I've had the privilege of witnessing so many incredible Rangers playoff moments at the world's most famous arena throughout my lifetime. I am feeling a bit nostalgic today, so I wanted to share what my personal top five favorite Garden roars are, but first, I'll have to explain it.
Madison Square Garden is a very special building. To many, it feels like a second home and there are plenty of reasons why it is known as the world's most famous arena. If you asked me to describe what I mean by a "Garden Roar" it would simply be a moment where everyone in the building anticipates a play happening, resulting in the fans rising to their feet in unison to eventually let out a loud eruption when the play is finally developed.
Believe it or not, my first Rangers playoff game ever was actually a road game. When I was 12 years old, the Rangers played against the New Jersey Devils in the opening round of the 2008 playoffs and I actually attended that game at the Prudential Center with my Uncle and his friends.
Witnessing a postseason game at the age of 12, in my opinion, is the perfect age because you're old enough to remember it and understand the magnitude of what these games mean.
With that being said, throughout the last 15 years I have been lucky enough to be at the Garden for moments that I will never forget, some more meaningful than others.
Let's count it down.
5: Dan Carcillo's Game 7 Goal of the first round in the 2014 playoffs against the Philadelphia Flyers.
This one sticks out because it was the first Game 7 I had ever been to and the nerves for that game are at an all-time high. This wasn't a typical Garden Roar because Mats Zuccarello made such an incredible play that most people didn't that there was any chance of the puck getting to Carcillo's stick.
Even though fans may not have expected this goal, there was a ton of buzz in the building leading up to it because Zuccarello had just missed an incredible scoring chance.
When the home team scores the opening goal of a Game 7, there aren't many feelings of relief quite like that one.
4: Brad Richards's game-tying goal against the Washington Capitals in Game 5 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.
I was sitting on the Chase Bridge, directly above the goal that the Rangers were shooting at when this play happened. I could not have had a better view or angle of this entire play forming, but I remember at that moment having no idea how the puck went in. There was a scramble at the net mouth, everyone in MSG was on their feet, looking for where the puck might be, then in a split second, it appeared in the back of the net.
I had never witnessed a dying seconds game-tying goal before and it might honestly be more hype than a last-minute winning goal, but I will leave that up for debate. That might be the loudest I have ever heard the Madison Square Garden concourse during an intermission.
Had the Rangers gone down 3-2 in that series with it heading back to the nation's capital for a Game 6, I'm not sure what my confidence level would have been in the team.
3: Artemi Panarin's Game 7 overtime-winning goal in the first round of the 2022 playoffs against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Obviously, this memory stands out most because of the recency bias, but man, what an incredible game this was. The series against Pittsburgh was very one-sided in the first four games, but the build-up to the Game 7 as the Rangers clawed their way back in this series made this goal even that much more joyful.
Panarin's overtime winner was the definition of a Garden Roar. Everyone was on their feet, begging for somebody to shoot the puck as the power play was winding down.
It's always exciting when the Rangers take down Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. Even though this was just the first round, this Panarin goal will always be cherished as an incredible moment at the Garden.
2: Derek Stepan's Game 7 overtime winner against the Washington Capitals in the 2015 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.
This was yet another nerve-wracking Game 7 that was the result of the Rangers coming back from a 3-1 series deficit. 2015 was supposed to be the Rangers' year and when Stepan scored this goal, it felt like this team was invincible. There were many times in that series when it felt like the Rangers were done for, but they kept finding a way to scratch and claw their way back.
Like it says in the tweet above, once that puck found Stepan's blade you could feel everyone in the arena rise to their feet, knowing what is about to happen, then in an instant, the puck beat Holtby causing pandemonium at MSG.
It was a different kind of buzz.
But finally, my favorite MSG moment has to be this one.
1: Martin St. Louis's overtime goal in the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals against the Montreal Canadiens.
What makes this goal even more special is that anyone who watched Martin St. Louis's warmup routine, he always practiced that shot, for whatever reason. When Carl Hagelin found St. Louis wide open at the dot to the left of Dustin Tokarski, everyone felt it, that puck was going in.
Now let's talk about the moment itself. This was the first time since 1994 that the Rangers were only one win away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Final. That was the first time in my life that I had ever heard the "We want the cup!" chant in person and it is something that I will truly never forget.
All five of these moments were unforgettable. There is nothing like a true Garden Roar.