his high labeler missed its intended target. A Pouliot trip gave the Pens a power play late in the period. But a strong Rangers penalty kill never allowed them to get untracked. Instead, they heard some boos from Consol Energy Center. In Game 4, the Rangers totaled 15 shots. In one period in Game 5, they had 17 while holding the Pens to 9. Another welcome change.

Perhaps the biggest motivator came from Martin St. Louis. After flying back to Montreal to be with his family following his Mom’s death, he decided to take the flight back to Pittsburgh and be with his teammates. Nobody would’ve blamed him if he didn’t play. Some things are more important. Instead, a resilient St. Louis agreed with his father that she would’ve wanted him to play. Though he didn’t get on the score sheet, his effort was much better. He was more visible throughout and came back hard making a couple of key defensive plays. That kind of leadership had to inspire the rest of his teammates.

”I’m glad we’re able to get this win and stay alive,” St. Louis said. ”She was a great lady, the best human being I’ve ever known in my life. I owed it to her to do it. I know she would have wanted me to play.”

”She was with me the whole way but this is probably the most comfortable place you can be as a hockey player,” he said.

At some point, they knew they would get tested. Led by Malkin, the Pens came out much sharper in the second. His goal was a remarkable solo effort that cut the deficit to 2-1 just 3:23 in. Taking a Kris Letang outlet, a determined Malkin bulled right through Marc Staal and Dan Girardi rebounding home his own shot past a sliding Lundqvist for his sixth of the postseason. That awoke the Pens crowd. Their team was particularly dangerous the next few shifts. But as they pressed for more, Lundqvist stopped them in their tracks. In his busiest period, he turned aside 14 of 15 to keep the Rangers in front.

With their goalie providing a lift, the Rangers followed suit to go back up two. Buoyed by another great shift from their best line, Brassard followed up an Anton Stralman shot sending the rebound into a vacated net for his second of the game. Causing chaos in front, Zuccarello drew the secondary assist. For the night, Zuccarello was a pest getting in Crosby’s face. He also was a huge factor offensively assisting on three goals. He and Brassard combined for six points.

Fittingly, they were involved in McDonagh’s power play goal that increased the lead to 4-1. The back breaking goal came only 50 seconds after Brassard’s second tally. Taking advantage of a bench minor, Brassard and Zuccarello outworked the Pens’ penalty killers to feed an open McDonagh at the left point. He fired a rocket that beat Fleury high glove side inside the post. Exactly the kind of precision needed in such a pressure game.

Trailing by three, the Pens got a golden opportunity to get back in it late in the period. Following a silly Brassard slash on Malkin, Girardi took down Chris Kunitz in front. He denied a great scoring opportunity. By making them earn it, it put the Pens on a five-on-three for over a minute. Astonishingly, they never scored. The Ranger penalty killing trio of Staal, McDonagh and Brian Boyle wouldn’t allow it. With Pittsburgh getting too cute, Boyle made two critical plays. First, he got a piece of a pass. Then, he made the play of the game laying out to block a shot which led to a Staal clear with under a minute left. Enough can’t be said about his hustle. It exemplified the way the Rangers played. They wanted it more.

Boyle’s great defensive play took the wind out of the Pens’ sails. With Lundqvist shutting down everything, it allowed the Rangers to finally take liberties with a frustrated opponent. Dominic Moore took exchanged pleasantries with Letang following a run in with Crosby. It resulted in matching roughs. The four-on-four didn’t last long with an incensed Malkin whistled for an unsportsmanlike conduct for continuing to paw at Lundqvist. For a change, he was pushed out of there. Something the Rangers did throughout coming to their goalie’s aid.

They played with that kind of edge. That included another sequence where Moore went to the box again with Brian Gibbons. A couple of minutes later, John Moore took Jussi Jokinen off the ice. He received an extra two but the point was made. The Rangers are going down with a fight. They played with guts and passion. There was another sequence where Moore threw down a Pen in Lundqvist’s crease. There also were the usual stick waves from Crosby when things aren’t going his way.

Kevin Klein didn’t back down from an undetected elbow. It was nice to see the unheralded defensive defenseman get rewarded with an empty netter. Pens coach Dan Bylsma pulled Fleury for a 6-on-4. They were unable to capitalize. Comically, Derek Stepan hit the outside of the net. There also was a chance for Rick Nash but the big man never got a look. He did however combine with Kreider to set up Klein’s empty netter that put the finishing touches on a 5-1 60-minute effort. Now, all they have to do is follow it up by winning at home.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Mats Zuccarello, NYR (3 assists, 2 SOG, hit, blocked shot, +2 in 15:14)

2nd Star-Ryan McDonagh, NYR (PPG-1st, assist, 4 SOG, 3 hits, 2 blocked shots in 26:53-a completely different player)

1st Star-Derick Brassard, NYR (2 goals-2nd, 3rd, assist, 5 SOG, 6 hits, 7-for-7 on draws, +2 in 13:47)