Chris Kreider scored twice at 18:32 in the third period and the Rangers beat the Penguins 5-3 on Friday, thus forcing Game 7 of the Pittsburgh-New York series into the first round.
Adam Fox saw Mika Zibanejad at the entrance to the opposing zone. It was passed to Kreider, whose slap shot from the blue line was partially blocked by Louis Domingue – the high jump went behind him.
Andrew Copp added an empty-netter with 26.4 seconds on the clock.
The final match will be shown Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
Zibanejad hit the target twice, and that was in the middle period (at 1:16), after goals by rivals Jeff Carter and Bryan Rust, in the first period.
In power play, Kreider’s first goal gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead with 1:48 left in the second period. That was before Evgeni Malkin’s line, 2:48 later.
Fox finished the game with four assists.
Domingue made 33 saves, two more than Igor Shesterkin.
The Penguins have no captain Sidney Crosby.
Head coach Mike Sullivan confirmed this after morning practice.
Crosby left Game 5 after being hit high by Jacob Trouba on Wednesday. He never returned to the meeting.
The Penguins limited themselves by saying Crosby, a victim of concussions in the past, had suffered an upper body injury.
Author of two goals and seven assists, Crosby dominated the series scorers.
Source: Radio-Canada