Blue Line Station
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Rangers vs Penguins preview: The competition gets tougher

By Steve Paulus

Feb 1, 2021; New York, New York, USA; Bryan Rust #17 of the Pittsburgh Penguins trips over Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers during the third period at Madison Square Garden on February 01, 2021 in New York City. The Rangers won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Sarah Stier/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 1, 2021; New York, New York, USA; Bryan Rust #17 of the Pittsburgh Penguins trips over Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers during the third period at Madison Square Garden on February 01, 2021 in New York City. The Rangers won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Sarah Stier/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 1, 2021; New York, New York, USA;Penguins trips over Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers Credit: Sarah Stier/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 1, 2021; New York, New York, USA;Penguins trips over Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers Credit: Sarah Stier/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports /

The New York Rangers are riding a three game winning streak as they continue their road trip in Pittsburgh. In the Penguins, they will be playing a team they need to pass in the standings and a team that has been exceeding expectations this season.  The Ranger haven’t had a lot of success against them and this game will be a test for the Blueshirts.

The Rangers are in sixth place with 23 points, but have closed to within four points of the Flyers and Penguins who both have 27 points.  This is the very definition of the four point game. If the Rangers can sweep the Pens, they will be tied in points.  If the Penguins sweep, the gap will double to eight points. So, even if these are not “must win” games, the Rangers need to get points even if they lose.

The main storyline that came out of Saturday’s win was the contributions of the kids in the Rangers’ lineup, but it was really the balanced scoring.  They got goals from veterans Ryan Strome and Kevin Rooney and also from the youngsters Libor Hajek, Filip Chytil and Adam Fox.

The real story of this season is the improved Rangers defense. They are allowing 2.59 goals per game, when that number was north of three for the last three years.  The last season they allowed fewer was their Presidents’ Trophy year of 2014-15.  They are allowing 29.5 shots per game and the last time they were under 30 was in that same 2014-15 season.

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