• The character of this team, “It would have been easy down 2-0 to just play it out but everyone in the room wanted the win.”
• On the Hagelin goal, “you could feel the lift on the bench and on the ice. It lifted everyone’s spirits.”

• On being down 2-0, “you are down 3-0 in the series and 2-0 in the game but our character, our leadership wouldn’t quit. We worked hard to get to this point to mail it in. We were playing it right to the end.”
• On finding out Brad Richards isn’t playing, “It’s tough. He is one of the leaders on this team. He is a well liked guy and a great player. It’s the other side of the business. The guys knew we had a game to play and we focused on that.”
• On talking with Richards, “We talk to each other everyday. We are pretty close, but you are worried about the game, what is at hand and what needs to be done.”
• On the PP, “That was big. Not even scoring on it, our PP looked  lot better. For us to come back we need to get the PP going and I think we had a good start with that last night.”
• On winning game five, “that is our mindset. We want to get it back to NY. We know they are going to come out hard and try to close it out, but our focus is on getting it back to NY.”
• On Chris Kreider, “You can see him growing through the season. It’s not an easy thing to do to have the playoffs that he did and then just jump into the regular season. There are ups and downs and processes to being a pro. My first season I went through the same thing with ups and downs before I eventually stuck. Kreids has been great with it. He went to Hartford with a positive attitude, he worked hard. Anytime he has been around the room and not playing he has been positive. Scoring last night will be good for his confidence and he will hopefully get going. He is a powerful skater and has a hard shot.”
• On Tortorella coaching young players, “I don’t know if he is tough. He is honest with them and lets them know what they need to be doing. Sometimes when you are a young guy it’s what you need, you need to be told you made a mistake and that you need to be better or you won’t get that ice time. It’s part of the business. How he approaches young guys, I don’t think it’s a problem how he coaches young guys.”
• On the fan reaction to Henrik Lundqvist, cheering his name, after the Bruins went up 3-2, “To be honest I didn’t notice it but it’s not surprising. He kept us in there, for years he has been the backbone of this team. The fans know that and the players on the bench certainly know that. It’s well deserved if that is what they did.”
• On the team the day after, “you gotta feel good about things. It helped our confidence to get our first  win. We are excited to get to Boston because you get a sense of life and energy after you get that first one.”
• On talking about how Boston blew a 3-0 lead, “We haven’t talked about it. It’s a different team over there and it’s a new situation and we have to create our own story.”

Marchand wouldn’t engage and skated away from Brassard to take a shot on goal.

Brassard told Brooks that Marchand has spent the whole series asking Rangers to fight but when challenged he wouldn’t accept. He also said that Marchand tends to not show much respect for his opponent.s

McDonagh had two shots on goal, four missed shots, two hits and three blocked shots.

Derek Stepan told the NY Post that this was nothing different for McDonagh and that he is doing the same thing he has all year.

Dan Girardi said that even though he is only in his third year, McDonagh expects a lot out of himself every night and has the ability, with his skating and puck handling, to take control of games.

Yesterday, John Tortorella was asked about McDonagh and said “he is probably one of the most intense, competitive person and players I have seen at such a young age. You don’t notice that edge about him on the ice, but he is a guy who wants to be there and he just competes. It’s not flashy but it’s in him. I love that about him and as I have always said, if he makes a mistakes it doesn’t take him five shifts to get it back, he is ready on the next one. It’s an intangible that he has, a mental toughness. He is one of the best at that on our team.”

Tortorella also praised McDonagh’s offensive skills and said that it isn’t fair to label him as just a shut down defender and that being a complete player is one of McDonagh’s goals., “he wants to become that complete player and he is so wet behind the years with his age and what he needs to learn about the position. It’s really encouraging.”

McDonagh had four goals and 15 assists in the regular season, while averaging 38 seconds on the PP per game.

In the playoffs, McDonagh has one goal and three assists and is averaging 42 seconds per game on the PP.

Tortorella said yesterday that he has screwed up in not putting McDonagh on the ice for the PP more.

Brian Boyle said on MSG last night that the Bruins should expect a fight through the rest of the series and that the Rangers aren’t going to just lay down and die.

John Tortorella said on MSG Thursday, “There shouldn’t be pressure on us. We should go play. We put ourselves in a hole but there shouldn’t be pressure. We should have fun. Don’t think about what you have to climb, think about the next game.”

Dan Girardi told the NY Post, “It was a great game for us and the type of win we needed to get back on track. There is no negativity in the room. We’re not worrying about anything else that is going on. We are very positive in the room and we knew we just had to win one game.”

Katie Strang noted at ESPN NY that yesterday during practice, John Tortorella skated in the middle of the circle that the players formed to stretch and repeatedly said “great f******* job last night.”

“It is so surreal. It’s not something that can really be explained. It is something that just has to be felt, but it was awesome. I’m just excited to give these guys an opportunity to play another game.”

—CP

• In 2012 they beat the Senators in game seven and game seven and beat the Capitals in game seven.
• In 2013, the Rangers beat the Capitals in game six and seven and they beat the Bruins on Thursday.

The Rangers only loss in an elimination game was in overtime to the Devils last year.

On the team’s success in these games, John Tortorella said that it was because “there is no give” with the Rangers.

One minute and 13 seconds into the third period, Zdeno Chara picked up the puck behind the net and started to skate with it toward the side of the net.

One minute and 14 seconds into the the third period, Derek Stepan came in behind Chara and took the puck.

One minute and 15 seconds into the third period, Stepan put the puck into the open part of the net and tied the game at 2.

When asked about the play, Stepan said on MSG that he was just trying to put pressure on Chara and once he got closer he realized he had a chance to steal the puck and put it into the empty net.

About the play, Chara said on MSG, “I wasn’t aware he was right behind me. I gotta make sure I take a look.”

Dave Maloney, on the MSG post game show, said “Stepan once again, you say what you want about Chara falling asleep, it was almost Datsyukian.Datsyuk is so good on the puck and finding the puck that is his game. Stepan’s game reminds me of Datsyuk. He is smart with the puck, he tracks the puck really well.”

MacLean also says that Richards agents advised against signing with the Rangers because they felt there were situations that would fit him better and also get him more money. Richards wanted to be closer to his family in PEI, Canada and loved the idea of playing for an Original Six team.

MacLean says that Tortorella didn’t respect what Richards did and compared it to when in 1996 Mike Keenan ripped Wayne Gretzky.

He also says that what the Rangers did to Richards is a common thing for how they handle players, “Wade Redden was so well thought of in Ottawa, the Senators chose Wade over Zdeno Chara. I feel the same way about Redden. He was thrown out. Bobby Holik. Scott Gomez. These are highly regarded players elsewhere who were made to appear to have lost it in New York.”

1:50PM: James Duthie was on TSN Radio this morning and spoke about Brad Richards and John Tortorella.

Duthie said that when Tortorella worked for TSN, prior to becoming the Rangers coach, there wasn’t a player that Tortorella gushed about more than Brad Richards.

Duthie went on to say, “hockey players are proud to the point of petty and I bet that that relationship isn’t repairable. When you embarrass a player like that, and I’m not saying it was the wrong move. Richards had an awful season and an awful playoff and was doing nothing. If you don’t think he can play in the top six then there is no point in putting him on the fourth line. He is not a fourth line player. If you take all the names and relationships out of it I don’t think it’s the worst coaching move ever, but when you embarrass a player like that they don’t recover. I bet that relationship is forever torn.

Tortorella explained his reasons for sitting Richards last night.

Chris Kreider, according to the team’s twitter feed, is the only member from last night’s lineup that isn’t on the ice.

12:42PM: Katie Strang notes on twitter that Richards and the other scratched players all skated earlier this morning.