Despite a third period surge, almost remnant of playoff hockey, the Rangers fall to Pittsburgh 4-2. With this loss, the Rangers fall back one game under .500, definitely not the result they wanted at this point of the road trip. While the Rangers did a lot of things right, there were still some areas they really need to buckle down on if they want to be successful against Boston. Unfortunately, bad puck luck and Tristan Jarry stole this game away from the Blueshirts in the third.
The game started out similarly to the last, all Pittsburgh, Rangers were struggling to control the play and could not generate any chances whatsoever. About halfway through the period, there was a bit of a change in tide following a Jack Johnson blast from the point that deflected off Penguins defenseman John Marino, 1-0 New York. The Rangers weren't necessarily controlling the game but they were out hitting the Penguins and playing a much closer game then they did Sunday. With 66 seconds to go in the first, Ryan Lindgren's stick broke on a breakout attempt resulting in a Jake Guentzel wrister to tie it up heading to intermission.
One of the Rangers biggest problems as of late is their power play. They haven't really been able to consistently generate much when given the man advantage. Artemi Panarin is missed greatly by this team but the power play has to be where he is missed the most. Nevertheless, the Rangers would allow a short handed goal by Teddy Blueger for the Penguins to take the lead again. Another problem seemingly in this game was the final minutes of the period. The last couple minutes of the second, Pittsburgh was controlling the play and you could tell a goal was going to come any minute. With 20 seconds left in the period it did, off a Kasperi Kapanen wrist shot.
To the third we go, down 3-1, the Rangers came out with a chip on their shoulder and would play one of their best periods of the season. A Sidney Crosby penalty would result in a Rangers power play and this time, they would convert on it thanks to Ryan Strome. This third period was very remnant of playoff hockey, terrible deja vu to the 2016 playoffs where the Rangers were eliminated in 5 games by Pittsburgh. The Rangers were playing so dominantly that Pittsburgh did not register a shot on goal until the final minute of the period which of course was the empty net goal by Sidney Crosby.
The Rangers had so many opportunities to tie the game, most notably, from Pavel Buchnevich. This is where the bad puck luck and stellar play from Tristan Jarry comes into play. Despite controlling the entire third period, a lot of times the puck was bouncing off players sticks or getting caught up in their skates. Tristan Jarry came up huge when the Penguins needed him to most, coming up with outstanding saves on Grade A scoring chances by Pavel Buchnevich on not one, not two, but at least three chances. With just over 30 seconds left, Crosby found the puck in the neutral zone and the best player in the NHL isn't missing that shot. Pittsburgh put the dagger in the back of the Blueshirts and walked away with another win.
The Rangers are back at it tomorrow against the Bruins and absolutely need to build off that third period against Pittsburgh if they want to get back on track. For the most part, Keith Kinkaid had another strong outing , keeping his name in the starting goalie conversation until Sheshterkin is given the green light to return.
Chris Feldman
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