Fansided

New York Rangers: Overwhelmed and outclassed by the Penguins 5-2

By Steve Paulus |
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 25: Teddy Blueger #53 of the Pittsburgh Penguins scores a shorthanded goal at 13:12 of the second period against Alexandar Georgiev #40 of the New York Rangers and is joined by Brian Dumoulin #8 (r) at Madison Square Garden on March 25, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 25: Teddy Blueger #53 of the Pittsburgh Penguins scores a shorthanded goal at 13:12 of the second period against Alexandar Georgiev #40 of the New York Rangers and is joined by Brian Dumoulin #8 (r) at Madison Square Garden on March 25, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 25: Teddy Blueger #53 of the Pittsburgh Penguins reacts after scoring a goal in the second period against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on March 25, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 25: Teddy Blueger #53 of the Pittsburgh Penguins reacts after scoring a goal in the second period against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on March 25, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /

For a while it looked like the New York Rangers were going to build on their big win over Toronto and do the same to the Pittsburgh Penguins.  It was not to be as the Pens scored five straight goals and totally dominated the overmatched Blueshirts.

The New York Rangers jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on goals by Brendan Lemieux and Vinni Lettieri.  The Garden was rocking and Ranger fans were pinching themselves.  26 seconds later it all started to unravel and Alexandar Georgiev proved to be mortal.  The bottom line is the Rangers never had a chance.

For a while David Quinn looked like a genius.  He put Brendan Lemieux on the top line and there he was, finishing a passing play from Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.  He put Vinni Lettieri on the power play and there he was, taking a wicked one-timer off a brilliant pass from Tony DeAngelo for a 2-0 lead.

But as much of a magician that Quinn may be, he cannot play for his team and a defensive breakdown led to a Nick Bjugstad seconds after Lettieri’s goal.  At that point the Rangers decided to get into a run and gun shooting match with the Penguins  That turned out to be a fatal mistake and methodically the Penguins added four more goals for a depressing 5-2 loss for the Rangers.

The word is that Henrik Lundqvist was supposed to get the start, but told Quinn that Georgiev deserved the honor based on his fantastic effort against Toronto.  Lundqvist must have known something.  Georgiev did not have a good night and seemed to be battling the puck all night. While he was the victim of a gifted opponent, he didn’t make any spectacular saves and the final score reflected his bad night.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 25: Brendan Lemieux #48 of the New York Rangers celebrates his goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins at 8:25 of the first period at Madison Square Garden on March 25, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 25: Brendan Lemieux #48 of the New York Rangers celebrates his goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins at 8:25 of the first period at Madison Square Garden on March 25, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Notes on the game

  • It was the youth squad  as the Rangers didn’t have Marc Staal, Chris Kreider, Lundqvist or Jesper Fast in the lineup. The average age of the team in this game was 23.9, several years below the league average of 27.8.

    • Brendan Lemieux scored his third  goal as a Ranger on a special passing play from Zibanejad to Buchnevich to Lemieiux.

    When Vinni Lettieri scored it was his first point in 21 games this season.  He scored in his first NHL game last season and  he had played 38 games without a goal.  His goal was as good a one-timer as any Ranger has scored this season.

  • Jimmy Vesey has now gone 12 games without a point and is minus eight in that time. What was becoming a promising season has gone south. It is worth noting as he has one more year on his contract.
  • Fredrik Claesson got into only his seventh game since the middle of January. He had a pretty active game and took seven shots and had three hits.
  • The Penguins goals were scored by Matt Cullen, Nick Bjugstad, Justin Schultz and Teddy Blueger added a pair.  Sidney Crosby only had one assist on the power play goal so the Penguins depth really showed up in this game.

    • The Rangers outshot the Penguins in the first period 16-13.  The rest of the game it was all Penguins 23-19.

    The Rangers challenged the fifth Pittsburgh goal claiming the play was offside.  The replay seemed to indicate that it was, but the goal was upheld and the Rangers had to kill off a delay of game penalty.

    While the Rangers and Penguins took the same number of shots (58), Pittsburgh had 15 high danger scoring chances to the Rangers’ seven.

    NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 25: Vinni Lettieri #95 of the New York Rangers celebrates after scoring a goal in the first period against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden on March 25, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
    NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 25: Vinni Lettieri #95 of the New York Rangers celebrates after scoring a goal in the first period against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden on March 25, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /

    My three stars of the game

    1. Tony DeAngelo stood out as the best Ranger defenseman.  He played 22:33, the most of any player, took three shots and had two hits.  His pass to Lettieri for the power play goal was pretty amazing and he dazzled later in the game with a spin move to get to the net for a shot.
    2. Vinni Lettieri is on a short leash.  After this game, the leash is a bit longer.  He scored his first goal in 39 games,   He is the one player who follows the “shoot first” mantra of David Quinn. He took five shots, more than any other forward and was rewarded with 19:13 of ice time.
    3. Brendan Lemieux makes things happen. He scored his third goal as a Ranger and his 13th of the season.  Lemieux played 15:39, the most time on the ice of any game in his NHL career.

    Next. Buchnevich's hot streak is about positioning. dark

    The official three stars of the game

    1. Teddy Blueger
    2. Matt Murray
    3. Matt Cullen
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