3 Keys: Penguins at Rangers, Game 7 of Eastern First Round

Welcome to NHL.com, the official site of the National Hockey LeagueBienvenue à LNH.com , le site officiel de la Ligue nationale de hockeyTervetuloa NHL:n viralliselle nettisivustolle NHL.comiinVälkommen till NHL.com, NHL:s officiella web-sidaVítejte na NHL.com, oficiálních stránkách National Hockey LeagueVitajte na NHL.com, oficiálnych stránkach National Hockey LeagueWillkommen auf NHL.com, der offiziellen Seite der National Hockey LeagueBienvenido a NHL.com, el sitio oficial de la National Hockey League(3M) Penguins at (2M) Rangers7 p.m. ET; TBS, SN360, SNE, SNO, SNP, MSG, ATTSN-PTBest-of-7 series tied 3-3Back-to-back come-from-behind wins have put the New York Rangers in position to become the 31st team in NHL history to win a best-of-7 series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs after trailing 3-1 when they play the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.The Rangers are 3-0 in Game 7 after rallying from down 3-1 in a series, including a 2-1 win at the Penguins in the second round of the 2014 playoffs. It's exciting."Home teams own a 109-78 (.583) advantage in the 187 all-time Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (2-1 in 2021).The winner will play the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round.Here are 3 keys to Game 7:No skater had a bigger impact in the first five-plus games of the series than Crosby, who is tied for the series lead in points (nine) with Penguins forward Jake Guentzel and Rangers defenseman Adam Fox despite not playing Game 6.If Crosby returns for Game 7 the Penguins again will try to force Rangers top-line forwards Mika Zibanejad, Kreider and Frank Vatrano to play more in the defensive zone.Zibanejad, Kreider and Vatrano drew the assignment against Crosby, Guentzel and Bryan Rust in Games 1-5. The Penguins know that, which is why they're emphasizing the importance of special teams, particularly their penalty kill, which is 50.0 percent in the past two games (3-for-6)."When you look at the nature of how some of the goals were scored throughout the course of the series, so far a lot of them were off of broken plays," Sullivan said. The one area where I know we can improve at is when we get opportunities to put pucks 200 feet and get clears, we have to bear down and make sure they get below the goal line."Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan RustDanton Heinen -- Evgeni Malkin -- Kasperi KapanenJason Zucker -- Jeff Carter -- Brock McGinnDrew O'Connor -- Teddy Blueger -- Evan RodriguesMike Matheson -- Kris LetangMark Friedman -- Chad RuhwedelMarcus Pettersson -- John MarinoLouis DomingueAlex D'OrioScratched: Nathan Beaulieu Injured: Rickard Rakell (upper body), Casey DeSmith (core muscle surgery), Brian Dumoulin (lower body), Brian Boyle (lower body), Tristan Jarry (lower body)Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Frank VatranoArtemi Panarin -- Ryan Strome -- Andrew CoppAlexis Lafreniere -- Filip Chytil -- Kaapo KakkoTyler Motte -- Kevin Rooney -- Ryan ReavesRyan Lindgren -- Adam FoxK'Andre Miller -- Jacob TroubaJustin Braun -- Braden SchneiderIgor ShesterkinAlexandar GeorgievScratched: Patrik Nemeth, Libor Hajek, Greg McKegg, Julien Gauthier, Jonny Brodzinski, Dryden Hunt Injured: Barclay Goodrow (lower body)Crosby, Jarry, a goalie, and Rakell, a forward, each will be a game-time decision, Sullivan said.