Penguins Clip Rangers 3-1 in Game 3

It was a delicious win. One that featured a little bit of everything for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Timely scoring, clutch goaltending, superb penalty killing, a relentless forecheck…even physical play.

Indeed, last night’s 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals reflected a return to the form that resulted in 14 wins for the black and gold during their final 16 regular-season contests.

Credit Mike Sullivan and the coaching staff. In the wake of an alarming Game 2 loss on Saturday, he refused to push the panic button. He stuck with young defenseman Olli Maatta, who’s skating seemed suspect since returning from an undisclosed lower-body injury. A glaring giveaway aside, Maatta rewarded Sully with 21-plus minutes of reasonably sound defense.

The Pens’ skipper had the good sense to make one big change. He replaced Jeff Zatkoff, who’d done an admirable job between the pipes in Games 1 and 2, with Matt Murray. The supercool rookie proved to be a most welcome addition. Murray turned aside 16 of 17 shots to earn his first-ever playoff victory and the game’s No. 3 star.

“I thought he was real solid,” Sullivan said. “He’s got a real calm demeanor in there. I think he reads plays well. He was tracking the puck. When he needed to make the timely saves for us, he did.”

Still feeling their oats following an impressive performance in Game 2, the Rangers appeared to draw first blood on a power-play goal by Chris Kreider at 12:56 of the opening frame. But Sullivan won a coach’s challenge, claiming Pittsburgh native J.T. Miller was offside on the play. The goal was disallowed.

Undaunted, New York snatched the lead for real on the opening shift of the second period when Rick Nash rambled into the Pens’ zone and beat Murray on a shorthanded breakaway. The locals continued to play on the edge when Trevor Daley and Evgeni Malkin were whistled for minor infractions early in the period.

Led by Nick Bonino, the Penguins’ penalty-killers rose to the occasion. Slowly but surely the momentum began to shift. Aided by what assistant coach Rick Tocchet called “sticky play” in the traffic areas, the Pens began to pressure the New York net.

Initially Henrik Lundqvist (28 saves) was up to the task, stopping Kris Letang on a dazzling spin-o-rama attempt. But the Pens, aided by a hooking call on Marc Staal at the 19-minute mark, finally broke through.

Forty-two seconds before the horn Phil Kessel threaded a seeing-eye pass through Rangers defender Ryan McDonagh to Sidney Crosby at the far post. In a remarkable display of skill, the Pens’ captain deadened his hands and redirected Kessel’s hard feed past Lundqvist to knot the score. It was Sid’s first postseason power-play tally since 2013.

“It was a great pass,” Crosby said. “I didn’t think [Kessel] could get it through. I had my stick on the ice and I don’t know how he got it through. It just found a way to hit my stick and go in.”

The Pens continued to dominate with a chip ‘n’ chase attack in the final period, while holding the Rangers to a paltry four shots on goal. At 4:16 they grabbed the lead on a play by veteran Matt Cullen that was pure hustle.

Skating with his typical verve, No. 7 swatted a loose puck away from colliding Rangers defensemen Dan Boyle and Keith Yandle high in the New York end. Cullen turned on the jets and beat Lundqvist through the five hole for the eventual game winner.

Following several failed attempts at a vacant Rangers net, Letang potted an empty-netter in the closing seconds to make the final score 3-1. The victory earned the Pens a 2-1 series lead.

“It goes back to playing the game the right way,” Sullivan said afterward. “I thought we did a real good job of puck management.”

Line Juggling

Sullivan reunited the Cullen-Tom Kuhnhackl–Bryan Rust trio that worked so well down the homestretch. Eric Fehr moved to right wing on a line with Malkin and Conor Sheary. The speedy Sheary also saw considerable ice time alongside Crosby and Patric Hornqvist, while Malkin occasionally shared the ice with old linemates Kessel and Carl Hagelin.

The result? The Pens had more balance and flow while matching their Game 2 output of 31 shots on goal.