#3: April 9, 2011 (Rangers 5 - Devils 2)
In dramatic fashion like the previous year, the final game of the season would have decided the Rangers fate. This year, they had to face the New Jersey Devils, and a win was necessary to get two points on the Carolina Hurricanes who had the tiebreaker for the final playoff spot with the Rangers. The Rangers got backed up a bit, as Ilya Kovalchuk snapped an early goal past Henrik Lundqvist early on. His goal was promptly followed up by the man regarded as "Captain Clutch", Chris Drury as he got his first goal of the season after coming back from an injury. Late in the period, the Devils would get another goal coming again from Ilya Kovalchuk, the final goal of the game they would get. Nearly two-minutes into the 2nd period, Wojtek Wolski converted on a 2-on-1 to deadlock the score at two. Ten minutes later, another Ranger would get his first goal of the season, and his first NHL goal, as Ryan McDonagh got a brilliant pass from Vinny Prospal behind the net and put the Rangers ahead 3-2. Five minutes later, Brandon Prust got a lucky slide that went in, and in the 3rd, Vinny Prospal got one more to cement a victory on the last game of the regular season. It was a must-win game for the Rangers, who needed help from the Tampa Bay Lightning to get into the playoffs. The chants of "Lets Go Lightning" rang up from the crowd as the game would down and a victory was almost certain. The Rangers got that help, as the Lightning defeated the Hurricanes, and sent the Rangers to the playoffs, but none of that could have been possible without this one goal.
#2: April 4, 2011 (Rangers 5 - Bruins 3)
Yet another late-season thriller makes it to the top of the list. The Rangers were still jockeying for that final playoff spot with the Carolina Hurricanes, and needed to get through the Boston Bruins in order to gain leverage once again. That did not seem as if that was going to happen, as the Bruins jumped out to a very early 3-0 lead. Almost immediately after their third goal was scored, Vinny Prospal found the puck as it squeaked through Tim Thomas's pads. Later on in the 2nd, Vinny Prospal got a sweet feed from Wojtek Wolski in-front of the net and pulled the Rangers within one goal. They still needed one more to tie the game, and in the waning moments of the game, it did not appear as if that goal was going to come, until Brandon Dubinsky became the recipient of a fortunate bounce and found himself 1-1 with Thomas, and managed to put it behind him to tie the game with three minutes remaining in the 3rd. Every Rangers fan was praying for overtime, because one point was better than none. But the Rangers did not want it to go to overtime, they kept the pressure on, and not even a minute after Dubinskys goal, Michael Sauer found the puck low in the zone and shot it. It initially looked as if Thomas stopped it, but it appeared and just trickled over the line to put the Rangers up 4-3 with two minutes to go. The game was capped off by Derek Stepan, who got the empty-netter from center ice in what was one of the most remarkable comebacks I had ever seen in a hockey game.
#1: November 15, 2010 (Rangers 3 - Penguins 2 in OT)
An early game of the season, but it does not matter. This game represented what the Rangers were about all season: a tough team that won't quit until it is all said and done. The Penguins have had the Rangers number in so many previous games, and the Rangers were looking to turn the tide on this division rivalry. The Rangers got the first goal of the game off of Erik Christensens stick in the 2nd period, and held that lead for a majority of the rest of the game. The 3rd period was winding down, and it seemed as if the Rangers were going to be able to hold onto the one-goal lead. However, the Penguins kept battling and tied that game with two-and-a-half minutes remaining in the game on goal by Chris Kunitz. Now the Rangers had lost the lead and were looking to overtime, but the Penguins came back and scored a second goal that put them up by one. In the heat of the goal, Henrik Lundqvist slashed his stick on the ice, and got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that would keep the Rangers down a man for the remainder of the 3rd. It looked as if the game was going to be an immediate heartbreak, but it wasn't. Marc Staal came breaking in short-handed and roofed one Marc-Andre Fleury to tie the game with a minute-and-a-half remaining in the game. The Rangers killed the penalty, and went into overtime. The Penguins were firing all they had at Lundqvist, but he was not about to let in another. A soft play off the boards sent Ryan Callahan and Zbynek Michalek chasing after it. Michalek fell down, and created a 2-on-1 one for Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky. Callahan dished it to Dubinsky who dangled to get around the sliding Penguins player trying to stop the puck, and passed it over to Callahan who tipped it behind Fleury to give the Rangers the victory in an epic that Rangers fans will remember for a very long time.
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