Recap: Fox Shines, Fourth Line Delivers as Rangers Roll Past Penguins 6–1

Looking to build off their first win in Buffalo, the New York Rangers paid a visit to the Pittsburgh Penguins for their second meeting in just the first week of the new season. The Rangers would be short a man as Vincent Trocheck has been listed as week-to-week, but a strong night from Adam Fox and the fourth line helped the Rangers pick up an important pair of points in Mike Sullivan's return to PNG Paints Arena for the first time as a visiting head coach.

First Period

Not a great start for the Rangers who barely touched the puck through the first five minutes of play. Urho Vaakanainen in particular had a really rough start with some ugly turnovers that led to some serious scoring chances for the Penguins early. The Rangers were credited with two shots on goal within the first seven minutes but one of them was the result of an insane deflected, floating puck and the other one wasn’t very memorable. 

About three minutes out from the midway point of the period, Jusso Parssinen was called for tripping, sending the Penguins to the power play. That ended up working in the Rangers favor as Sam Carrick ended up on an odd-man rush with Mika Zibanejad. Carrick made a great pass through the legs of Erik Karlsson for Zibanejad to send to the back of the net, making it a 1-0 game nearly halfway through the first. 

With that shorthanded goal, Zibanejad registered his 281st goal with the Rangers, putting him ahead of Mark Messier for eighth most in franchise history. He’s also now tied for fifth in franchise history for shorthanded goals. 

As the Rangers continued to get outworked 5-v-5, they were called for another defensive zone penalty as Vladislav Gavrikov was called for holding amidst a battle for the puck down low. Not how you want to have to play the game, but the Rangers continued to be strong on the penalty kill and did a great job of keeping Pittsburgh’s chances to a bare minimum. 

That would do it for the first as the Rangers had just four shots to show for, but managed to come out of it with a 1-0 lead. The Penguins on the other hand, may have only been credited with nine shots on goal, but had 21 shot attempts, six high danger chances, and won 55% of the face-offs. The Rangers had the lead but outside of the penalty kill, there wasn’t much to be proud of there.

Second Period

Another rough start for the Rangers but this time the Penguins took advantage. A long pass from Gavrikov bounced off the stick of J.T. Miller at the far blue line. Ben Kindel, was able to pick up the fumbled pass and took it straight to the Rangers’ net, firing a shot past Igor Shesterkin in the process. That would be Kindel’s first goal of his NHL career as he was a bit of a surprise in the early parts of the first round in the most recent draft. 1-1 game. 

The bad luck continued for the Rangers as Carson Soucy got tangled up with Rickard Rakell in the Rangers end of the ice and ended up going head first into the boards. Sheary would not return for the rest of the game. 

Just a couple of minutes later, a great shift from the fourth line resulted in an initial chance for Matt Rempe in front of the net. A steady effort from Rempe kept the puck in the Rangers favor and a shot from Adam Fox at the point went through some traffic and into the back of the net to regain the lead, now 2-1. 

Shortly thereafter, the Rangers would get their first man advantage of the night as Kindel was called for hooking. The top power play unit wouldn’t generate much but power play two would find a way to convert. A nice pass from Conor Sheary found Will Cuylle right at the doorstep to extend the Rangers lead 3-1. Noah Laba, who got a chance on PP2 with Trocheck out, had the secondary assist, setting up Sheary initially for his first point in the National Hockey League. 

Not long after, the Rangers headed back to the power play as Parker Wotherspoon was called for tripping. The top power play unit continued to struggle as Connor Dewar nearly had a shorthanded goal for the Penguins. That was one of two scoring chances the Penguins penalty killers had as the Rangers second power play unit looked much better than the first. Despite some good chances in the final 40 seconds, the teams would return to even strength with the score still 3-1 Rangers. 

With five and a half to go in the period, Gavrikov was back to the penalty box, this time for hooking Crosby in the Rangers end of the ice. The Rangers were successful in killing the penalty off and would head back to the power play right after as the Penguins were caught with too many men on the ice. The Rangers would only need five seconds to find the back of the net again as Adam Fox picked up his second of the night, third of the season on a shot from the point. 4-1 Rangers. 

The Rangers were sent back to the power play with twenty seconds left in the period as Noah Laba delivered a massive hit on Blake Lizotte which triggered a reaction from Harrison Brunicke. Laba didn’t engage in the extracurriculars, resulting in Brunicke getting the only penalty for being the third man in. There wouldn't be enough time for them to generate much but overall, a much better period for the Rangers who now led the Penguins 4-1 thanks to a pair of power play goals. Shots after forty were now 18-12 Rangers as they outshot the Penguins 14-3 in the second alone. Penalties played a huge role but the Rangers looked much better in the middle period.  

Third Period

The fourth line continued to make an impact in this one as Sam Carrick did a great job of bringing the puck to the net with Rempe already standing atop the crease. Adam Edstrom was right there to cash in on the rebound, extending the Rangers lead again, this time 5-1. The goal however, was credited to Matt Rempe as the shot from Edstrom seemed to go off Rempe before finding the back of the net.

Nearing the midway point of the period, Vaakanainen went off for slashing the rookie Kindel to send Pittsburgh back to the power play. Another strong kill kept the Rangers perfect on the penalty kill going 4-for-4 on the night.

With just under six minutes to go, another great play from Noah Laba helped Taylor Raddysh pick up his first goal as a Ranger, dishing the puck home at the door step. Great finish from Raddysh but an excellent effort from Laba to get the zone and set up the play. 6-1 Rangers.

And that would do it for game 3 of 82 as the Rangers got past a rough start and found a way to take control and win this game, getting some retribution from that opening night loss. Final tally on shots on goal would be 30-19 in the Rangers favor as they got contributions from eleven different skaters to secure the win.

The Rangers will head home from Pittsburgh as they’re right back at it in the second half of a back-to-back as they’ll take on another divisional rival in the Washington Capitals.