Rangers, Penguins prepared for more momentum swings in Game 7

GREENBURGH, N.Y. --
Alexis Lafreniere
could have been on the ice or in the street in his hometown of Saint-Eustache, Quebec, when it was time to pretend it was Game 7 he was always wearing the Montreal Canadiens' red, white and blue and playing at Bell Centre in front of 20,000-plus.

Well, Lafreniere will be in a Game 7 for real Sunday, and he will be wearing red, white and blue. Only this time the colors represent the New York Rangers and he will be playing in front of 18,000 screaming fans at Madison Square Garden when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round (7 p.m. ET; TBS, SN360, SNE, SNO, SNP, MSG, ATTSN-PT).
The winner moves on to the second round, where it will play the Carolina Hurricanes. The loser will move on to the offseason.
It's the first Game 7 at Madison Square Garden since May 29, 2015, and the ninth ever. New York is 7-1 in the previous eight.
"Just to play in one, it's actually hard to believe," said Lafreniere, the Rangers' second-year forward. "It's pretty special."
RELATED: [Complete Rangers vs. Penguins series coverage]
The Rangers and Penguins have arrived at this point after some wild emotional swings in the past two games.
Pittsburgh showed up in Game 5 at the Garden filled with confidence after winning Games 3 and 4 at home by a combined 14-6 to take a 3-1 series lead. The Penguins took a 2-0 lead and were in complete control more than halfway through the second.
But Sidney Crosby left the game with an upper-body injury with less than six minutes remaining in the second, the Rangers scored three straight goals and eventually won 5-3.
The Penguins went home still leading in the series and with another opportunity to put the Rangers away and move on, but they were without Crosby. It didn't seem to matter early, because once again they took a 2-0 lead.
But the Rangers fought back again, scoring the next three goals and won 5-3 to become the third team in NHL history to stave off elimination with consecutive multi-goal comeback wins, joining the 1987 Philadelphia Flyers and the 1950 Detroit Red Wings.
It's the fourth time the Rangers have forced a Game 7 after being down 3-1 in a best-of-7 series; they are 3-0 in each of the previous Game 7s, including against the Penguins in the second round in 2014.
"It's a good thing, but we have to start probably playing in the first period," Rangers forward Artemi Panarin said.
That will be the Rangers' focus going into Game 7.
Panarin said he'd like them to replicate the start they had in Game 1, when they came out with energy and their skating legs, forechecked the Penguins aggressively to force turnovers and play with the puck in the offensive zone.
New York led 2-0 less than 24 minutes into Game 1, but it was the Penguins who fought back and eventually won 4-3 in triple overtime.
"That's a perfect example, if we can start every game like that that would be great," Panarin said. "I don't know why we can't do that."
They don't because the Penguins have a say too, and they also might have some reinforcements Sunday with the possible returns of Crosby and goalie Tristan Jarry, who hasn't played yet in the series because of a lower-body injury he sustained April 14.
Crosby and Jarry participated in an optional practice Saturday and could be available for Game 7. So could forward Rickard Rakell, who has not played since sustaining an upper-body injury early in Game 1.
"We'll take each day as it comes," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "I'm not going speculate at this point. They're obviously on the ice. At this point, that's encouraging. They're making progress."
The Penguins also have more experience on their side.
Eleven of the 20 players they potentially could dress have combined to play in 40 Game 7s. That number includes Crosby and Rakell, but not forward Brian Boyle (seven Game 7s), who sustained an upper-body injury in Game 6 and didn't skate Saturday.
Crosby and Penguins center Evgeni Malkin are both 5-2 in Game 7s.
The Rangers have eight players with a combined 20 Game 7 appearances among the 20 they're projected to dress, led by forward Chris Kreider's six, all with the Rangers. He's 5-1.
"We've been treating every game since we've been down like it's a Game 7," Kreider said. "It's been do or die for us, so nothing changes."
Sullivan has won all three Game 7s he's coached with the Penguins. He also lost one as coach of the Boston Bruins in 2004. Gerard Gallant of the Rangers has lost the only Game 7 he coached, which was with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2019.
"There's lots of thrills, and then there's disappointments, you've got to be able to dust yourself off, get back in the fight," Sullivan said. "We're obviously disappointed after [Friday] night's game as far as the result is concerned. But we've got a great opportunity in front of us. That's how we have to look at it. We've got a very capable group. We're excited."
NHL.com independent correspondent Wes Crosby contributed to this story