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Can Penguins repay Rangers for last year’s 3-1 comeback?

Pittsburgh Penguins v New York Rangers - Game Two

Evgeni Malkin

Getty Images

The New York Rangers know what it’s like to come back from a 3-1 series deficit. They’ve done it, most recently against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014. The roles have been reversed in the 2015 rematch after New York earned a 2-1 overtime win against Pittsburgh in Game 4 tonight, and the Rangers are well aware that the Penguins are no more out of it than they were last year.

Remembering what it was like, Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist expects the Penguins to give them everything they’ve got in Game 5 on Friday.

“It’s desperation mode for them and the key is to match that,” Lundqvist said, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Seth Rorabaugh. “You have to grab every opportunity you get to finish a series. You can’t just think you have more chances. You’ve got to go for it and match their desperation. It’s tough. Every game here has been one goal and it’s not going to be easy. We have to prepare the right way mentally, physically and get ready for battle.”

There wasn’t a lot of optimism surrounding the Penguins going into this series given the way they limped into the playoffs, but it’s worth remembering that they’ve been competitive in every game in this series. Not much would have had to change for this series to look very different going into Friday’s contest.

Penguins star forward Evgeni Malkin has no points and just five shots on goal so far. If he was having a better series, that alone might have been enough to tip the scale in the Penguins’ favor. As it is, Malkin bouncing back would be enough to give Pittsburgh a fighting chance going forward.

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