Refusing to play the role of postseason patsy, the New York Rangers walloped the Pittsburgh Penguins with a Game 2 counterpunch yesterday afternoon at Consol Energy Center.
The result?
A brisk 4-2 Rangers win. Not to mention a knotted up Eastern Conference quarterfinals matchup with the venue shifting to the unfriendly confines of Madison Square Garden for Games 3 and 4. And a harsh dose of playoff reality for our Pens.
So much for any thoughts of a sweep…or an easy series.
Give New York credit. Borrowing a page from the Penguins’ book, the Rangers employed a smothering forecheck to take away time and space. They leaned on the smaller Pens but plenty, outhitting the black and gold 57 to 25—including a whopping 22-4 in the first period. And they capitalized on opportunities.
Most important, they received superb goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist—who rebounded from a freak Game 1 injury to stop 29 shots—while exposing Pens super sub Jeff Zatkoff.
In stark contrast the series opener when his heroics stole the show, Zatkoff was merely mortal. In particular, he yielded a crusher of a goal to Chris Kreider on a stoppable low wrister just 39 seconds into the third period.
Still, for a time it appeared things might go the Pens’ way. Following a scoreless first period, Phil Kessel struck on the power play early in the second stanza to stake the home team to a 1-0 lead. Given how the Penguins had dominated second periods during the regular season—and how well Zatkoff played through the first 30 minutes—they had reason to feel confident.
The magic dust soon wore off. Thanks to a defensive-zone lapse, Pittsburgh native J. T. Miller (three assists) found teammate Keith Yandle sneaking in the back door at 12:38 with a nice cross-ice pass. Zatkoff had no chance.
With disturbing swiftness, the locals unraveled. On the ensuing rush, Derick Brassard got a step on Olli Maatta and beat Zatkoff to the wide-open stick side. Suddenly, it was 2-1 Rangers.
Minutes later Mats Zuccarello slipped through the right circle undetected and converted another made-to-order feed from Miller for the eventual game winner. Sandwiched between tallies, Lundqvist stopped Bryan Rust cold on a breakaway.
Then came Kreider’s coffin-sealer early in the final frame.
Down 4-1, all the Pens could do was make a statement for Game 3. Kessel notched his second power-play goal of the afternoon to pare New York’s lead to two. Chris Kunitz whacked hulking Marc Staal with his stick and swapped punches with Kevin Klein.
Coach Mike Sullivan yanked Zatkoff with three minutes left as the Pens pressed furiously for a game-changing goal. Lundqvist was up to the task, snuffing out a volley of shots from point-blank range.
“When you’re playing in the playoffs, you can’t get too low when something bad happens,” noted Pens defenseman Ben Lovejoy. “You have to find a way to get past it. We spiraled a little bit out of control for five, six minutes, and that was the big difference in the game.”
Malkin and Rust Return
Superstar Evgeni Malkin returned to the lineup for Game 2, along with the energetic Rust. Justin Schultz and Oskar Sundqvist joined Derrick Pouliot in the press box as healthy scratches.
Although Malkin betrayed few ill effects from an injury that kept him sidelined for over a month, he seemed a bit tentative. Indeed, the big center failed to register a shot five on five for the first time since November 21. Still, Geno finished second in ice time to Sidney Crosby (19:29) and assisted on the Pens’ second goal.
Rust played just over six minutes. The speedy Michigan native had been out since March 29 with an unspecified lower-body injury.
Hi Rick,
3 out of the 4 goals scored by the Rangers yesterday were NOT the fault of Jeff Zatkoff. The team in front of him was the reason. Many missed defense responsibilities by the Pen’s players and failure to make adjustments to the Rangers fore check from the second period on. The Rangers forced the Pen’s to play in their own end and never allowed the Pen’s to get to their transition game using their speed to over whelm the Rangers d men.
Zatkoff played well and he prevented at least 3 goals himself yesterday.
MAF, Murray,even Lundqvist would not have stopped 3 of those 4 goals scored on him.He was hung out to dry.I hope he can go again in Game 3.
Moving forward our transition game has to better and we can not turn the puck over in our zone as we did.( Maatta). In Game 2 we beat ourselves and that can not happen again. I am confident Coach Sullivan will be trying to change the tempo for Game 3. We must play better defensively and remember the Rangers will get their Captain and star d man back as well !
Wasn’t that a pretty play by Bonino,Daley and Kessel on the first goal we scored? They come any better than that !
Cheers .
Hey Jim,
Perhaps I’m judging Zatkoff a bit harshly. But I thought he was off his angle on the Brassard goal. So that’s two I felt he could’ve stopped. But he certainly didn’t lose the game single-handed. The Pens really broke down for that five or six minute stretch.
Let’s hope it’s not a harbinger of things to come. The Rangers—who played a terrific game—did a great job of pressuring our defense. We saw the results. Our ‘d’ isn’t built to stand and defend for extended chunks of time. They need to move the puck to the forwards…quickly.
Along those lines, I’m not sure I’m a fan of playing Lovejoy over Schultz (and Pouliot). Again, I’m not a Lovejoy hater. I think he’s done a good job for us this season—especially in a third-pairing role. But if moving the puck out of our zone becomes an issue, perhaps you opt for more mobility back there.
Oh well…I’ve got to trust Sullivan’s judgment. He’s been spot-on 99.9% of the time.
I agree…our first goal was a thing of beauty. Talk about a tic-tac-toe passing sequence! Part of what makes this team so much fun to watch.
Hopefully Malkin will be a little more in sync in Game 3. Rust, too. I thought he was a half-step behind his usual warp-speed self. When he’s flying, Rust has the ability to break down an opponent’s defensive structure all by himself.
Go Pens!
Hi Rick,
Point taken my friend. Maybe I am wearing Rose colored glasses when looking at Zatkoff. I guess I was pleasantly surprised at the quality saves he has made during the past 2 games. There were many shots that I thought were sure goals and he stopped them.
For a third round goalie I thought this guy played way above his pay grade. That is why I believe to date,Jeff Zatkoff has not been the weak link in our team.
Transition and turnovers ! To me that is where we have to get better as a Team and I believe we will. Sullivan will work on those areas in practice and having an extra day to regroup can only help the Pens.
Game 3 will be a physical one and of great importance to us and to reset the series.
Tuesday will be a great game.
Cheers.