Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press, via Associated Press)

With Craig Anderson on the bench and time winding down, Senator’s Derick Brassard scored the tying goal to send game five into overtime where Kyle Turris would give Ottawa the series lead.

For the second time in this playoff series, the Senators tied the game with an extra skater in the third period and pulled out the victory in overtime. The overtime victory gives the Senators a 3-2 series lead and now it is do or die for the New York Rangers.

Yet in this situation, there is no place the Rangers would rather be than at home in Madison Square Garden. In the two games these teams have played in New York this series, the Rangers are 2-0 and have outscored their opponent 8-2. While scoring is half the battle, there are a few things that they need to keep up in order to take this series to game seven.   

The Rangers special teams play has been solid thus far, and it showed in game five. Killing all three penalties in game five, they have only allowed a power play goal in four of their last 16 games. If they can stay out of the box and keep up the effort on the penalty kill, they have a noteworthy advantage in their special teams.  

In addition to the strong special team’s defensive play, the Blueshirts have been able to find the net on the power play as well as anybody. Having scored 10 of 11 games this playoff season, they are a dangerous team with an extra skater and if they put the pressure on in game six, they’re likely to get that man advantage at least once.

The last critical focus for the Rangers in game six is maintaining consistency in goal from Henrik Lundqvist. Boasting a 1.94 GAA, he has allowed only two or fewer goals in six of his last seven appearances and needs to maintain it to give them the edge they need.

When you look at the numbers, the Rangers have a lot of reasons to be confident as this series continues. They haven’t lost a game on home ice since April 16, and they’ve shown no sign of slowing down in front of the home town crowd. They may be down, but they’re not out, and it’s time to show what they’re made of.