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It’s the playoffs, what did you expect?

By Steve Paulus

PITTSBURGH, PA - MAY 07: Alexis Lafrenière #13 of the New York Rangers goes for a loose puck in front of Louis Domingue #70 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period in Game Three of the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG PAINTS Arena on May 7, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - MAY 07: Alexis Lafrenière #13 of the New York Rangers goes for a loose puck in front of Louis Domingue #70 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period in Game Three of the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG PAINTS Arena on May 7, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 05: Ryan Strome #16 of the New York Rangers skates against Louis Domingue #70 of the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Two of the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 05, 2022 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Penguins 5-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 05: Ryan Strome #16 of the New York Rangers skates against Louis Domingue #70 of the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Two of the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 05, 2022 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Penguins 5-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Don’t blame injuries

The Rangers have lost Barclay Goodrow to an apparent broke ankle and Ryan Lindgren is out as well.  Those are tough losses, but the Penguins are down their top two goalies along with forward Rickard Rakell and top pair blueliner Brian Dumoulin.

There was no news on Sunday regarding Ryan Lindgren.  Gerard Gallant said they will know more when takes the ice for the morning skate.

This has been an insane playoffs when it comes to goalies.  Besides the Penguins, we’ve see Carolina’s Antti Raanta run over and Colorado’s Darcy Kuemper struck in the face by a stick that got through his goalie mask.  Not only that, but Frederik Andersen, Tristan Jarry and Juuse Saros are all number one goalies out with injuries.

There will be injuries and they will affect the results, but you have to win 16 games to win the Cup and may have to play 28 games to do it.  There will be injuries and it’s how teams cope with injuries that is part of winning it all.

Don’ blame the referees

While the number of penalties handed out by the refs in this series was one-sided for most of the first three games, any belief that they are favoring the Penguins went out the window when they handed the Rangers three straight power plays in Game Three.  The fact that the Blueshirts couldn’t score rests on their own shoulders.

In fact, if you want to blame anyone, blame the situation room in Toronto.  They are the ones that made the call on the Chytil goal in Game One and the first Penguins goal in Game Three.  The on-ice officials called Chytil’s goal a good goal and waved off the McGinn goal.

It’s when the penalties are called that is important.  They put the whistles away in the triple overtime, a decision that we all should be thankful for.  They did call early penalties on the Rangers in the second and third games and both calls were iffy.  But those three penalties in Game Three gave the Rangers a chance to win and they couldn’t do it.

Experience matters

If there is one factor that is becoming apparent, it’s that their prior playoff experience has helped Pittsburgh.  Chris Kreider brought it up in his postgame remarks saying “It was a good learning experience for our group, first period at least. First road period on the road in the playoffs.”  The young Rangers were might have been off balance at the start of the game and the Penguins took advantage.

You have to credit the Penguins for recovering after they let the Rangers tie the score and that they were able to get through the three penalties and score the winning goal.  No matter how you look at it, the Rangers are still the youngest team in the postseason and the Penguins haven’t missed the playoffs since 2006 when Alexis Lafrenière was in kindergarten.

Was Igor Shesterkin a little off due to the “Eeee-gor” chant from the fans?  You would think not, but it’s possible it affected his concentration just a bit.

What about Shesterkin?

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