Penguins Buckle Down, Blank Rangers 1-0

Playing the right way.

It’s one of coach Mike Sullivan’s favorite sayings. Following a string of shoddy efforts that would’ve embarrassed a pee-wee team, the Penguins responded the right way yesterday. Backed by a flawless 27-save bounce-back performance from Tristan Jarry, the Pens snapped an ugly three-game slide and beat back the Rangers in a taut, playoff style contest. Proving our guys can play a more disciplined game if they set their minds to it.

The game didn’t start all that well for the black and gold. Eight-seven ticks in, Rangers forward Dryden Hunt broke in on Jarry, forcing the Pens’ netminder to make a huge stop out of the gate. While we again struggled to find our legs, the visitors proceeded to dominate the first-period action, piling up a 12-6 edge in shots on goal.

The lone exception…a jaw-dropping passing sequence while on the power play with six minutes left in the period that saw every Pen on the ice touch the puck in a five-second span. However, Blueshirts goalie Igor Shesterkin snuffed Bryan Rust’s backhander from the door step.

Jarry returned the favor with a huge stop on the ever dangerous Mika Zibanejad on a 2-on-1 early in the second period. At this stage, captain Sidney Crosby stepped to the fore. Playing a surprisingly physical game (four hits), Sid’s feistiness seemed to light a fire under his teammates. Gradually the ice began to tilt in the other direction as the locals outshot the Rangers, 9-5, through the second stanza.

Matching his counterpart, Shesterkin continued to come up large with big stops on Jake Guentzel and Jeff Carter and a stunning glove save on a wicked shot by Danton Heinen from the left circle.

Just past the five-minute mark of the final period the Pens broke through while working on the power play. Kris Letang kept the play alive at the point and slipped the puck to Crosby in the corner. Sid found Rust, open in the left circle, with a short backhand pass. Rusty quickly moved the puck to Evgeni Malkin cruising through the right circle. Geno did the rest, dropping to a knee and beating Shesterkin to the stick side with a sizzling one-timer.

Having fought so hard to grab the lead, we nearly gave it away minutes later when Marcus Pettersson was whistled to the box for cross-checking Hunt. Seizing the opportunity, the Rangers pounded Jarry with seven shots. Razor-sharp, Tristan shut ‘em down.

With Shersterkin pulled for an extra attacker, No. 35 made two big stops on Zibanejad in the final minute to preserve the victory and wrap-up top-star honors, not to mention his fourth shutout of the campaign.

No, it wasn’t a wart-free performance. We’re still giving up too many odd-man breaks, especially early in periods, and secondary scoring remains an issue. But it was clearly a step in the right direction.

Puckpourri

The Rangers outshot us, 27-26, and held the edge in the faceoff circle (54 percent). It was a physical affair, with the Metro rivals combining for 82 hits (39 by the Pens).

The Pens controlled play at 5v5, attempting 40 shots to the Rangers’ 29. However, the Blueshirts were much more active on the power play, attempting 12 shots with the man advantage to the Pens’ five. Our top line continued to drive the offense with 11 shots on goal.

Sullivan reconfigured his lines, bumping slump-riddled Kasperi Kapanen to the second line beside Malkin and Heinen. The trio dominated in 5v5 plays (Corsi 81.82). Carter dropped to the third line, centering for Brock McGinn and Evan Rodrigues. They were our least effective unit in terms of possession (Corsi 41.48).

Mark Friedman filled in for Mike Matheson on the third pairing. Following a rough game against the Devils, Pettersson saw 18:04 of ice time. Old friend Ryan Reaves delivered four hits and a shot on goal in 11:18 of ice time.

Malkin has been almost quietly been asserting himself. He has three goals over his past five games and a five-game point streak. He’s tallied points in 14 of his last 15 games and in 15 of 18 games overall.

With the victory, the Pens (32-14-8, 72 points) slipped past the Rangers and into second place in the Metro. Next up…the Blue Jackets in Columbus this evening at 6 o’clock.