First Period:
Second Period:
Third Period:
- Evgeni Malkin (8) (Power Play) Assists: Sidney Crosby (34), Bryan Rust (22)
Stats:
Adam Rotter:
- This was basically a playoff game and the exact kind of game the Rangers should expect to face, possibly against Pittsburgh, once the regular season ends. It was chippy, tough, defensive, and featured great goaltending. This is what the Rangers have ahead of them and what they will need to learn from and adjust.
- I thought that the Rangers came out strong in the first 10 minutes or so, but after that Pittsburgh raised their level of play, started clogging things up and and Tristan Jarry, surprisingly, was equal to Igor Shesterkin. I thought at times that the Penguins were a little quicker and won some more battles, but overall I thought that the Rangers matched them pretty well.
- The Rangers had some PP chances and certainly could have had the advantage with all the 4-on-4 play, but they weren’t able to convert.
- I was glad that they went with Igor Shesterkin today in the division game and tougher of the back-to-back. Alex Georgiev will likely go tomorrow night and he’ll be able to start answering the question of whether the Rangers need to find a way to upgrade from him or not.
- We know that the Rangers are without Kaapo Kakko and have been without Filip Chytil for the last two, but in games like this, you really see the divide between the top-six and bottom-six when it comes to offensive potential. The Rangers will only go as far as their big guys will take them, with the caveat that Igor Shesterkin might be able to overcome any issue, but they will need someone to step up with some secondary scoring. That player, though, may not be on the team yet.
- Again, this is what the Rangers are going to keep facing down the stretch and into the playoffs. It was the first game like this that this group has played since Carolina swept them out of the bubble. The Rangers are going to need to find a way to create offense when things get clogged up and their PP might not be able to convert. There is a question of sorts for how guys like Panarin, Strome, and Zibanejad will react to less time and space and games like this. I don’t think you can make proclamations one way or the other based on today’s game, but they are going to need to adjust or have a Plan B for how to create offense when guys develop like this.
- Tomorrow the Rangers host the Canucks and JT Miller. The buzz on Miller being available seems to have calmed down and the feeling is that the Canucks will hold on to Miller unless someone blows them away.