Rangers outscore the problems in an offensive outburst in Pittsburgh to beat Penguins
By Conor Power
This was more of a fun game than it was a coaches dream. New York overcome the poorly performing Pittsburgh Penguins in their post deadline haze. A 7-4 win in the Steel City allows the Rangers to push the lead in the division back to six points ahead of Carolina's game later tonight. New York have done their part before tomorrow, so enjoy the two points Ranger fans.
It started poorly for the Rangers when the Penguins lit the lamp three minutes. A point shot from John Ludvig went through a sea of bodies at the top of the blue paint, and Jonathan Quick never saw it. It went in over the top of the left shoulder of the veteran, and the Penguins took an early lead in this one. New York need to get it back quickly.
Thankfully, the Rangers would get it back less than a minute later. Alex Wennberg went in on the forecheck trying to turn the puck over, and he managed to knock it down to Jimmy Vesey. Vesey found a passing lane over to Kaapo Kakko and the Finnish winger was able to fire the puck in off the skate of John Ludvig, and past the Tristan Jarry to tie the game up.
Adam Fox would quickly double the Rangers total in this one when Alexis Lafreniere was tied up in front, taking away a defender. It meant Artemi Panarin was able to get the puck over to Adam Fox who walked in with his silky mitts and shelfed is on the backhand to give the Rangers the lead in this one after Pittsburgh scored less than a minute ago to break the deadlock.
Pittsburgh would tie the game up at two before the end of the first. A beautiful pass acriss the crease by Sidney Crosby got the puck onto the stick of Bryan Rust. Jonathan Quick had no shot at getting back to that one, and Rust put it home to get the Penguins onto level terms once again. With seven minutes to go in the first period here, this was going to be a fun game.
New York would grab its lead back with the second line would sparkle again. Vincent Trocheck would lay a beautiful pass onto the stick of Artemi Panarin and the Breadman would put it home. All the work was done by Trocheck on that pass that left Panarin with an open net, and the Rangers took control once again.
On the powerplay, the Penguins would knot the game up. Some pretty passing would let the Penguins work an open man at the back post after Adam Fox got stung blocking a shot. Effectively a 5-on-3 with the stricken star Ranger defenseman, Michael Bunting finds a passing lane through to Lars Eller who is able to put home the puck. Fox stayed on the bench which was the most important thing here, but the Rangers had to score again.
New York's powerplay would restore the Rangers lead before the end of the period. A point shot would let Chris Kreider fight with the netminder and several Penguins for a loose puck in front, which allowed the big man to kick the puck over to Artemi Panarin. Panarin would put the puck into the top of the net, his second of the night, and the Blueshirts once again led the Penguins.
On a powerplay following on from the first one when Kris Letang got called for unsportsmanlike conduct, the Rangers would go tic-tac-toe. Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider would send the puck across the ice to each other before Kreider would fire the puck into the slot for Mika Zibanejad who was driving the net. Mika put it home and the Rangers now had the first multiple-goal lead of the night.
New York would further extend the lead early in the third. K'Andre Miller fluttered the puck on net from the point. With Trocheck sat out in front, it may have hit the Pittsburgh native, but it went in either way, meaning that the Rangers now were up 6-3 and in complete control. It was a carbon copy of the first goal of this game when John Ludvig fired one on through a crowd that Quick didn't see.
Pittsburgh would strike to cut into the lead with 12 minutes to go. A three-on-one would see the Pens break into the offensive zone and Lindgren is trying to block the pass through the middle of the ice. It goes straight across to Valtteri Puustinen and he buries it to make it a 6-4 game with plenty of time left to go for this game to get interesting. A rare mistake from Adam Fox allowed that, but he has made up for that tonight.
Chis Kreider would be the one to scamper the puck into the empty net with 18 seconds remaining and the Rangers would excape Pittsburgh with the two points. An offensive gong-show where both teams were scoring beauties, and chasing starting goaltender Tristan Jarry, the Rangers had a great display in this matinee and prepare for a St Patty's day clash with the Islanders tomorrow.