Faceoff Factor

Pens vs. Rangers Recap

Justin Maffei | Pittsburgh Penguins

Mar 30, 03:31 PM | Hype this story!

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS 3 – NEW YORK RANGERS 1

This was an important game for both teams. The Rangers trailed the Penguins by six points and could have made up ground for the lead in the Atlantic Division with a win. The Penguins were playing for first place in the East. With the win, they passed idle-Montreal for first in the Conference.

FIRST PERIOD
Early in the first, Hal Gill was forced to take a penalty due to his lack of speed. Sean Avery beat him to the goal and he was forced to hook him. The Rangers scored on the following power play (Dubinsky from Jagr, Backman). The Penguins played a very physical first period. They were really throwing their weight around.

Marian Hossa finally got his first Crosby-assisted goal. Crosby was actually looking for Dupuis, but the puck bounded off of his skate and went right to Hossa. Hossa fired a wrist shot past Lundqvist to tie the score at one (Hossa from Crosby, Dupuis).

The Penguins physical play paid off moments later as Petr Prucha took a roughing penalty. The Penguin power play took on an interesting look. In an attempt to get all of the skill players on the ice, Malkin played the point. The other point was manned by Gonchar with Crosby, Hossa, and Malone holding down the forward positions. The Pens were not able to take advantage of the opportunity, though.

Malone was sent in on a break-away, but was hooked by Fedor Tyutin and unable to get a shot off. Little more than a minute later, Crosby took a slash which put the Penguins on the two-man advantage. Malkin rifled a one-timer past Lundqvist during the two-man advantage (Malkin from Gonchar, Crosby).

At the end of the first, the Penguins had the 2-1 lead. They looked strong at both ends of the ice, and were really throwing their bodies around. Fleury also looked good and his rebound control continues to improve.

SECOND PERIOD
The Penguins had to deal with a bad call against Marian Hossa and another penalty to Tyler Kennedy early in the second. However, they looked strong on the penalty kill and came away unscaithed.

Evgeni Malkin had a scary experience late in the second. Brandon Dubinsky’s skate grazed Malkin’s face as Malkin was laying on the ice. There was obviously no intent on Dubinsky’s part. It was reported later that there was a cut on Malkin’s face as he went to the dressing room.

There was no scoring in a hard fought second period. The score remained 2-1.

THIRD PERIOD
Malkin returned for the third period after receiving 10 stitches to his left cheek. He looked strong as he returned.

The third period was a hard fought defensive period. The Penguins were content to clear the puck out of their defensive zone every time it came in. Finally, with under a minute remaining, Max Talbot put in a rebound to get the insurance marker (Talbot from Staal, Scuderi).

The game would end with the Penguins winning 3-1.

ANALYSIS
The Penguins looked strong from top to bottom. All four lines played well and were able to put offensive pressure on the Rangers.

The line combinations were as follows:

Dupuis – Crosby – Hossa
Malone – Malkin – Sykora
Whitney – Staal – Kennedy
Ruutu – Talbot – Laraque

Now, if Roberts returns for the playoffs, and he is substituted for Whitney, that is going to be a strong line-up. It is still going to be a difficult decision for Michel Therrien as to whether to play seven defensemen or 12 forwards. Everyone is playing well now, so that is a good dilemma to have.

These two teams will travel to New York for a rematch tomorrow night.

Three Stars
1. PIT C 71 E.MALKIN (1 G, 0 A, 1 P)
2. PIT C 87 S.CROSBY (0 G, 2 A, 2 P)
3. PIT G 29 M.FLEURY (26 saves)

Attendance: 17,020