RALEIGH, N.C. — They did it again.
“We don’t go away,” Chris Kreider said.
The New York Rangers didn’t against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference First Round, coming back from 3-1 down to win the series in seven games, winning Games 5, 6 and 7 in comeback fashion.
They’re still playing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs because they again wouldn’t get pushed over the wall when their backs were up against it against the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round.
They were down 2-0 and 3-2 in the best-of-7 series and came back to defeat the Hurricanes anyway, dominating Game 7 at PNC Arena on Monday for a 6-2 win after controlling Game 6 for a 5-2 victory at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
The Rangers are 5-0 in must-win games this postseason. Now they’re in the Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. Game 1 is at New York on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, CBC, TVAS).
“I’ve said it a hundred times this year,” coach Gerard Gallant said, “we’re not perfect, but we find ways to win.”
They were every bit as good as they needed to be in Game 7, easily their most complete game of the series and arguably of their 14 games in the playoffs to date.
“That’s how you win in the playoffs, you need a team game, 20 guys pulling in the right direction,” Kreider said. “We had that tonight.”
[RELATED: Complete Hurricanes vs. Rangers series coverage]
Twelve of the Rangers’ 18 skaters had at least one point.
Mika Zibanejad had three, all assists. Kreider scored two goals, doubling his total from the previous six games. Adam Fox had a goal and an assist, as did Andrew Copp.
Fox and Kreider scored power-play goals 4:20 apart to give New York a 2-0 lead eight minutes into the first period.
“You can see the other games that we didn’t get going early and even gave up shorthanded goals, it changes momentum,” Fox said. “Our power play has come through for us all year and in these type of games you want it to. It did…
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