With the chance to pull even with a win in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night at Madison Square Garden the Rangers instead allowed three first-period goals en-route to a stunning 5-0 defeat in Game Four.
“We picked a very bad night to have a very bad game,” stated head coach Alain Vigneault.
Now trailing three games to one, the Rangers face playoff elimination Saturday when they next face the Penguins in Game Five in Pittsburgh. It is the third time in three years the Rangers have trailed 3-1 in a post-season series. New York rallied from 3-1 down to oust the Penguins in the second round of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs and then did the same in the second round against the Washington Capitals in 2015.
“Obviously we’re disappointed in the position we’re in and frustrated with how things turned out tonight,” said alternate captain Marc Staal. “Now it’s done and all we can do is focus on the next game, going into Pittsburgh, playing a great game and trying to get a win.”
Henrik Lundqvist allowed four goals on 18 shots before being removed from this game just 6:06 into the second period. His night started poorly when he gave up a big rebound and was beaten on an Eric Fehr putback just 69 seconds into the game, putting the Rangers in an early 1-0 hole.
Things did not get better from there as Patric Hornqvist was credited with a power play goal at 7:11 and Conor Sheary made it 3-0 at 16:12 of the first period. Lundqvist was beaten on a double deflection with Sidney Crosby first redirecting an Evgeni Malkin shot before the puck deflected off Hornqvist’s leg for Pittsburgh’s second goal. Sheary stole the puck from Kevin Klein and took off on a breakaway, eventually snapping a short-side shot past Lundqvist for the Penguins third goal.
“I’m not going to analyze it too much–I’m just going to say I was not good enough,” said Lundqvist. “It was just a really bad game. I need to be better, simple as that. It’s disappointing, no question.”
Malkin made it 4-0 at the four-minute mark of the second period by ripping a shot past Lundqvist as Hornqvist skated through the low slot. Pittsburgh ended up 3-for-6 on the power play Thursday night and is now 7-for-19 in the series, scoring at least one power play goal in each of the first four games. Conversely the Rangers were 0-for-4 on the power play in Game Four and are now just 1-for-16 in the series.
Pittsburgh’s top guns were the difference-makers on Thursday. Malkin notched his first two goals of the series and added two assists. Crosby had a pair of helpers and now has six points in the first four games; and Hornqvist scored his team-high fourth goal of the series and also contributed an assist.
“When you play a team with a lot of confidence and really skilled players you have to be on top of things otherwise they’re going to take advantage of mistakes,” explained Lundqvist.
Lundqvist remained in the game for another two minutes after the Malkin goal, but during the first television timeout of the second period he was removed from the game. Antti Raanta came in and immediately faced a four-minute Penguin power play after Tanner Glass was assessed a double minor for high sticking at 6:14. Raanta and the Rangers survived, and Raanta went on to stop all nine shots he faced the rest of the period.
Malkin beat Raanta 3:28 into the third period for a power play goal that made it 5-0. It was the only goal Raanta allowed on 14 shots.
At the other end of the ice the Rangers did apply more pressure on rookie goaltender Matt Murray then they did in Tuesday’s 3-1 loss in Game Three, but it was not nearly enough. There were more missed opportunities by the Rangers–swings and misses at loose rebounds, a botched 2-on-1 shorthanded rush, a bucketful of shots that sailed high and/or wide of the intended target–then there were timely saves by Murray, though the 21 year-old did make a terrific diving stick save against a wide-open Eric Staal with 2:36 remaining in the first period and a real good blocker save on a Dan Boyle power play bomb in the second.
Murray finished with 31 saves to earn his first career NHL playoff shutout.
“We are disappointed, angry and frustrated, but at the same time you can’t let that go to your head,” offered Mats Zuccarello. “The past is the past, we have to think positive and drag each other and do this together. We’re not going to get anywhere by thinking negative.”
The loss was New York’s fifth straight on home ice in the post-season, dating to Game Two of the 2015 Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Rangers incredibly have managed just three goals in those five defeats.
To get another opportunity on home ice the Rangers would have to stay alive with a victory in Game Five on the road Saturday. Should they accomplish that, the Blueshirts would host Game Six at The Garden next Monday night.
“It’s the playoffs, game to game can change very quickly,” stated Marc Staal. “It’s a brand-new game next game. We have to grind one out and try and get a win.”
Jim Cerny
BlueshirtsUnited.com
