10 takeaways from 5-2 win over Penguins in Game Two

The series is all even though New York Rangers fans will argue that it should be 2-0.  The teams now head to Pittsburgh for the first games in a hostile arena.  It will be just another test for this young team of mostly playoff novices.

Here are 10 takeaways from the Rangers’ big win.

1. 124 shots

That’s how many shots the Penguins have had on Igor Shesterkin in the first two games. Okay, the first game was a triple overtime thriller so the number will be inflated, but they still have gotten 86 shots in the first two games in regulation.  That’s just too many and the reason that Gerard Gallant was unhappy after Game Two.

Even more concerning is the quality of the shots.  According to Natural Stat Trick, the Penguins had 55 high danger scoring chances to only 23 for the Rangers in the first two games and would have been expected to score 13.26 goals, but they have scored just six.  Shesterkin has been that good.

The Rangers have held the Penguins to fewer than 10 shots in a period only once in over six periods of hockey. In the regular season, the Penguins hit double figures in shots in a period only three times in 12 periods of hockey against the Blueshirts.

The Rangers are bleeding shots and they need to tighten up the defense.

2. Barclay Goodrow is out for a while

Chris Drury targeted free agent Barclay Goodrow for his veteran leadership, his versatility and his playoff experience.  Now, it looks he will be out for a while after blocking a shot early in the second period of Game One.  Here’s the play.

It looks like he was hit in the ankle or skate and that can only mean one thing, something is fractured.  Goodrow is a warrior, but it couldn’t have helped that he played another 14 minutes in the triple overtime game.

Today, Gallant said that Goodrow will “probably” not play again in this series. Ranger fans will remember that Ryan McDonagh played on a cracked ankle in the 2015 playoffs against Tampa and needed to have his foot “frozen” before each game.  So, it is possible we will see Goodrow again in the playoffs if needed.  Hockey players are crazy.

3. The spicy pork goalie

As much as the Penguins are putting on a facade about their confidence in Louis Domingue, there is a reason that he is their third string goalie and has called 11 cities home in the last seven seasons.  He was excellent in Game One, but was exposed in Game Two.  If he gets the start in any of the remaining games this series, the Rangers must take advantage as they did last night.

One interesting fact is that Domingue is lefthanded so his glove hand is his right hand.  There were 119 goalies who played in an NHL game this season and only seven catch with their right hand.  He’s the only lefty goalie in the playoffs this season too.

NHL players are instinctively going to shoot on the blocker side.  It’s what they practice, yet with Domingue, that’s his glove side.  So when Ranger players shoot, don’t be surprised to see Domingue making the glove save.  Then again, that’s precisely where Frank Vatrano beat him last night.

4. The Crosby line

So far this series, the Crosby line has been unstoppable.  They’ve scored five of the six Pittsburgh goals and have 11 of the team’s 18 points.  And that’s with the Rangers’ having the last change at home.

With Mike Sullivan having the last change, you can be sure he will try to get the Crosby line out whenever the Rangers’ kid line is on the ice.  In head to head match-ups, the trio has held their own, but have been challenged.  It’s interesting to note that the kid line was on the ice only for the Game One overtime goal and that was not scored by the Crosby line.  They haven’t been on the ice for a goal scored by the Pittsburgh top line.  In fact, that line has had the most success against the Strome line with three goals.

Don’t be surprised if Sullivan looks to match the Crosby line with the Strome line in Game Three.

5. That Crosby goal

There has been a ton of criticism about the Rangers allowing Crosby to walk in and score in Game Two. However, it was really a broken play.  Crosby carried the puck into the Rangers zone, but the Rangers actually broke up the rush.  The puck hit Jacob Trouba’s skate and bounced right to Bryan Rust who had a quality scoring chance.   Shesterkin made the save, but Crosby was there for the rebound and scored.  The Rangers actually played the Crosby rush well, but the puck luck was that it got to Rust for the shot and the biggest issue with the play was that they left Crosby all alone to get to the rebound.

Many fans bemoan the fact that no one “hit” Crosby to slow him down.  There was an interesting discussion on NHL radio about Crosby’s career-long ability to avoid checks.  He is 5’11”, so is not big by any means.  The discussion was that his low center of gravity makes it very difficult to knock him off the puck and that’s how he is able to maintain control on a rush like that.  There is some merit to that argument.

6. Hitting Igor Shesterkin

There’s been a lot of discussion about Jeff Carter’s collision with Igor Shesterkin.  The Penguins fans are claiming that the Ranger goalie stuck out his leg and that he was the one who interfered with Carter.  Look at the play.

From the first replay it does appear that Shesterkin sticks out his leg when he sees Carter approaching.  That accounts for the Pittsburgh version of the play as interference by Shesterkin.   But if you look at the second replay, Shesterkin had just avoided a collision with Adam Fox and he extended his leg to brace himself as he turned.

However, from the replays the simple fact is that there was no reason for Carter to come in contact with the goalie. He was in pursuit of Adam Fox who had the puck on the other side of the net, but Carter had plenty of time to avoid contact, which is what the rulebook says he has to do.

Here’s the wording (Section 69.4):  A goalkeeper is not “fair game” just because he is outside the goal crease. The appropriate penalty should be assessed in every case when an attacking player makes unnecessary contact with the goalkeeper.

The key question in the play in question was whether Carter made a reasonable attempt to avoid contact.  Penguins fans will say yes, Rangers fans will say no.

7. Penalties

Though Gerard Gallant is usually political when discussing the refereeing, after the game he was more pointed in his remarks about the imbalance in penalty assessment.  It was pretty remarkable that after the Rangers scored on a power play in the first period of Game One, they didn’t see another power play until the second period of Game Two.

That meant that there were no penalties called on the Penguins for 118 minutes and five seconds, almost six full periods of hockey.  Meanwhile there were six penalties called against the Rangers in that same time period.  We’ll forgive the referees for the Ryan Strome puck into the stands penalty, but there were five penalties that were discretionary, called by the refs against the Rangers versus none against Pittsburgh.

Furthermore, the cross checking penalty given to Patrick Nemeth 3:36 into Game Two was inexplicable considering the infractions that had been allowed in Game One and  earlier in Game Two, one involving Igor Shesterkin and Evan Rodrigues.  That’s our next takeaway.

8. Hitting Igor Shesterkin part 2

Coach Gerard Gallant was actually more upset about a play in the first minute of the game when Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues slewfooted Shesterkin after crosschecking Adam Fox.  Here’s the video:

Gallant has a case.  Rodrigues appears to extend his foot and trip Shesterkin, a dangerous and illegal play.  It’s very clear from the replay.

So, we had two Penguins players try to take out the Rangers’ best player, once in the first minute of play and again as the game was ending.  The NHL should be watching this situation very, very closely.

9. Artemi Panarin is what he is

Artemi Panarin was announced as the first star of the game in what seemed an effort to jump start his game and build his confidence.  Igor Shesterkin deserved the top star, but it was awarded to Panarin for his one goal and three points.

There’s no doubt that Panarin is the Rangers’ most dynamic player. He is also their most frustrating player. When asked about his game, Gallant preferred to not answer saying “Honestly, I can’t say he was real good or real bad, he got some big plays for us and the power play was really good and he was a big part of that.”  Gallant said that he doesn’t focus on individual players when coaching.  Yeah, right.

Gallant’s mantra is moving the puck forward and not making those “fancy” plays in center ice. It was one of those plays that Panarin made that was intercepted by Sidney Crosby and led to the tying goal by Jake Guentzel.   That was just two minutes after Panarin made an excellent pass to Andrew Copp for the Rangers’ first goal.  That is Panarin in a nutshell.

It’s almost comical that Panarin was trying to get the puck to Trouba in the slot when it deflected off Mike Matheson’s skate and into the net.   How fitting was it that it was a Panarin pass that resulted in a Panarin goal.

No matter how you look at him, Panarin has 11 goals and 31 points in 32 career playoff games. He has been shaky at times with 12 giveaways in the two games with at least one leading to a goal.  It may be contagious with linemate Andrew Copp just behind him with 11 giveaways.

Panarin is a gamebreaker and you need a gamebreaker to win in the playoffs.  Be glad the Rangers have him, warts and all.  If he drives Rangers fans and coaches nuts, think what he does to the opposition.

10. Chris Drury is a genius

Andrew Copp has two goals.  Frank Vatrano has a goal and two assists. Justin Braun stepped in for Ryan Lindgren and the team didn’t miss a beat and he assisted on the first Raners goal. The best news is that Tyler Motte has started skating again and while he is doubtful for this series, if the Rangers advance, we could see him again.

To think of where the Rangers would be without all of these deadline additions is frightening.  Add in Goodrow before he was injured and Dryden Hunt, his replacement last night was very effective.  Ryan Reaves has been a beast with 14 hits in the two games.  Even the much maligned Patrick Nemeth has played well in this series.

This Rangers team has looked pretty darned good in this series and they still have not played the way we know that they can.  They need to get back to the hockey that made them the second best defensive team in the NHL.