Penguins Bury Rangers 5-0

Paced by the spotless goaltending of rookie Matt Murray and a four-point effort from resurgent Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins dismantled the Rangers 5-0 in Game 4 of their opening-round playoff matchup last night to grab a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Malkin, in particular, silenced his critics with a glowing performance, proving once again that—when healthy—he ranks among hockey’s elite.

“I started to play a little better,” Malkin said with typical modesty. “More confidence. I think my line played not bad tonight.”

Down 2 games to 1, New York used Kris Letang’s unpunished high stick on Viktor Stalberg in Game 3 to stoke their competitive fires. Rugged Kevin Klein ran Letang on the opening shift, while feisty Mats Zuccarello barreled into Patric Hornqvist.

The bullying failed miserably. In fact, nothing the Rangers tried seemed to work.

The Penguins, you see, were on a mission. Determined to pick up right where they left off in Game 3, they attacked the Rangers’ net from the opening faceoff. Henrik Lundqvist coughed up a juicy rebound on a hard shot by Ben Lovejoy and Eric Fehr crashed the net…literally…to drive the puck home.

As play-by-play announcer Paul Steigerwald so aptly noted, the Penguins never looked back.

Shrugging off New York’s body-banging blitz, the black and gold struck on the power play near the seven-minute mark. Gathering in a pass from Letang in the high slot, Malkin unleashed a shot that was masterfully deflected by Sidney Crosby before tickling the twine.

Conor Sheary capped a near-perfect period of hockey for the visitors at 16:12. After picking Klein’s pocket, the speedy little winger raced the length of the ice and beat Lundqvist high to the stick side.

The onslaught continued in the second frame. Seeking redemption following a porous first period, Lundqvist stopped Grade-A chances by Hornqvist and Phil Kessel. Then chippy ex-Pen Dominic Moore tackled Malkin, roughing up No. 71 in the process.

Bad idea. Or as the late Jim Croce used to sing…don’t tug on Superman’s cape.

On the ensuing power play, Geno skated into a beautiful feed from Crosby with a full head of steam and ripped the puck past Lundqvist for his first postseason tally since 2014. It was game, set and match for the harried goalie. Moments later “King Henrik” was replaced by Antti Raanta.

With Lovejoy in the box for holding the stick, the Rangers mounted a last-gasp push late in the period. But Murray came up big, stopping a pair of shots by dangerous Dan Boyle. All told, the Thunder Bay native made 31 saves in a flawless big-game performance.

“He’s never out of position,” Hornqvist marveled. “He’s always there. It seems like everything hits him in the chest.”

The rest of the game was anticlimactic. Malkin continued to turn Madison Square Garden into his personal playground. Shaking off a wicked slash from J.T. Miller early in the final frame, the rangy Russian swooped from behind the net like a giant bird of prey to redirect a Brian Dumoulin setup past a helpless Raanta. It was Geno’s second power-play tally and fourth point of the night.

Not bad, indeed.