During the opening minutes of yesterday’s pivotal Game 5 at Consol Energy Center, the New York Rangers threw everything but the proverbial kitchen sink at the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Rolled into a collective ball of do-or-die desperation, they pounded the Pens’ net with a tidal wave of offensive fury to snatch a 2-1 lead on goals by Rick Nash and Dominic Moore.
While the Pens seemed momentarily fazed by the Rangers intensity, one got the feeling it wouldn’t last.
It didn’t. Barely a minute after Moore’s go-ahead marker, Phil Kessel cruised into the New York zone on the power play, took dead-aim, and whipped the puck past Henrik Lundqvist on the stick side to knot the score.