Rangers rally past Penguins in Game 5, extend series after Crosby injured

NEW YORK -- Filip Chytil scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, and the New York Rangers avoided elimination with a 5-3 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

Game 6 of the best-of-7 series is in Pittsburgh on Friday.
Chytil gave the Rangers a 4-3 lead at 2:53 with a power-play goal after getting to a loose puck in the right face-off circle. It was his first Stanley Cup Playoff goal in his eighth playoff game.
"It was just some bounce there," Chytil said. "I don't even know how it gets to me but probably the whole season I didn't score many goals (eight in 67 regular-season games), so not thinking too much with the chances, and now I just close my eyes and just shoot and score a goal finally. I was so happy to help the team."
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Alexis Lafreniere and Jacob Trouba each had a goal and an assist, and Igor Shesterkin made 29 saves for the Rangers, the No. 2 seed in the Metropolitan Division.
"We believe in our group," Lafreniere said. "… We were down 3-1 (in the series) but I think we weren't playing that bad. Played a really good one tonight when we needed it the most, so it was a really good team effort."

Pittsburgh center Sidney Crosby left in the second period and was being evaluated for an upper-body injury after the game. He appeared to be injured after taking a hard hit from Trouba in the Penguins offensive zone at 9:15 of the second period. The Pittsburgh captain skated to the bench but returned to play two more shifts before going to the dressing room.
"We've got plenty of leaders on the team that have been through a lot," Penguins forward Jake Guentzel said. "You never want to see a player like that leave, but we've got the group to step up. We have a lot of capable guys in the locker room. We've got to find a way."
Guentzel scored twice, Evgeni Malkin had two assists, and Louis Domingue made 29 saves for the Penguins, the No. 3 seed in the Metropolitan.
The Rangers scored three goals in 2:42 late in the second to take the lead after Crosby took his final shift.
Adam Fox cut it to 2-1 with a wrist shot from just outside the right circle at 15:11 before Lafreniere tied it 2-2 at 16:41 from in front of the net on a pass from Kaapo Kakko. Trouba scored 1:12 later to make it 3-2 at 17:53, skating around Jeff Carter and scoring on a backhand in the slot.
"We were comfortable for the majority of the game," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "We felt like we had complete control of it. Give the Rangers credit, they pushed."

Thirteen seconds later, Guentzel tied it 3-3 at 18:06 after taking a feed from Malkin, who was behind the net.
"I think [there were] a couple of defensive breakdowns that they made us pay for," Pittsburgh forward Teddy Blueger said. "Obviously, momentum swings quick and things change, so after we gave up the first one, we have to do a better job of putting that behind us and not letting the momentum shifts affect us as much. But obviously 'Guentzy' scored a big goal for us and got us right into it, and we were still in a pretty good spot going into the third."
Ryan Lindgren scored an empty-net goal for the 5-3 final with 16 seconds left in the third. The defenseman was plus-1 with three shots on goal and two blocked shots in 19:34 of ice time after missing three games with a lower-body injury.
"That's what he is. He's a character guy," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "He plays hurt, he plays all the time. I don't know how many minutes he played tonight, but it seemed like he was on the ice all night. Just one of those guys that makes everyone around him better."
Guentzel gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 9:32 of the first period, taking three shots in succession before banking one in off Shesterkin's skate from below the goal line.

Kris Letang made it 2-0 at 7:58 of the second on a one-timer off a pass from Malkin.
"We knew they were going to push," Guentzel said. "The fourth one is always the hardest one to get. We had to stay with it. We knew if they had a chance they were going to get the crowd into it. for us it's just move onto the next one."
New York was outscored 14-6 in Games 3 and 4 on the road.
"We were not happy with what happened in Pittsburgh," Chytil said. "… We just had a good meeting, good practice yesterday and we just believed today that we were going to win and go back to Pittsburgh."
The Rangers killed off a 5-on-3 after Chris Kreider was called for slashing and Trouba went off for elbowing 24 seconds into the game. Pittsburgh had two shots on goal during the power play.
"It was a big part of the game obviously," Gallant said. "The two calls, they were both penalties. You hate to get behind the eight ball like that when you're in a game that you have to win, and they did an outstanding job killing that penalty."
NOTES: The Rangers dressed seven defensemen, but Patrik Nemeth didn't play until the final 16 seconds of the game. … Guentzel has seven goals in the series and has scored in every game. Mario Lemieux (nine goals, 1989 Patrick Division Final against Philadelphia Flyers; eight goals, 1996 Eastern Conference Semifinals against Florida Panthers) and Crosby (eight goals, 2009 conference semifinals against Washington Capitals) are the only Penguins players with more goals in a playoff series.