Recap: Rangers Battle Back, Defeat Penguins 3-2 in Shootout

Here we go again.

The New York Rangers are hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden, in a rare Saturday matinee for the Blueshirts. After blowing their two-goal lead and falling to the Flyers in overtime earlier this week, the Rangers are hoping for a better sixty-minute effort from their squad.

Igor Shesterkin led the team onto the ice as Mike Sullivan assembled a similar lineup for today's game, but it features new waiver wire pickup Tye Kartye, who is slotting in on the third line with the Rangers' other recently promoted forward, Brendan Brisson.

First Period

This was not a good period for the Rangers. The Penguins began dominating as soon as the puck was dropped and it was that way for the full period. I wish we could end the period summary there, but unfortunately for the Rangers, the hockey game happened.

The Penguins would get the game's first power play less than two minutes into the game as Braden Schneider went to the box for holding. Pittsburgh's power play proved to be dangerous enough even with Sidney Crosby sitting out. The Penguins set up shop in the Rangers' zone and cycled the puck around looking for an opening. Erik Karlsson grabbed the puck at the blue line and wound up sending a slap shot on net that Anthony Mantha perfectly deflected down past Shesterkin to give the Penguins the lead early in the game.

Things went from bad to worse as the Rangers took another penalty shortly after Pittsburgh scored. This time it would be Trocheck who on top of the two minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct would get a ten minute misconduct. Only the Rangers bench and the lord above know what Trocheck decided to share with the officials that sent him to the box.

Pittsburgh would make the Rangers pay as their power play continued to excel and they'd strike to increase their lead to two. However, Mike Sullivan and the Rangers' coaches must have noticed something that inspired their bench to challenge the goal. Though the ABC broadcasting team openly disagreed, the officials ruled in favor of the Rangers, reducing the lead back down to one goal.

The Rangers limped into the first intermission somehow only down by a goal. Shesterkin's return has definitely helped, and Zibanejad's commitment to backchecking has helped limit the damage that could have piled up during the period without the efforts of the two Ranger stalwarts. Despite their efforts, overall the Rangers were thoroughly outplayed and outskated, with Pittsburgh holding a commanding 10-2 shot lead during the period.

Second Period

The Rangers did not improve as the second period started. Once again, the Penguins scored around the two-minute mark. The Penguins' forecheck disrupted the Rangers' defense, and they collected the puck back to the point. Ryan Shea held onto the puck, skated, pivoted, and then fired a shot toward the net. Noel Acciari and Scott Morrow were battling in front, and just as the puck arrived, Morrow was trying to move Acciari out of the way. The puck deflected off Morrow, changing direction at the last second careening past Shesterkin into the net for the two-goal lead.

Pittsburgh continued to push the pace of the game, but as we neared the halfway mark, the tide began to turn. Rickard Rakell was called for hooking Will Cuylle, giving the Rangers their first power play of the period. The Rangers' now gluten-free power play has struggled at times, but during this man advantage, they managed to maintain possession and move the puck well in the Penguins' zone. JT Miller, Adam Fox, and Vincent Trocheck played on the perimeter of their power play unit and passed the puck around. Trocheck timed Zibanejad breaking through the center perfectly, sending a pass right to him in the slot, and he snapped it past Skinner to get the Rangers on the board.

The Rangers kept pushing after the power play goal gave them some life. The Miller-Zibanejad-Perreault line was standing out with some dangerous chances and breaks into the Penguins zone. Perreault nearly tied the game when his shot rang off the post after cleanly beating Skinner cleanly. Although the Rangers managed to tilt the ice in their favor, Shesterkin still had to come up big with a breakaway save after a flurry of Rangers chances.

Early in the period, things looked increasingly bleak, but the Rangers fought their way back. At one point, they were down 14-2 in shots, but finished the period 23-13, still behind but showing signs of life as they pushed back, recording thirty-one shot attempts in the process.

As the time ticked down, the Rangers broke into the Penguins' zone on an odd-man rush. Trocheck dished it off to the player trailing him along the boards, but Trocheck's clash with the officials took a hilarious turn when the linesman got in the way of the play, effectively ending any chance the Rangers had for a final attempt before the buzzer. A very Rangers way to end the period. The camera panned to the bench, catching an obviously miffed Mike Sullivan and an annoyed Trocheck, who promptly left the ice as the buzzer sounded. The Rangers’ decision to play Trocheck is certainly a choice, as he is their biggest deadline asset, but Drury and crew are surely working on a plan, right? 

 Third Period

The Rangers' strong play at the end of the second period carried into the third. Mike Sullivan had all four lines rolling, and this time it was a variation of their third and fourth line that made a big impact and tied the game. Sam Carrick's forecheck disrupted the play, and Brendan Brisson helped gather the puck back to Gavrikov, who skillfully slid the puck past Skinner and off Taylor Raddysh's stick to bounce easily into the net.

The Rangers continued to pressure the Penguins and dominate the third period. Miller had a small breakaway on Skinner, but his shot was batted down by Skinner's glove. Miller crashed the net with Perreault, who tried to tuck the puck past a sprawling Skinner, and a small skirmish broke out as the whistle blew. As the shot gap between the two teams narrowed, the Rangers' physical dominance and edge at the face-off circle persisted.

Each Rangers' line had one or two dominant shifts during the period. Lafrenière had a great chance trying to get a shot through a tight screen, and newcomer Kartye teamed up with Conor Sheary, both cycling around the offensive zone trying to capitalize on a good opportunity. But again, it was the Miller, Zibanejad, and Perreault line that created the standout chances. The first one had Miller teaming up with Perreault on an odd-man rush, but Perreault whiffed his final leading pass. On their next shift, Zibanejad and Perreault broke in on a two-on-one. Perreault, with the puck at the doorstep, tried to force a pass back to Zibanejad for an easy tap-in, but it was broken up by the Penguins' defender. Certainly a chance Perreault would like to have back.

As the period wound down, Gavrikov and Trocheck continued the trend of over passing, this time ruining an excellent opportunity for the Rangers to capitalize on a bad line change from the Penguins. Things got scary near the very end, as Pittsburgh briefly had their second wind and pressured Shesterkin, but the Rangers survived and this up and down game was heading into overtime.

Overtime

The Rangers started with Zibanejad, Miller, and Schneider on the ice during the overtime period. The two teams exchanged possession, but Pittsburgh icing the puck while trying to capitalize on a line change. Trocheck easily won the face-off, but the Rangers took the puck out of the zone and regrouped. Fox and Lafrenière skated around the neutral zone, looking for an opening. Miller returned to the ice and sent a howitzer past the Penguins' net, marking the best chance of the period so far.

Karlsson, Rust, and Malkin had a strong chance of their own, but Shesterkin made a big save and Fox executed an excellent poke check on Rust. With less than a minute remaining, Lafrenière intercepted the puck at the top of the Penguins' zone and skated uncontested toward the net. He took his time but couldn't beat Skinner low blocker side. Malkin and Karlsson teamed up again, nearly ending the game, but Shesterkin shut the door. Pittsburgh called a timeout during a face-off in the Rangers' zone, but it didn't matter as the game was headed to a shootout.

Shootout

The Penguins would go first, with Anthony Mantha leading. He tried to stickhandle the puck through the zone, but it slid off his stick.

The Rangers sent Trocheck out, who skated wide and then returned to the middle. He outwaited Skinner and sent the puck through Skinner's fivehole, giving the Rangers the first goal in the shootout. Pittsburgh sent Yegor Chinakhov, who had a similar approach to Trocheck, but Shesterkin stopped him.

JT Miller had a chance to win the game, going wide left, but couldn't beat Skinner, leaving it up to Shesterkin. The third Penguin, Tommy Novak, came in slowly and tried to shoot high glove side, but it went wide as the Rangers came back to win in a shootout.