Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images
The New York Rangers sure are a weird team. They put up a giant oh-fer against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but in three games against the Pittsburgh Penguins, they are 2-0-1 and were almost 3-0. This is a team that blew another two goal lead, but didn’t let it get to them as Kevin Klein –again– was able win it in overtime for the good guys, sending Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin home, wondering how they are 1-5-1 in their last 7 against the Rangers.
Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves, Dominic Moore contributed two assists, and eight other Rangers contributed with points in the victory. While the victory was big, the fact that they blew another two goal lead –for the second night in a row– is somewhat alarming. But you know what, I’ll take points in the standings, and work out the kinks as we keep moving along.
On to the goals:
Penguins 1, Rangers 0
The Rangers couldn’t gain the offensive zone, which led to a Penguins rush down the ice on a 2-on-5. Problem was that all five Rangers were on one side of the ice following Crosby, while Nick Spaling skating down the weak side. Crosby got the puck to him, and he blasted it past Hank.
Rangers 1, Penguins 1
Dom Moore forced Paul Martin into a neutral zone turnover, and Martin St. Louis led the ensuing rush. J.T. Miller burned Rob Klinkhammer to the slot, and MSL set him up perfectly.
Rangers 2, Penguins 1
Brian Dumoulin made a really bad play on this Mats Zuccarello flip into the offensive zone. Rick Nash picked up the puck for a mini-breakaway, and collected his own rebound.
Rangers 3, Penguins 1
Kevin Hayes made a great individual effort on this goal. After almost taking a puck to the face, Hayes led the rush with Nash. The big center burned past Dumoulin and Martin, collecting his own rebound and tucking it past Marc-Andre Fleury.
Penguins 2, Penguins 3
Brandon Sutter made some great plays to get the initial shot on net, which deflected off Dan Girardi, causing Hank to have issues controlling the puck. Sutter got his own rebound as Evgeni Malkin cut to the slot. Despite there being three Rangers around Malkin, no one put a body on him or Sutter, and Sutter hit Malkin with a nice pass for the goal.
Penguins 3, Rangers 3
Marc Staal simply whiffed on the bouncing puck, which Steve Downie collected and buried.
Rangers 4, Penguins 3
Since last night was Garden of Dreams night, the game ran long, and by DVR didn’t catch this goal. From the GIF, it looks like Klein was able to blast the puck through a screen.
Shift Chart:
Courtesy of war-on-ice
As expected, Alain Vigneault matched up Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh with Sidney Crosby. Shocker. Dan Boyle and Marc Staal got Evgeni Malkin, another shocker. Something worth noting: None of Kevin Hayes, Jesper Fast, or Tanner Glass got significant ice time in the third period. Hayes got four shifts. Fast got three. Glass got five. None saw the ice after both Penguins goals.
Fenwick Chart:
Courtesy of war-on-ice
The Penguins dominated puck possession all night long, and really pressed to tie the game in the third period. I’d usually blame this on score effects, but it was more about the Rangers getting a little sloppy. They didn’t have many even strength shot attempts in the third, and it led to Pittsburgh tying the game.
Even without a good number of players, this is a very good team. The Rangers guaranteed a winning record against the Penguins this year, grabbing five of six points with one game left to be played. They may not be able to beat the Lightning, but at least they can beat the Penguins when needed.
All gifs courtesy of gifgoldmine.com.
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