Rangers Penguins
Rangers Penguins

All good things must come to an end, and the Penguins ended the Rangers win streak at 7 games last night. The game itself was pretty even for the most part, with the Rangers dominating early before the Penguins came on strong in the second and early in the third. Both teams were surprisingly efficient defensively as well, as neither team had major lapses that led to goals.

Sometimes, you just lose a hockey game. This was a good effort by the Rangers and they just came up one short. It happens. The turning point was two penalties in a row that led to goals against, including a bad retaliation penalty by Sammy Blais, who did not play at all after. It was a bad, stupid penalty that may have actually cost them the game. Given he was benched, it’s fair to assume Julien Gauthier will find himself back in the lineup.

The missed tripping call on Brian Dumoulin at the end of the third on Mika Zibanejad was also a tough pill to swallow. These calls even out, but situationally that was rough.

Still this is one of those losses that is a “good” loss, if you believe in that. The Rangers played well, but couldn’t solve Tristan Jarry enough early on to put the game away. Jarry may have stolen this one, and he outdueled Igor Shesterkin, who was also solid in this one. These are two good teams that may meet in the playoffs. Again.

Rangers 1, Penguins 0

After Igor Shesterkin made two good saves, the Rangers trapped three Penguins deep on a 3-on-2. Vincent Trocheck gave the puck to Chris Kreider at the blue line and drove the net. Kreider’s centering feed hit off Marcus Pettersson and over Tristan Jarry’s glove. When in doubt, drive the net on an odd man rush. It stretches the defense and opens lanes.

Rangers 1, Penguins 1

Didn’t really see a defensive breakdown by the penalty kill here. Just down a man, and the Penguins scored. It happens.

Penguins 2, Rangers 1

Sammy Blais took a bad retaliation penalty, and the Penguins scored again with the man advantage. They move the puck well on the powerplay, and again took advantage of finding space. With the puck up top, Bryan Rust was able to sneak in behind the defense and deflect the point shot. Again not really a defensive breakdown. The Penguins have a good powerplay.

Penguins 3, Rangers 1

K’Andre Miller with a rare miscue, attempting to pressure the puck carrier in the neutral zone but with too much space for him to get the puck up to Jake Guentzel to start the 2 on 1 with Sidney Crosby. This left Trouba on an island, and the Penguins capitalized.

Penguins 3, Rangers 2

And just like that, the Rangers were back in it. Trocheck had an amazing move to gain the zone, and just waited out the sliding defenseman before getting the puck across to Kreider. There’s an argument that the sliding was the wrong move, but this isn’t a real defensive breakdown by the Penguins. Just a good play by Trocheck and finish by Kreider.

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