A late second-period meltdown cost the Rangers dearly Thursday night in a 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at CONSOL Energy Center. Pittsburgh scored three goals in less than two minutes to wipe out a 1-0 Rangers lead and turn the game permanently in its favor.
The loss snapped the Rangers three-game winning streak and was a rough start to a difficult three-games-in-four-nights stretch which continues Friday night in Washington with a clash against the league-leading Capitals and concludes Sunday at Madison Square Garden against the Islanders.
The two teams played scoreless hockey for nearly 37 minutes before Chris Kreider scored off the rush to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 16:50 of the second period. However instead of seizing the momentum, the Rangers proceeded to surrender three goals in a span of one minute 39 seconds and stunningly arrive at the second intermission trailing by the score of 3-1.
Up until that point the game had been an impressive goaltending duel between Henrik Lundqvist and Marc-Andre Fleury. Lundqvist, in particular, made several sensational stops, including a quick dart from left to right to deny Nick Bonino on a two-on-one rush 11:20 into the first period and a lightning-fast pad save on former teammate Carl Hagelin’s trunaround shot from the slot at 4:58 of the second.
Shortly after that save on Hagelin, Lundqvist lost his temper with the officials following a collision in his crease in which he lost his stick and was knocked to the ice by the combination of teammate Ryan McDonagh and Pittsburgh’s Patric Hornqvist. With no penalty called play resumed as the Penguins reentered the Rangers zone, Lundqvist turned around, lifted the net off its stancions and shoved it hard against the back boards.
Lundqvist was assessed a delay of game penalty and was fortunate not to be penalized more as he chased after the referees to argue his case while being booed loudly by the Penguins fans.
To his credit Lundqvist settled down, helped the Rangers kill off the Penguins power play and continued to perform at a high level.
Kreider then opened the scoring, beating Fleury with a short side shot from left wing. His 14th goal of the season–and third in the past four games–was started by McDonagh’s lone breakout pass from his end of the rink to Mats Zuccarello at the Penguins blue line. Zuccarello then skated in, dished the puck to his left, and Kreider deftly managed to kick the puck out of his skates and to his stick before snapping his shot into the back of the net.
Less than a minute later a great individual effort by Sidney Crosby tied the game, 1-1. Off a bad bounce on a dump in, Crosby was able to chip a pass/shot from behind the goal line off of Lundqvist, with the puck just able to end up in the net before the Rangers netminder could yank it back out at 17:47.
With the crowd on its feet roaring and taunting Lundqvist, the Penguins struck again 21 seconds later to grab a 2-1 lead. Evgeni Malkin accepted a pass from Chris Kunitz and zipped a right wing shot far side past Lundqvist at 18:08 and the Rangers were back on their heels and reeling.
It only got worse when Keith Yandle was whistled for an interference penalty at 18:43 and the Penguins struck for a power play goal with 34 seconds remaining before intermission. Patric Hornqvist was credited with the goal, as Malkin earned one of the assists to give him two points on the night.
When the third period started Antti Raanta was between the pipes for New York, and Lundqvist, who stopped 19 of the 22 shots he faced in two periods of play, was back in the dressing room and not on the bench.
Raanta saw little action as the Penguins settled into more of a defensive posture with a two-goal lead in the final period of play. Phil Kessel scored an empty net goal to close out the scoring with 2:04 remaining in regulation.
New York welcomed Jesper Fast back in the lineup Thursday. He had missed Monday’s 2-1 win over Columbus and Wednesday’s practice with the flu, but was able to play Thursday. He skated on a line with J.T. Miller and Derick Brassard, and came out strong with three hits in the first period.
However defenseman Marc Staal was unable to play because he came down with a case of the flu. Dylan McIlrath took his spot in the lineup and was a physical presence, credited with a team-high eight hits, including a monster check that flattened Tom Kuhnhackl by the Rangers bench just 2:10 into the game.
(Reprinted with permission of New York Rangers)
