Rangers 3rd period comeback not enough in 4-2 loss to Penguins
In one of the strangest games of this season the New York Rangers lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins for the fifth time in six games. The loss dropped the team seven points out of a playoff spot and in serious trouble
Why was it a strange game? Many reasons.
- Jack Johnson scored a goal for the Rangers.
- The Rangers allowed three late goals, the first by Jake Guentzel with 1:06 left in the first period. The second by Kasperi Kapanen with 20 seconds left in the second and a third empty net goal by Sidney Crosby with 33 seconds left in the game.
- The Rangers held the Penguins to only one shot on goal in the third period and that shot went in, Crosby’s empty net goal.
- The Rangers outshot the Penguins 15-1 in the third period and both teams came out of the period with one goal.
- The Rangers set a new franchise record for hits with 58.
- Both Ranger goals went in off Penguins defenseman John Marino’s legs.
- The Penguins blocked 23 shots.
What wasn’t unusual was that the Rangers lost as they blew a 1-0 lead allowing two crippling late period goals and a devastating shorthanded goal just 2:40 into the second period. The timing of all of the Penguins goals were the last thing the fragile Rangers needed and they didn’t recover until the third period.
After the game, Coach David Quinn and his players pointed to the third period comeback as a positive. It’s true that Pavel Buchnevich had two opportunities to score at the end of the game,but Tristan Jarry stood on his head and denied the Rangers for the win.
A dominant third period is small consolation when a team cannot take advantage. The Rangers have gone into the third period trailing eight times and have lost them all. This was their best effort of any of those games, but they still came up short.
Here’s a full video recap of the game.
Notes on the game
The Rangers previous record for hits in a game had been 57, achieved twice. The first time was in 2008 against the Devils and was equaled in 2019 against the Penguins.
Kevin Rooney and Phil Di Giuseppe led the way with seven hits each. Chris Kreider and Ryan Lindgren were next with six each.
The 23 blocked shots were the most against the Rangers since the Edmonton Oilers had 24 blocks on New Year’s Eve 2019, a 7-5 Ranger loss.
This was the eighth game this year that the Rangers have allowed a goal in the last two minutes of a period and their record in those games is 3-4-1.
This is the kind of game that makes the advanced statistics folks crazy. The Rangers possession statistics for the game were fabulous as they had a team Corsi For percentage of 59.1%. Only one Ranger player Pavel Buchnevich was under 50% Corsi For. if you looked at the possession stats, the Rangers win this game handily. Two timely goals and a shorthanded tally put a bullet in those stats.
The Rangers stayed out of the penalty box, giving up only one power play which they killed. That makes 15 out of 17 games not allowing a power play goal and 52 of 54 killed.
Kasper Kapanen is becoming a Ranger killer with three goals and seven points in six games. Sidney Crosby is right behind him with three goals and six points.
The Rangers won 35 faceoffs and lost 29. Kevin Rooney won eight of 11, Brett Howden won seven of 11 and Colin Blackwell was perfect on three.
When Jack Johnson scored, it snapped a 32 game scoreless streak, 36 games including the Stanley Cup Qualifier. The team scoreless streak distinction now belongs to Brett Howden who has not scored a goal in 30 straight regular season games along with the three game qualifier.
In the “only luck is bad luck” category, the Penguins tied the game 1-1 on a play when Ryan Lindgren’s stick broke in half when he was trying to clear the defensive zone. The puck stayed in and the Pens got control and got the puck to Jake Guentzel who had an open shot. The stick just shattered when Lindgren tried to make the pass. Why does that happen?
Teddy Blueger’s shorthanded goal was the third given up by the Rangers, second most in the NHL and tied with the Capitals for the most in the East Division.
This season, eight of the 67 goals scored by the Rangers have come from defensemen, 11.9%. Last season the defense scored 44 of 233 or 18.9%. That number is certainly affected by the loss of Tony DeAngelo who scored15 of those goals.
My 3 Rangers stars of the game
- Julien Gauthier can hear the footsteps of Vitali Kravtsov coming near. His play has gotten a little more desperate and he is carrying the puck deep and throwing checks with abandon. Gauthier’s defense has also improved immensely, so he get the first star while he is still playing.
- Keith Kinkaid didn’t have much work in the third period and he was helped by the posts, but he kept the Rangers in the game in the first two periods with some fine saves. He faced 26 shots over the first two periods.
- . Jack Johnson scored a goal and played a solid game. For that, he gets the third star.
The official 3 stars
- Sidney Crosby
- Tristan Jarry
- Teddy Blueger
East Division
Scores
Penguins 4, Rangers 2
Islanders 2, Bruins 1 (SO)
Flyers 5, Sabres 4 (SO)
Capitals 5, Devils 4 (OT)
Standings
1- Islanders 26 16-6-4 36 points
2- Washington 25 15-6-4 34 points
3- Pittsburgh 25 15-9-1 31 points
4- Boston 23 13-6-4 30 points
5- Philadelphia 23 13-7-3 29 points
6- Rangers 24 10-11-3 23 points
7- New Jersey 22 8-11-3 19 points
8- Buffalo 23 6-14-4 16 points
What’s next
From the frying pan and into the fire as the Rangers travel to Boston to take on the Bruins who dropped into fourth place. The next game is Thursday night against the Bruins.
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