Derick Brassard Scores Hat Trick As Rangers Force Game 7

Derick Brassard made sure that the Rangers’ season didn’t end tonight. He scored three and assisted two of New York’s seven goals, as they blew out the Lightning 7-3 to force a Game 7, which will be played Friday at Madison Square Garden.

Under normal circumstances, you’d have to favor the Rangers to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. They were the best team in hockey this year, and they get to play at home. But the Lightning weren’t far behind, and they’ve actually gone 2-1 at MSG this series. While everything is knotted it up at 3-3, the Rangers won two games by four goals, and lost one by the same margin. It has been a weird, unpredictable series, and deserves a seventh game to try and make sense of everything.

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