Pens beat Rags 5-3. Lead Series 3-0

Jonathan Farzalo | Pittsburgh Penguins

Apr 29, 11:27 PM | Hype this story!
1 2 3 Tot.
3 1 1 5
 
Tot. 1 2 3
3 1 2 0
 
Series: Penguins (3) – Rangers (0)
 
Summary

The Pittsburgh Penguins remained the only unbeaten team in the playoffs, beating the New York Rangers by a score of 5-3.  The Penguins came out and scored the early go-ahead goal at 1:02 into the game when Pascal Dupuis, Sidney Crosby, and Marian Hossa teamed up to make it 1-0, taking a loud Madison Square Garden crowd out of it early.  They nearly made it 2-0 when Evgeni Malkin missed a wide open net.  The Rangers had their early missed opportunities as well, and eventually Marty Straka cashed in on a net crashing play that had to be reviewed to make it 1-1.  A few minutes later Georges Laraque took a weird bounce/pass from behind the net and whipped it by Henrik Lundqvist to give the Pens back the lead.  The Penguins weren’t done yet, about a minute later Evgeni Malkin made up for his missed chance earlier in the period when he buried a shot on the powerplay to make it 3-1. 

Back to back goals in the 2nd period by the Rangers due to some defensive breakdowns by the Penguins had Michel Therrien scratching his head, calling a timeout, and laying into his team.  It seemed to work.  The Rangers never scored again, while Malkin scored another powerplay goal and Kris Letang fed a nice shot/pass to Ryan Malone for a beautiful redirect.  

While the Penguins didn’t put to many shots on "King Henry", they managed to score 5 goals, while the Rangers threw everything they could at Marc-Andre Fleury, but again came up short.  The key to this game and win and series for the Penguins…the Penalty Kill.  They have killed 13 of 14 shorthanded openings and even thwarted two 5 on 3 chances by the Rangers tonight.

Next Game:  Thursday, May 1 @ N.Y. 7:00 p.m. ET VERSUS

 
Three Stars
# Player Team Pos. Stats
1 Evgeni Malkin PIT C 2 Goals, 1 Assist
2 Marc-Andre Fleury PIT G 36 Saves
3 Jaromir Jagr NYR W 1 Goal, 1 Assist
 
Stat Line
  Shots Faceoffs Power Plays
  1 2 3 OT Total Won Lost Converted Total
Pittsburgh 9 4 4 - 17 27 32 2 2
NY Rags 15 14 10 - 39 32 27 0 5
 
Scoring Summary
Per. Time Team Goal Assist Assist
1 01:02
14:32
16:17
17:41		 PIT
NYR
PIT
PIT		 Marian Hossa
Martin Straka
Georges Laraque
Evgeni Malkin		 Dupuis
Jagr
Malkin
Gonchar 		Crosby
Mara
Sykora
Hossa
2 12:07
13:11
17:53		 NYR
NYR
PIT		 Ryan Callahan
Jaromir Jagr
Evgeni Malkin		 Gomez
Gomez
Crosby		 Avery
Straka
Gonchar
3 02:30 PIT Ryan Malone Letang Sykora
 
Penalty Summary
Per.
Team Penalty Time Player
1
 NY Rangers hooking – 2 min 6:23, J. Jagr
 Pittsburgh diving – 2 min 6:23, M. Hossa
 NY Rangers roughing – 2 min 14:32, J. Jagr
 NY Rangers roughing – 2 min 14:32, B. Dubinsky
 NY Rangers roughing – 2 min 14:32, P. Mara
 Pittsburgh roughing – 2 min 14:32, R. Whitney
 Pittsburgh roughing – 2 min 14:32, K. Letang
 Pittsburgh roughing – 2 min 14:32, R. Malone
 NY Rangers High Stick – 4 min 16:49, R. Callahan
2
 Pittsburgh holding – 2 min 2:52, P. Sykora
 Pittsburgh hooking – 2 min 4:11, P. Dupuis
 Pittsburgh roughing – 2 min 5:38, B. Orpik
 NY Rangers boarding – 2 min 15:56, R. Hollweg
3
 Pittsburgh slashing – 2 min 5:35, P. Dupuis
 Pittsburgh interference – 2 min 9:23, A. Hall

Comments

  1. Eric Politowski

    Apr 29, 11:30 PM

    This game showed great character by the Pens. Looking for 8 straight on Thursday!

  2. Ashley Gallant

    Apr 30, 12:05 AM

    Looks like the “We will win game 3” prediction by Lundqvist didn’t work out. I’m sure he didn’t expect to let in 5 goals on 17 shots tonight.

    You could make a case for this game being the worst by the Penguins this series, if not all playoffs, but they still managed to get the win..in a hostile building, too. How scary is that?

    I was watching the CBC feed and they suggested that Avery hurt his shoulder at some point this series. There was a camera on him while he was putting his equipment on and he had to get someone to help him get dressed. When he saw that the camera was watching, he took his jersey and left the room, presumably for help to put it on. If he is indeed hurt, it could explain why he hasn’t been much of a factor all series long. He was the exact same way last year in the second round against Buffalo – he was invisible because he was injured.

  3. Doc Nagel

    Apr 30, 12:08 AM

    The Penguins are playing transcendent hockey right now. Nothing fazes them. Nothing bothers them. Shift after shift, they abide, endure, overcome, recover, take over – whatever the situation calls for. Obviously it’s not each player, each shift, but overall.

    It looks as if each of them, making eye contact, immediately tell one another that they will do whatever it takes to win for one another. There’s no hesitation on this team right now, no questioning, no doubt. This is as dangerous a hockey team as you could ever see, right now. It’s beautiful, brutal stuff.

  4. TIM

    Apr 30, 12:13 AM

    I am proud to have worn my Malkin shirt earlier today. 17 shots is terrible, and I am not a very negative fan as you guys know. Clearly the Rangers were throwing everything they had at the Pens, and they were able to weather the storm. MAF seemed like he had another solid solid effort.

    Good move by the coach to settle his team down and get there heads in the game. It could have gone the other way at that point but this a team and they are all playing for the other guys on the bench. Great to see.

    Let’s Go Pens!

  5. DaBich

    Apr 30, 06:55 AM

    DocNagel ~ well said =D

    Our Penalty Kill was the difference, in my opinion. Those guys REALLY did a graet job!!

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