New York Rangers: Overwhelmed and outclassed by the Penguins 5-2
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.
Notes on the game
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.
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.
My three stars of the game
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
The official three stars of the game
- Teddy Blueger
- Matt Murray
- Matt Cullen