Well Rangers fans, welcome back to playoff hockey. In a game that can only be described as insanity, the Rangers drop game one to the Penguins in triple overtime. So much to talk about in this one we’re going to cut right to the chase. Puck dropped at the World’s Most Famous Arena and the playoff energy was as if it never left. It took a couple shifts to get going but the Rangers pretty much dominated the first period. Out-shooting the Pens 15-10, the Rangers held a majority of the offense and would strike first thanks to an Adam Fox power play goal. Perfect play by a near perfect player, walks the blueline, waits for everyone to think he’s going one way then lets the shot go through traffic the other way. 1-0 good guys
The tide would turn just a bit as Patrik Nemeth got called for interference with about eight minutes to go in the period. The Rangers penalty killers went to work and were able to hold their lead through not only one, but two penalties. One of the many story-lines to come from last night’s game is Ryan Lindgren’s hit on Rickard Rakell. I’ve watched the replay of this hit many times and as I write this morning, I’ve watched it even more. It was a clean hit. Both the initial contact of the hit and the majority of the contact go right to the chest. Lindgren keeps his feet on the ice through initial contact nor is there any direct contact to the head when Lindgren first engages with Rakell. The hit was initially called as a major penalty but upon review the refs called it a two minute minor for roughing.
What’s important to note there is the fact that it was ruled roughing further indicates that there wasn’t anything wrong with the hit and if Rakell didn’t get hurt, you have to wonder if there’s even a call in the first place. That being said, do not get me wrong. You absolutely hate to see a play go down the way Rakell did and you never want to see a guy have to get helped off the ice. Rickard Rakell is a player I like a lot and I hope he’s alright but Lindgren isn’t a dirty player and in this situation, the right call was made in not giving him a major penalty.
The Rangers chewed off the final 81 seconds of the first and would start the second period shorthanded. A period in which would absolutely end up being their worst of the game. After coming out with so much energy and aggression in the first period, the experience factor slowly came into play and Pittsburgh turned it on. Prior to that however, the Rangers were able to get on the board with a strong shot from Andrew Copp three minutes and eight seconds into the period. Unfortunately for the Rangers, the tide of this game would turn pretty drastically for the rest of the period. Pittsburgh absolutely began dominating in all areas of the game and the Rangers wouldn’t do themselves any favors in the penalty department.
Jake Guentzel would score on a tip in about a minute and a half after Copp scored to calm the Rangers and the Garden Faithful down significantly. From that moment on, Pittsburgh continued to outplay the Rangers and seven minutes later, Guentzel would find another one on a nice snap shot that beat Shesterkin to tie the game up at one. With less than four minutes to go, the Rangers got into some penalty trouble when Patrik Nemeth got called for holding, his second penalty of the night. Pittsburgh got their unit set up but the Rangers caught a break when Mika Zibanejad poked the puck out and gave Kreider a breakaway to regain the lead while shorthanded. Perfect finish from Kreider who looked as calm and composed as it gets on the rush.
There are few feelings more frustrating than having to make the “refs were bad” argument and we’ll get to that even more in the third period. While the Rangers certainly didn’t do themselves any favors in the first period, the refs didn't do them any either and the boarding penalty to Trouba late in the second was a penalty that didn’t need to be called. Nevertheless, it knocked the Rangers down to three guys as the Penguins had a huge 5-on-3 advantage to finish up a period they already dominated. Bryan Rust finished on a tic-tac-toe passing play that Shesterkin didn’t stand a chance on. The worst part about it for the Rangers was that it came with three seconds left on the penalty to Nemeth so they still had over a minute of a Penguins power play to kill off.
Thankfully, the Rangers got out of that period from hell and brought a tied game to the third period. Both teams started to ease into each other in the games final twenty and for a while, it looked like we were destined for overtime. Unfortunately, overtime must have been the destiny. Later in the third, Kaapo Kakko took the puck hard to the net with Brian Dumoulin right on his tail which would ultimately lead to the ref's most questionable and controversial call of the night. Dumoulin caught up with Kakko and forced him into contact with Casey Desmith. From the ice, Kakko then made a pass to Filip Chytil who put the puck into the net to give the Rangers a 4-3 lead.
This is another replay I’ve watched several times and upon revisiting it this morning, I’m even more irate. Had Dumoulin not got his stick caught up in Kakko, Kakko would’ve cut in front of the crease, avoiding all contact with DeSmith. However, because Dumoulin is right on Kakko and gets his stick caught up in his legs, Kakko has no other option but to crash into DeSmith which is completely out of his control. The call on the ice was a goal, it only got overturned because Mike Sullivan and the fact of the matter is, the goal should’ve stood. I’ve had many people, even some Rangers fans say that the refs made the right call but after revisiting it with somewhat a somewhat rested brain and eyes, I really feel that the goaltender interference was a result of Brian Dumoulin causing it which shouldn’t penalize the Rangers.
The fact of the matter is, no one actually knows what goalie interference is, including the league and their officials. There isn’t enough clarity regarding the rule and more times than not, it ends up being a 50/50 call that can basically be decided by a coin toss. Hell, maybe that’s how they should make those calls when the play is too close to call. I hate blaming the refs in situations like this, I really do but the wrong call was made here and while it wasn’t the sole factor, it did end up costing the Rangers the game but then again who knows. Pittsburgh could’ve tied it again as I’m sure that’s what the universe would have wanted either way. Nevertheless, the rest of the third was scoreless with minimal action and in the first playoff game at the Garden in over five years, we were headed to overtime.
Almost two full hockey games would be played in one as this game wouldn’t be decided until the third overtime. As the night went on, the icings increased, chances became less intense as guys grew more and more tired. The biggest highlight to come during this one was Casey DeSmith pulling himself from the net in the second intermission. Was a very confusing sight to see as there was no play that indicated an injury and it just sort of happened out of nowhere, can only assume there was some cramping going on in a muscle. Whatever it is, Louis Domingue was forced into action which is an incredibly challenging task for a goalie to come into a game cold, let alone in a second overtime of a Stanley Cup Playoff game. Low and behold, the Rangers got him warmed up rather quickly and he held his own for the Penguins. This game was bound to come down to a weird bounce or tough deflection and sure enough, Evgeni Malkin deflected a shot past Shesterkin, off went my TV and the Rangers are down in the series 1-0.
At the end of the day, you can only control what you can and that’s exactly what the Rangers need to do. There were a lot of positives to take away from game 1. The kid line for the most part looked great and are no doubt going to come out hungry in game one after being robbed of that go ahead goal. The fourth line had such a presence throughout the night. Reaves led the way hitting every Penguin in sight but on top of that and more importantly, they had a couple shifts where they cycled the puck really well and did exactly what a fourth line should do. Defensively, there were moments where the team could’ve been better but when you break it down individually, you really can’t be mad.
Adam Fox was by far one of the best players on the ice. K’Andre Miller had a great game. Patrick Nemeth played one of his better games and is doing exactly what we hoped he would, although he needs to stay out of the penalty box. Ryan Lindgren played most of the game hurt so you really can’t be too upset with anything he did. Gallant said in the post game that it’s lower body and they don’t really know much, you have to hope he’ll be okay for game two. Shesterkin played great, there’s no way you can even consider pinning this loss on him after stopping 83 shots. As a whole, the team played good but will need to be better for game two. This one is undoubtedly a tough pill to swallow but all you can do is move on and learn from it.
Chris Feldman
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