Penguins Rattle Lundqvist: Dump Rangers 4-1

Oh no. Here we go again.

Those were my thoughts last night as I watched the Rangers celebrate Chris Kreider’s second-period goal on the big-screen TV at Wright’s Gym.

Indeed, the game was following an all-too-familiar script. An on-ice version of the movie Groundhog Day, where the same scenario keeps repeating. One that’s resulted in a horrid 2-10-1 mark for the Penguins in their past 13 regular-and-postseason games against New York prior to Thursday’s contest.

Tight. Low scoring. Can’t beat Henrik Lundqvist to save our…(souls).

Then something wonderful happened. With a flash of his marvelous hands, Pens captain Sidney Crosby poked a wayward carom off the end boards into King Henrik’s pads. Lundqvist did the rest…propelling the puck over his own goal line with an awkward, backward tumble.

First goal we’d scored against him in nearly 100 minutes.

Like the Berlin Wall, Lundqvist’s aura of invincibility crumbled. Actually, he’d shown signs of mortality minutes earlier, when the perennial All-Star flipped his goal cage off its moorings in a pique after being run over by teammate Ryan McDonagh. Left for road kill by the referees, he earned a delay of game penalty and suffered a neck injury to boot.

Sensing No. 30’s sudden vulnerability, the Penguins pounced. Twenty-one seconds after Sid’s watershed tally, Evgeni Malkin jumped on a juicy Trevor Daley rebound and ripped it through a tiny opening under Lundqvist’s right arm. With 34 tics left on the second-period clock and Keith Yandle in the box, Patric Hornqvist redirected Phil Kessel’s low laser with a Swedish safecracker’s touch past his countryman for his fifth goal in three games and a 3-1 Penguins lead.

Three goals in 99 seconds. Textbook execution of coach Mike Sullivan’s plan to get bodies and pucks to the net.

“We tried to play a solid game and go to the net,” said Malkin, who led the way with a three-point effort. “It’s like the playoffs.”

Mind you, it wasn’t a perfect game. Although Chris Kunitz and Ian Cole rattled Rangers Tanner Glass and Viktor Stalberg with booming checks, New York outhit us by a wide margin (37-24). They won the faceoff battle, too. The Pens sat back a little too much for my taste in the third period, shifting into prevent-defense mode and allowing the Broadway Blueshirts to carry the play.

Fortunately, Marc-Andre Fleury—with a little help from his friends—held the visitors in check (27 saves on the night). Still, I didn’t exhale until Kessel slid his 20th goal into a vacant Rangers net with about two minutes remaining. Then I clapped my hands and let out a victory whoop.

Bottom line? We beat the Rangers. And—never mind how—we chased Lundqvist.

How sweet it is!

Porter Injured

Kevin Porter left the game late in the first period after becoming entangled with Stalberg in the corner. The Detroit native fell and hit the boards skates-first, causing his right leg to bend at an odd angle.

Porter underwent ankle surgery today and is expected to miss 12 weeks, effectively ending his season.

In 41 games for the Pens the versatile forward tallied three assists while filling a variety of roles. The former Hobey Baker winner is fourth among black-and-gold forwards with 96 hits. Porter won 50.6 percent of his faceoffs.

Archibald Summoned

In a corresponding move, the Penguins called up right wing Josh Archibald from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton today.

Known for his blazing speed, the 5’10” 176-pounder was the Pens’ sixth-round choice out of the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2011. A big-time scorer in college, the 2014 Hobey Baker finalist tallied eight goals and six assists in 51 games with the Baby Pens this season.