But it surely was additionally clear from the primary shift of the sport that the Rangers have been ready to be extra bodily. Chris Kreider and Trouba have been known as for simultaneous penalties — Kreider for slashing and Trouba for elbowing, simply 24 seconds within the sport, and so they appeared designed to set a tone. The Rangers safely killed off the 5-on-3 energy play, and by no means seemed just like the delicate, aimless group that they had been in Sport 4 in Pittsburgh.
“They have been aggressive as hell tonight,” Gallant beamed, “and that’s what we needed from them.”
He was additionally happy that Igor Shesterkin, the Rangers’ beginning goalie, performed significantly better in Sport 5 than he had within the two earlier video games in Pittsburgh, when he allowed 10 targets in three durations.
Gallant spoke at roughly the identical time Sullivan did, so he was not made conscious of the Pittsburgh coach’s sentiments concerning the hit on Crosby. However there was no denying the impression of Crosby’s absence on the sport.
“Clearly, he’s top-of-the-line gamers on the planet,” Gallant mentioned. “They nonetheless had some good probabilities. They nonetheless created loads. He’s an incredible participant for them, and hopefully he’s OK.”
The fast burst of targets from the Rangers got here inside two minutes and 6 seconds of each other. Trouba’s strike, with simply over two minutes left within the interval, gave the Rangers the lead and induced the followers to roar so loudly, the press field bridge swayed excessive above the joy.
“The constructing was unreal,” Lafrenière mentioned. “Actually loud tonight.”
However that lead didn’t final lengthy as Jake Guentzel scored solely 13 seconds later to even the tally, 3-3. It was his sixth aim of the sequence and his thirty third in 56 profession playoff video games.
The Rangers took the lead for good on Filip Chytil’s power-play aim three minutes into the third, his first postseason aim, and the staff sealed the win on Ryan Lindgren’s empty-net aim, guaranteeing a Sport 6.
