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Rangers roll by Devils to force game 7

*Photo from AM New York*
Series tied 3-3
   This series is going to go the distance. Chris Kreider had a goal and two assists, Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and an assist, and the New York Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils 5-2 on Saturday night in Manhattan.

   After losing 3 games in a row, the Rangers came back on home ice and took it to the Devils, keeping their season alive and forcing a deciding game 7. Mika Zibanejad also joined Tarasenko with a goal and an assist, while Adam Fox had two assists.

   Fox said of the win that "Backs against the wall, you're going to leave it out there. No one wants the season to end. I think we maybe rode our high a little too high for the first two games and understood that we have a lot better in here. We were able to get into this Game 7, and we're excited for it."

   The Devils took the lead first in this one. Curtis Lazar started the scoring, netting his first goal of the series 11:49 into the game, assisted by Kevin Bahl and Damon Severson. On the power play with 25 seconds left in the first, Kreider scored for the Rangers, tying the game 1-1 with Fox and Zibanejad assisting.

   It was all Rangers in the second period. Zibanejad gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead, scoring 10:10 into the second with assists from Tarasenko and Kreider. With 1:35 left in the period, the Rangers took a 3-1 lead into the intermission thanks to Tarasenko, scoring his 3rd goal of the series with assists from Fox and Kreider.

   Barclay Goodrow scored 7:23 into the 3rd period for the Rangers, giving them a 4-1 lead with his first goal of the series. Braden Schneider scored later in the period to make it 5-1 Rangers, assisted by Niko Mikkola and Filip Chytil. Dawson Mercer scored a power play goal to cut the deficit to 5-2, and the Rangers held on from there.

   Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant said that "When your backs are against the wall, you play your best game, and I thought they did tonight. We talked about getting hungry and getting into the blue paint. That was the biggest thing we talked about before the game. We didn't get there enough. Tonight, we got there. We got some opportunities and things worked for us."

   Getting the start in net for the Rangers was Igor Shesterkin, who delivered to keep the season alive. Shesterkin stopped 34 of the 36 shots the Devils sent at him, which was good for a .944 save percentage in the win.

   It was Akira Schmid who started for the Devils, who couldn't hold down the fort in game 6. Schmid got the loss by turning aside only 24 out of the 29 shots he saw, recording a .828 save percentage. He was pulled in favor of Vitek Vanecek, who didn't have to make a save in relief.

   Devils captain Nico Hischier said "It stinks right now, but I think the effort was there and we had to take a little bit more risk in the third period, so gave up a couple 2-on-1s. I don't think it was a bad game at all and got to take the good things out of here and see these guys in Newark. The battle level was there. It was just a couple D-zone mistakes we made that ended up in the back of our net."

   Up next, game 7 of the series is across the river in Newark on Monday night. The goal for both teams is simple. Win and move on, lose and go home for the summer.

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