Game 6 doesn’t roll off the tongue the way that Game 7 does. There isn’t the same romance attached to the lore of Game 6 as to the tradition of Game 7.
And yet…
Arguably the most famous of the combined 7,164 regular season and playoff games the Rangers have played since joining the NHL in 1926 was a Game 6 — the “We’ll Win Tonight” thriller against the Devils at the Meadowlands in 1994, when Mark Messier backed up his guarantee with a hat trick.
That one.
You believe the Game 7 “Matteau! Matteau! Matteau!” game was more famous? Maybe. The Game 7 that actually ended with the Rangers winning the 1994 Cup? OK. But I don’t think so. It is that singular Game 6 of the epochal Battle of the Hudson that is the most memorable and most celebrated of them all.
The Rangers, of course, face Game 6 second-round elimination by Carolina at the Garden on Saturday. But they just did this dance a couple of weeks ago, going into Pittsburgh for a Game 6, down in the first-round series 3-2 after having won Game 5 at home two nights earlier. They have done this before.
This marks the Blueshirts’ 10th Game 6 facing elimination since the start of the hard cap era in 2006. A review of the first nine, the Rangers having gone 6-3 in those challenges:
2007, second round vs. Buffalo at the Garden: After sweeping the Thrashers for their first series victory in 10 years, the Blueshirts split the opening four games against the Sabres before taking a 1-0 lead into the final seconds of Game 5 in Buffalo. But Big Moment Chris Drury scored with 7.7 seconds remaining to tie it before Maxim Afinogenov won it in on a power play in overtime, prompting Henrik Lundqvist to smash his stick against the wall above the entrance to the visitors’ room, leaving a visible crack. Back at home for Game 6, the hungover Rangers were beaten 5-4 and eliminated from the tourney.
2012, first round at Ottawa: Having finished with the best record in the east and only one point shy of winning the Presidents’ Trophy, the Black-and-Blueshirts confronted an immediate upset elimination in a nasty, contentious series in which Brian Boyle was concussed on one side and Daniel Alfredsson on the other. But the Rangers responded. Brandon Prust took on Chris Neill in a tone-setting fight, Chris Kreider scored the first playoff goal of his career less than two weeks after coming out of Boston College in a taut 3-2 victory that set the stage for New York’s Game 7 victory at home two nights later.
2012, conference finals at New Jersey: “Henrique! It’s over!” Eighteen years to the day after Messier, a 40-year-old Martin Brodeur twisted history his and the Devils’ way with Adam Henrique’s winning goal in a 3-2 overtime contest to conclude this stunning upset defeat.
2013, first round vs. Washington at the Garden: Having been acquired just six weeks earlier at the deadline, Derick Brassard had his first “Big Game Brass” moment by scoring the only goal in a 1-0 Henrik Lundqvist shutout victory that the Blueshirts backed up one night later with a 5-0 Game 7 victory in DC to send the Blueshirts to the second round and a five-game defeat to the Bruins, after which John Tortorella was dismissed as head coach.
2014, second round vs. Pittsburgh at the Garden: The game-opening goal represented Martin St. Louis’ Mother’s Day gift to his recently passed mom, France St. Louis, with the Rangers taking this one 3-1 before their 2-1 Game 7 victory on the road to complete the supernatural comeback from 3-1 down in the series.
2015, second round at Washington: Escaping elimination in Game 5 at the Garden on Ryan McDonagh’s OT winner after Kreider tied the contest with 1:41 remaining in regulation, the Blueshirts prevailed 4-3 in a spectacular Game 6 in which the team was out-attempted 32-0 (32-0!) over the final 14:41. Derek Stepan then got the Game 7 winner in overtime as the Rangers became the only team in history to pull off comebacks from 3-1 down in consecutive years.
2015, conference finals at Tampa Bay: Having been blanked 2-0 at home in Game 5, the Blueshirts avoided elimination by burying the Lightning 7-3 behind Brassard’s five-point (2 goals, 3 assists) night. But three nights later, the Blueshirts were shut out again at home, 2-0, for the only Game 7 loss of Lundqvist’s career.
2017, second round vs. Ottawa at the Garden: The last ride ended with a desultory effort in a 4-2 defeat that capped a series that the Blueshirts dominated but lost after blowing late leads in both Game 2 and 5 OT losses.
2022, first round at Pittsburgh: The Blueshirts rallied from 2-0 deficit for 4-3 victory on a late third-period goal by Kreider that set up a Game 7 victory at the Garden on Artemi Panarin’s overtime power-play snipe to complete the rally from 3-1 down in the series.
