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When this series started, a lot of people were saying games 2 and 3 being back to back would be the most important games of this series, and the Penguins played like it. The Penguins started the game the way they should and eventually just wore out the Rangers and the most important thing was, they didn't sit back on the lead. We've been highly critical of Dan Bylsma for the games the Penguins have lost these playoffs, but he deserves as much credit for the games they've won. He had his team ready to go from the start and he made adjustments that worked. Recap to follow.
Crosby-Kunitz-Stempniak started the game with Letang and Martin. When you saw the Rangers lineup, you thought, why is Bylsma trying to play into the Girardi-McDonagh pair with Sid, but the Penguins got the puck off the opening draw and kept the puck in their zone for a good minute or so and you could really feel the effort coming until Chris Kunitz got pushed on top of the Queen who cried tears enough to flood the Hudson River or something. Not sure what the ref saw but he put his arm up and put the Rangers on a power play. (Note: Rangers power play was 0 for its last 19 coming into the game). The Rangers never really sustained puck possession or pressure and the Penguins killed the penalty with ease. After that, the pace picked up a little bit. Matt Niskanen skated into Dan Carcillo and Niskanen's hand went up near Carcillo's face. Carcillo reacted as if someone shot him with a sniper rifle from section 230 and his head jerked straight back and the ref bought it and sent Niskanen to the box. The Penguins penalty kill just laughed and killed that too. Bylsma sent out Malkin and Crosby right out of that and they started getting to the forecheck until Malkin hit Dan Girardi and Girardi decided he would destroy himself and dive and draw a penalty. The Rangers power play did get a few chances but the Pens killed that too. After the kills, the Penguins took over the period and eventually got a power play and they got a few chances but nothing came out of it. Right at the end of the period, Sidney Crosby made Ryan McDonagh look like a traffic cone but Lundqvist made the save and then right after that Sid got another chance but Lundqvist stopped that too.
The 2nd started as 4 on 4 but shortly into the period Kris Letang made some unreal play with his skating, got in on Lundqvist but ran out of room as a Ranger defender came in on him and forced him to take a quick shot that Lundqivst made the save pretty easily. The Rangers got a couple shifts in the Penguins zone but Fleury was up to the challenge and the Penguins D cleared out what either was rebounded off of Fleury or never got to him. Eventually Chris Kunitz took a hooking call but the Penguins killed it off easily and just as Kunitz came out of the box, the puck came to him on a breakaway but Lundqvist robbed him. A couple minutes later, Kris Letang got a pass from Evgeni Malkin and threw the puck on net and it appeared to hit Chris Kunitz and go in, but it hit a spraling Dan Girardi and went in. Regardless of what it hit, it was 1-0 Penguins and you felt like that was all they might need with the way Fleury and Lundqvist were playing. The Penguins picked up the pace from there but Lundqvist was sharp all night and he had to be with the scoring chances the Penguins were getting. Pens headed into the break up 1-0.
The 3rd started as the 2nd ended, with the Penguins keep pushing forward and the Rangers never really pushed back. About halfway through the period, with the score still 1-0, the Rangers got 2 or 3 breakaways that Paul Martin, Kris Letang, and Evgeni Malkin all backchecked and cleared the puck to safety. The Penguins were buzzing and with about 5 minutes to go in the game, Dan Girardi decided it was a good idea to stop James Neal from skating to the puck and the ref sent him to the box. This was a big power play and the Consol DJ played the jammed up siren and the crowd went nuts. The Penguins first unit was out there and they had good puck movement and some good shots but they either deflected wide or Lundqvist was there to stop it. (Note: During that part, Sidney Crosby's stick broke while he had the puck, he dropped his stick, went glove to skate and kicked a perfect pass to Paul Martin's tape. This wasn't a game changing play, but you know Sidney Crosby is on top of his game when he makes plays like that). As the second unit came on, James Neal came streaking down the zone on a mini 2 on 1 and he did the NHL 14 shot off the pads right to Jussi Jokinen who buries the puck behind the Queen to make it 2-0 Penguins. Consol went absolutely bonkers. Right after the goal, Dan Bylsma sent out Leroy Gibbons, Joe Vitale, and Craig Adams because there was about 3:00 left in the 3rd. Those 3 with Scuderi and Bortuzzo kept the puck in the NYR zone for about a minute and the Rangers just looked gassed. The Rangers finally got Lundqvist out of the net and Sidney Crosby made an unbelievable block shot with about 1:10 left and the puck cleared the zone. Letang got to the puck and flicked it up ice. Evgeni Malkin chased down whoever was skating there, dove for the puck and put it towards the net and it trickled in. Game.
1. Marc-Andre Fleury
2. Kris Letang
3. Henrik Lundqvist
Game Notes:
- Henrik Lundqivst whines more than any goalie I've ever seen in my life.
- Sidney Crosby had 6 shots on goal. He didn't get on the scoresheet but he played the best game of the playoffs. He's gonna get a goal sooner than later.
- Kris Letang was the best skater on the ice for either team. He played the best two way game a defenseman could play. Thats why he got the contract he did.
- Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 22 shots he faced. Playoff save % now at .914 (since that's apparantly the tell all stat)
Both teams have the same travel, but tomorrow is the 5th playoff game in 7 days for the Rangers. Gotta think that's starting to add up.
Game 3 is in like 6 minutes.
Go Pens.
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