New York Rangers eliminate Ottawa Senators in 7 games, advance to Stanley Cup semifinals vs. Washington Capitals

All’s well that ends well for the New York Rangers, who stormed back from a 3-2 Stanley Cup quarterfinals series deficit to defeat the Senators in Game 6 in Ottawa and then in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. The Rangers weren’t the only ones challenged in the first round: three out of the four Eastern Conference matchups went to 7 games. Next up for the #1 seed Rangers: the Washington Capitals, who just knocked off the #2 seed Boston Bruins. The series begins this afternoon.

Here are a handful of my favorite shots from Thursday’s Game 7 win over the Senators (©Madison Square Garden, L.P.).

Madison Square Garden, packed to the brim for the national anthem:

New York’s Ryan Callahan works the puck against Ottawa’s Kyle Turris:

The Rangers’ Brandon Prust and Senators’ (and former Ranger) Matt Gilroy:

New York’s Marc Staal celebrates his goal with teammates Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan:

Rangers head coach John Tortorella:

Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who put up phenomenal numbers in the series vs. the Senators (.945 save percentage, 1.70 goals against average, 1 shutout):

New York’s Brandon Dubinsky gets in the face of Ottawa’s Colin Greening:

Brandon Dubinsky, Ruslan Fedotenko and Brandon Prust celebrate with Dan Girardi after he scores his second-period goal, the eventual game winner:

The Garden crowd erupts and the Rangers storm off the bench after the final buzzer seals the series victory:

New York’s Dan Girardi tosses a puck to the fans: