2006–07 New York Rangers season
However, the Rangers lost a few big names from their strong regular season run, including assistant captain Steve Rucchin,[4] Martin Rucinsky,[5] Tom Poti[6] and Petr Sykora.
The Rangers rose high in December, with a five-game winning streak during the second week, but then crashed hard back to Earth.
In his first game, the Rangers lost to the New Jersey Devils 3–2 in a shootout, then proceeded to win three straight against the likes of Tampa Bay, Washington and Carolina.
During the month of March, the Rangers lost a number of other players to injury, including Fedor Tyutin,[12] Marcel Hossa[13] and Karel Rachunek,[14] all to medial collateral ligament (MCL) sprains.
The Rangers concluded the regular season with a record of 13–3–4 after the trading deadline and 17–6–6 after the acquisition of Sean Avery from Los Angeles.
In front of a sellout crowd in Atlanta for Game 1, the Rangers struck first with a Jaromir Jagr goal 12:50 into the first period to take a 1–0 lead.
Atlanta's Eric Belanger tallied a power play goal in the first period's final minute to make the score 2–1 at first intermission.
In addition, the four goals scored by New York in Game 1 matched their four-game offensive output against the New Jersey Devils from the year prior.
Jaromir Jagr tied an NHL record with three assists in the first period as Michael Nylander scored twice and Marek Malik added another to give New York a 3–0 lead after one.
Atlanta switched back to Hedberg in Game 4 and struck first to take their first lead of the series with a Keith Tkachuk goal in the first period.
The Rangers would respond just over a minute later with Michal Rozsival's second power play goal of the series to make the score 1–1 after one period.
Early in the third period Matt Cullen would score the eventual game winner, driving a rolling puck from the point off the crossbar.
After sweeping Atlanta in the first round, the Rangers next opponent was the Eastern Conference's top seed (and the regular season Presidents' Trophy winner), the Buffalo Sabres.
Despite playing a scoreless first period, the key development in the first twenty minutes was a knee injury suffered by Ranger defenseman Michal Rozsival.
As a result, the Rangers were forced to play the remainder of the game with five defensemen, a recipe for disaster against a team as talented offensively as the Sabres.
Brendan Shanahan scored a power play goal late for the Rangers to make it 4–2, but Drew Stafford hit the empty net to seal a 5–2 Sabre victory in Game 1.
Things would unravel for the Rangers in the third as an errant Marek Malik pass was intercepted before exiting the defensive zone and Chris Drury converted the play into the equalizer goal 24 seconds into the period.
Marek Malik kept the puck in at the blue line and Jaromir Jagr fired a shot that Ryan Miller stopped and thought he had covered.
Buffalo nearly buried the game in the first overtime session 19 minutes in while shorthanded, but Derek Roy's shot rang off the post behind Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist and out.
In double overtime, it was Rozsival who would be the hero for New York, scoring on a drive from the point that deflected off the iron and in behind Ryan Miller, ending the game after 36:43 of extra time.
The win came 36 years to the day that Pete Stemkowski scored a triple overtime winner at the Garden to beat the Chicago Blackhawks in 1971.
Two days later, the Rangers looked to even up the series on home ice, taking momentum from their double overtime Game 3 victory.
The puck came to Daniel Briere at the side of the net, but Lundqvist came across and made a right pad save at the goal line with 17 seconds to play.
In the third, Buffalo had the advantage in shots once more (13–6), but it was New York that struck first, as Martin Straka scored to put the Rangers on top 1–0 with 3:19 to play in regulation.
Coincidentally, the Rangers had been burned for a game-tying goal with exactly 7.7 seconds on the clock in the past, specifically in Game 7 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals when Valeri Zelepukin beat Mike Richter to force overtime.
Down 3–2 in the series, the Rangers headed back to New York for Game 6, carrying a nine-game winning streak at Madison Square Garden.
Tied 3–3 in the third, the Bruins scored two goals in a span of 58 seconds to take a 5–3 lead which Hartford could not come back from, falling 5–4 and losing the series 4 games to 3.
