The Ottawa Senators desperately pressed for an equalizing goal in the third period. Even the unflappable Lundqvist was nervous. He called the constant pressure "nerve-racking." Over the final 7 minutes 40 seconds, the Senators took six shots. Five were blocked and three missed the net. During that span the Rangers took one, and it went wide. However, as the final 30 seconds wound down, one agonizing tick at a time, the puck stayed in the Ottawa end. Lundqvist realized that the Rangers were going to survive. For him, the emotion was almost too great to bear. "During the game, I tried to block out that it means so much to me and my teammates and all the fans," Lundqvist said. "But there were so many emotions coming out the last five seconds, I didn't even realize, "Here we go, we got this." " The Rangers" 2-1 victory over a determined eighth-seeded opponent sent them into the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Washington Capitals. It spared them from becoming the fourth upset victim in the opening round. Defensemen Marc Staal and Dan Girardi scored the goals. Lundqvist stopped 26 shots. His teammates blocked another 23. "Sometimes the first round is the hardest round," Rangers Coach John Tortorella said. But that's all this is - the first round. After the Rangers were eliminated in the first round by Washington last year, Lundqvist talked about the window starting to close on his chances of winning a Stanley Cup. Lundqvist, 30, responded with the best regular-season performance of his seven-year career. Against Ottawa, he registered a superb .945 save percentage. Lundqvist said that after the Rangers lost Game 5 at home, Tortorella gave a pep talk. "I liked the way Torts said, after we lost at home, "Everything happens for a reason," " Lundqvist said, recalling the Rangers" 3-2 win in Ottawa in Game 6. "We just made it a little tougher on ourselves, but we managed to win a big game and regroup," he said. It just made us stronger, and everything happens for a reason. It is the first time since 1996 that no Canadian team is left standing in the second round of the playoffs, and only the second time since 1974. The Rangers" Game 7 record at the Garden improved to 4-0, and this was worthy of the most recent Game 7 at the Garden - the Stanley Cup clincher against Vancouver that ended the Rangers" 54-year drought in 1994. The Senators" record in Game 7s fell to 0-5. Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson played well in defeat, stopping 27 shots. But he still has not won a playoff series since he started in junior hockey in 1998-99. The rookie Chris Kreider, playing in his fifth N.H.L. game, helped make it happen although he did not appear on the score sheet. Kreider stopped an Ottawa breakout by falling and sliding across the Senators" blue line in position to knock the puck away from Nick Foligno along the boards. But he left the puck for Derek Stepan, who passed across the ice, through the legs of defenseman Sergei Gonchar, to Staal, who was breaking in on goal. Before the game, Tortorella said of Kreider: "I have no hesitation to put him in all situations tonight. Tortorella was true to his word. Kreider was on the ice over the final half-minute, helping bottle the Senators up in their own end. Kreider played an excellent 18:21, checking, creating plays, taking a team-high four shots on goal. He even won a face-off, helping the Rangers to a 27-25 advantage in the face-off circle, an area where the Senators dominated the previous four games. "I have to pinch myself every day," Kreider said of his storybook fortnight, which began with winning the N.C.A.A. championship with Boston College and has continued with five rapidly improving appearances in the Stanley Cup playoffs. "A Game 7 is one of the hardest games to win in all sports," Kreider said. Neither team wants to have their sticks taken away. At 9:04, Dan Girardi made the score 2-0 after passes from Brandon Dubinsky and Brandon Prust. Girardi was unguarded in the slot because Ottawa defenseman Erik Karlsson, who was named a finalist for the Norris Trophy, had drifted away from his post. Less than a minute later, Chris Neil, the Rangers" most aggravating antagonist in the series, goaded Michael Del Zotto into a cross-checking penalty. On the ensuing power play, Daniel Alfredsson, the 39-year-old Ottawa captain playing perhaps his final game, beat Lundqvist over the shoulder on the short side to make the score 2-1. But there was no more scoring, just unbearable tension. "They're making a last surge, trying to play for their season, we stood in there and blocked some shots, and Hank came up with some big saves," Callahan said. Playoff hockey at its finest.