Rodrigues Torches Blueshirts, Paces Penguins to 7-4 Triumph

Sometime PenguinPoop contributor Caleb D’Natale loves Evan Rodrigues. So when the plucky forward tallied two first-period goals to pace the Penguins to a 7-4 triumph over the Rangers last night, Caleb zapped me a one-word text.

Elite.

Well, I don’t know about that. But it sure was good to have someone not named Sid or Jake or Geno tickle the twine.

I’ll even take a little credit for our surprising offensive outburst. Yesterday I posted an article suggesting that we needed more secondary scoring and…BOOM…our bottom nine exploded for six of our seven goals. Two by E-Rod, two by Jeff Carter and one apiece from Danton Heinen and Brock McGinn.

I’m being silly, of course. But I assure you there was nothing silly about our Game 3 triumph. Sloppy at times, yes. Nail biting? You betcha. But not silly.

You see, I’m of the mind that if we fall behind in the series, we lose. It’s beyond critical we keep a leg up on the Rangers, especially when you consider our fragile goaltending situation. Bucking the odds, we accomplished that feat last night.

The Goals

McGinn got us off to a flying start 1:57 in. The “Brock Star” pounced on a loose puck to the right of the Rangers’ net and shoveled a sharp-angle backhander toward Igor Shesterkin from below the goal line. The puck somehow rattled in off the Blueshirts’ netminder and defenseman Patrik Nemeth before the cage came off its moorings. Proving the old adage that no shot on goal is a bad shot…especially in the playoffs.

Alas, our first lead of the series didn’t last too long. Barely three minutes to be exact. Kaapo Kakko took a pretty cross-ice feed from Alexis Lafreniere and beat Louis Domingue glove side to knot the score.

Cue E-Rod. With Justin Braun in the sin bin and time ticking down on the power play, Rodrigues launched a bullet from center point. Shesterkin appeared to glove the shot, but somehow it escaped his grasp before trickling across the goal line. Planted squarely on the door step, Carter was credited with the goal.

Again the Rangers took a penalty, this time Andrew Copp for high-sticking. Again the Pens’ second power-play unit made them pay. E-Rod curled into the slot and whipped a shot-pass off the end boards. The puck bounded right back to his waiting stick blade and No. 9 wasted no time, burying it stick side. Three-one, Pens.

The black-and-gold blitz continued at 15:15. Brian Boyle made a strong play along the wall to strip the puck from Rangers rookie Braden Schneider, then slipped a backhand pass to…you guessed it…Rodrigues. E-Rod zipped the puck past a bewildered Shesterkin to give us a commanding 4-1 lead heading into the first intermission.

We even received a bonus of sorts when New York coach Gerard Gallant pulled Shesterkin in favor of backup Alexandar Georgiev. He of the .898 save percentage during the regular season.

Easy pickins’, right? Except these are our Penguins. Nothing comes easy and no lead is safe…not even a three-goal edge.

The resurgent Rangers proceeded to pound three shots past Domingue during the second period, including a pair just 67 seconds apart. The tying goal, a shorty by Copp, came following an atrocious giveaway by Kris Letang. One as abominable as Dr. Phibes could conjure up in your worst nightmare.

I’m not privy to what coach Mike Sullivan said to his troops between periods. Perhaps something to the effect that a dominant first period does not a hockey game make.

Whatever the message, it sank in. Badly outshot in the second period (17-7), the Pens flipped the script in the final frame, limiting the Blueshirts to nine shots on Domingue.

With nine minutes to play, the Pens broke through. Steaming in on the forecheck, Evgeni Malkin banged Nemeth off the puck with a stiff check. Although the big Russian tumbled to the ice, his hard play in the corner had the desired effect. The puck squirted free to the opportunistic Heinen, who beat Georgiev far side for what proved to be the game-winner. Cutting the razor-edge tension and touching off an explosive celebration among the 18,385 partisans in attendance.

Jake Guentzel and Carter tacked on empty-netters to secure a huge victory for our guys.

As for my friend Caleb? He has visions of E-Rod hoisting the Stanley Cup dancing in his head.

Puckpourri

To borrow from an old Certs commercial, it was three, three, three games in one. The Pens dominated the first and third periods…the Rangers the second.

New York held a slight edge in shot attempts (68-62), scoring chances (36-34) and high-danger chances (17-16). The Pens edged the visitors in shots on goal (37-36) and dominated the faceoff circle (59 percent). Hits were just about even (34-33) in favor of the Rangers.

How ‘bout those secondary scorers? Second star Rodrigues led the way with three points (2+1), while third star Carter registered two goals and McGinn a goal and an assist. Domingue even got into the act, assisting on E-Rod’s first goal.

Mike Matheson enjoyed a strong game offensively with three assists. Sidney Crosby chimed in with two helpers. His pass on the final empty netter, a slick setup that traversed between his own legs and Filip Chytil’s, too, nearly defies description. Is there anything Sid can’t do with the puck?

In terms of possession, the Malkin-Heinen-Kasperi Kapanen line shone (Corsi of 60). The troika seems to be developing some solid chemistry. However, the Crosby line struggled (42.86) and Carter’s unit downright tanked (23.08).

Domingue wasn’t great (32 saves, .889 save percentage) but good enough. And Tristan Jarry is back on the ice. Speaking of goaltending, I wonder if Shesterkin was 100 percent after getting road-killed by Carter late in Game 2.

On the injury front, Jason Zucker returned, bumping Drew O’Connor to the press box. Brian Dumoulin missed his second straight game. Mark Friedman again filled in.

On deck…Game 4 on Monday night at PPG Paints Arena and a chance to go up 3-1.

Around the League

The Pens aren’t the only recent Cup champion to fare well against a heavily favored opponent. The Caps throttled the Panthers, 6-1, to grab an improbable 2-1 series lead. Colorado crushed Nashville to go up 3-0. And the surprising Stars continue to stymie the Flames and all those 40-goal scorers. They’re up, 2-1, as well.