The Rangers again played well enough to win, but couldn’t get the job done. They took a 2-1 lead into the third period, but gave up a pair in the third to again drop two points to the Penguins. The dagger game with 90 seconds left in the game.
This is a tough one for the Rangers. The last two goals were highly questionable by Igor Shesterkin. It’s clear he’s going to be the guy, but he’s either rusty or shaky. As an aside, this is what normal goaltending looks like. We’ve been spoiled by Henrik Lundqvist for the better part of two decades. You shouldn’t be concerned about Shesterkin. This is a blip.
Rangers 1, Penguins 0 – Fight for the deflection
https://twitter.com/HeresYourReplay/status/1353502908109746181
Colin Blackwell did a good job here getting to the front of the net to deflect Adam Fox’s shot. There’s nothing else here other than a good effort by Blackwell to get his stick free.
Penguins 1, Rangers 1 – Bouncing puck
https://twitter.com/HeresYourReplay/status/1353515285945454594
Brendan Smith pinched a bit to keep the zone, but was unsuccessful. Bryan Rust used that to get behind him, and the outlet pass then bounced over Smith’s stick to give Rust the breakaway. He went five-hold on Shesterkin.
Rangers 2, Penguins 1 – Strome gets one
https://twitter.com/HeresYourReplay/status/1353517475472748545
Pavel Buchnevich started this by circling the puck back from the corner and leaving it for Jacob Trouba. The initial shot was stopped by Tristan Jarry, but the rebound went to Artemi Panarin with Ryan Strome in front drawing attention. This opened a lane for Trouba to cut to the net, and his follow up –following the pass from Panarin– was again stopped. But Strome was there to bang home the rebound.
Penguins 2, Rangers 2 – Oof
https://twitter.com/HeresYourReplay/status/1353524581366181889
Shesterkin wants this back.
Penguins 3, Rangers 2 – Backbreaker
https://twitter.com/HeresYourReplay/status/1353531146177552385
There’s nothing defensively wrong here, and again this is one that Shesterkin wants back. On the postgame, Steve Valliquette said that Shesterkin’s center of gravity was off. This led to him dropping to butterfly on his stick.
Shot Heatmap – Good process
The focus will be on the three goals against, but the Rangers really did a good job limiting quality chances. There is no red in front of the net. The first red comes at the high slot. Good process breeds results, but this one was done in by poor goaltending on two shots. Sometimes, that’s all it takes.
Skater Results – No one is bad
The loss sticks out, but let’s focus on this. No one was bad, a few guys were fun, but mostly everyone was good. That’s what you want to see. Again, good process.
This is a tough one, since the Rangers really deserved four points and are only coming away with one. In a short season sprint, losing these three points is brutal. For this season, it’s tough. But from a process standpoint, which again was good, there’s not much to complain about. Shesterkin will come around.
Charts from Evolving Hockey and Natural Stat Trick.
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