Recap: Too Little, Too Late as Rangers Lose 6-5 to Penguins

The New York Rangers are visiting PPG Paints Arena, where they've won the last five games against the Pittsburgh Penguins. This will be the third time the two Metropolitan teams face off this season, with the Rangers taking the previous matchup in October in a decisive 6-1 victory. Despite that, the Penguins have been trending up, winning their previous five games, and it's no secret that the Rangers have been trending down.

Today's game started a little late due to the pregame ceremony honoring the 2016 Stanley Cup Championship Penguins team. An emotional ceremony for many, including Sidney Crosby, who was caught on camera shedding tears. It would have been great to watch that live, but ABC National Broadcasting felt it was essential to watch the last few minutes of the Avalanche's 5-0 crushing victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

Their lineup in today's matinee is similar to their last few games, but with some micro adjustments. Jonny Brodzinski is back in for Brett Berard, who was just reassigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack, and Jonathan Quick is getting the nod in net.

First Period

The Penguins quickly took control of the game. Less than three minutes in, their forecheck was causing chaos in the New York Rangers' end. Ben Kindel, on his first shift of the game, chased the puck down forcing Scott Morrow to turn it over, Rutger McGroarty intercepted it, sending it right to Anthony Mantha in front of the net, who deflected it past Quick. Talk about a youth movement for the Penguins—two recent first-round picks combining for a goal. Couldn't be the Rangers.

The Rangers, unable to capitalize on their own chance, watched the puck come back into their zone. Egor Chinakhov bulled his way to the slot and got the puck through to the net. Tommy Novak, all alone right in front, tried to out wait Quick and slide it under him, but the Rangers' netminder made a spectacular save.

The big saves had little impact on the game as the Penguins struck again. Matt Rempe couldn't carry the puck out of the zone, leading to a long Penguins possession. Connor Clifton, at the blue line shot the puck toward the net, but it was knocked down, and Blake Lizotte made a nifty pass to Noel Acciari, who rifled the puck past a stretched-out Quick. The Penguins' fourth line was cooking with gas and dominating the Rangers during each of their shifts.

The Rangers got the first power play of the game but struggled to build any momentum. They spent a good part of the man advantage chasing the Penguins around. Acciari nearly had a breakaway, but Lafrenière hustled to break up the chance. In the last thirty seconds, Sullivan had the kids on the ice looking for any ember of offense. Noah Laba took a brutal hit and hobbled to the bench, hunched over in pain. He skated during the TV timeout but then left the ice and made his way to the locker room. It was later announced he wouldn't return due to an upper-body injury.

The Rangers' best chance of the period was from the Zibanejad line. The Blueshirts were cycling and maintaining possession in the Penguins' zone. Zibanejad, skating behind the net, made a crisp saucer pass to J.T. Miller, who was swooping down low, but couldn't beat Skinner, who came up with the big save.

After a shaky first half of the period, the Rangers started to settle into their game and had some longer stretches of puck possession and solid play, but were unable get on the board. They skated into the intermission down by two, and on top of that, there was still no sign of Noah Laba.

Second Period

Just a few minutes into the second period, Justin Brazeau left the ice and headed straight to the locker room. The referees gathered to review the play for a potential major penalty, allowing the commentators several minutes to analyze it. Matthew Robertson and Brazeau collided in the neutral zone away from the puck, and the officials determined only a two-minute minor penalty should be assessed, giving the Penguins the first power play of the period. The Penguins' power play was clicking but kept off the scoreboard due to strong defending and the post.

For the next few minutes of play, it didn't matter if the Penguins had a power play or were at even strength; they were trouncing the Rangers. The Penguins were winning board battles and crossing the puck across the ice at will, trying to catch Quick out of position, but solid goaltending and the post kept the score at 2-0. The Rangers were forced to cheat and begin reaching with their sticks to try and break up plays, leading to a Brodzinski penalty and yet another Penguins power play.

The Penguins were relentless on the power play, and it only seemed like a matter of time before they scored again. As the power play expired, the Penguins were scrambling in front of Quick. Rikard Rakell had a point-blank chance that Quick stopped, but he corralled his rebound and passed it to Mantha at the top of the crease. Mantha then put it into the empty net for his second goal of the game.

The Rangers showing some signs of life would get chances of their own, but Miller was unable to capitalize on a great opportunity created by Morrow. Down by three goals and still more than a period to play, things felt dire for the Rangers, but for what it's worth, things could feel worse. Quick's combined athleticism and the Rangers' own chances happening consistently, were helping pull the punch of this painful experience.

Taking a step in the right direction, the Rangers finally scored a goal of their own. After a flurry of penalties, the Blueshirts were on a 4v3 power play, and Zibanejad won a face-off in the Penguins zone. Miller and Zibanejad passed the puck back and forth on the blue line, and Miller moved toward the net, feigning a shot and sliding the puck to Lafrenière, who stickhandled it to the side of the net and squeezed it past Skinner to break his shutout bid. This was only the Rangers' second shot of the period.

Third Period

As the third period began, the Penguins were on the power play and wasted no time regaining their three goal lead. Crosby all alone in front of the net, scooped up the rebound and gave it to Rakell who slung it right into the back of the net. But why stop there? Twenty seconds later, the Penguins proved the man advantage isn't needed and scored again with Acciari getting the second of the back-to-back goals and giving the Penguins an intimidating 5-1 lead.

After Will Borgen went to the penalty box for roughing, Rangers fans everywhere were bracing for the worst, but to our surprise, it was actually New York who scored. Vladislav Gavrikov noticing Trocheck lurking high in the Rangers' zone sent a breakout pass to him, and Trocheck took off. He skated in on Skinner alone, stickhandled back and forth, then lifted the puck over Skinner for the Rangers' second goal of the game.

The Rangers kept pressing the Penguins, and it paid off. This time Gavrikov scored thanks to Trocheck's effort. Trocheck skated into the Penguins' zone, stickhandling through double coverage, then passed it off and kept moving toward the net. The Rangers cycled the puck around, and Schneider fed Gavrikov, who one-timed the puck past Skinner for the Rangers' third goal of the game.

Around the three-minute mark, the Rangers pulled Quick for the extra attacker. David Quinn was seen drawing up a play, but ultimately the Penguins dashed their hopes with Ben Kindel scoring the empty-net goal. It would have been easy for the Rangers to throw in the towel and give up, but the team showed its mettle today and kept skating hard. They once again cashed in, with Lafrenière scoring his second goal of the game after Trocheck centered a pass and, after putting it on net, the puck careened off a defenseman and bounced past Skinner.

Their fourth goal of the game kept the Rangers' motor running in the final moments of the matinee matchup. They made things a little more interesting as the game wound down, scoring their fifth and final goal. On a tremendous individual effort, Miller grabbed the puck near the Rangers' blue line and skated through multiple Penguins players to set up a play in the offensive zone. Lafrenière sent it on net, and Trocheck was there to help Cuylle scoop in the rebound to make it a one-goal game with ten seconds left. Despite the Rangers’ effort down to the wire, it ultimately didn’t matter, as they lost to the Penguins in Pittsburgh 6-5.