Rangers defeat Penguins 4-2 to end crazy day at the Garden
The New York Rangers capped a wild day of trades and reported contract extension agreements with a much-needed victory. Reilly Smith broke a tie at 9:53 of the third period, and the Rangers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 at Madison Square Garden on Friday night for just their second win in eight games.
Smith, acquired by the Rangers from the Penguins this summer, ended a 10-game goal drought when he banged the rebound of Mika Zibanejad’s shot past Alex Nedeljkovic, snapping a 2-2 tie. Vincent Trocheck, who assisted on two second-period goals by Artemi Panarin, put the game away when he scored his third goal in four games with 1:38 remaining.
Igor Shesterkin, who according to pregame media reports has agreed to a record-setting contract extension, made 20 saves to end a personal five-game losing streak.
“We needed a win,” Smith told ESPN after the game. “But it’s just one win.”
Before puck drop, the game almost seemed like an afterthought after a day that began with an announcement that captain Jacob Trouba would be held out of the game as a form of “roster management,” followed a few hours later by a trade that sent the veteran defenseman to the Anaheim Ducks. If that wasn’t enough, reports soon began to surface that Shesterkin agreed to an eight-year extension that will make him the highest-paid goaltender in NHL history, a deal carrying an average annual value of $11.5 million — although Shesterkin wouldn’t confirm or deny anything afterward.
“I cannot say anything else.” he said. “Maybe we can talk about it tomorrow.”
Lost in all the hubbub of trades and contracts was that the Rangers had lost six of their previous seven games – and were playing a Penguins team that had won four in a row. The Penguins were also in the mood for revenge after being hammered 6-0 by the Rangers in Pittsburgh on opening night.
Not surprisingly, there was a nervous quiet in the sellout crowd at the Garden when the game began. But it was a happy celebration when the evening was completed.
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Rangers cap crazy day by defeating Penguins 4-2
The Rangers had the better of the chances during a scoreless first period that saw them outshoot the Penguins 10-6, but they couldn’t get anything past Nedeljkovic. Smith had a great chance on a one-timer from the right circle that Nedeljkovic went right to left to stop. Shesterkin made his two best stops on close-in tries by Sidney Crosby, who played in his 1,300th NHL game.
Crosby had another good chance early in the second period that was denied by Shesterkin. But after the Rangers killed Pittsburgh’s second power play, Blake Lizotte gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 6:19 on a shot that, as ESPN’s Ray Ferraro noted, “Shesterkin has to stop.” Lizotte’s hard but unscreened wrister from the high slot went past Shesterkin’s glove for his fifth goal in 12 games with the Penguins.
But before the Garden could get too gloomy, Panarin tied the game at 7:28. Alexis Lafreniere carried the puck down left wing and found Panarin coming late for a slapper from about 30 feet that beat Nedeljkovic.
“I liked our response,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette told ESPN. “(Lafreniere) made a great pass.”
Shesterkin atoned for Lizotte’s goal five minutes later and kept the game tied when he robbed Evgeni Malkin with a glove save on what looked like a sure goal.
It looked like the teams would go into the locker room even at 1-1, but Panarin struck for the second time with 1.5 seconds remaining to put the Rangers in front for the first time. This time, Trocheck found Panarin in full flight coming into the offensive zone, and his blast from nearly the same spot as his first goal beat Nedeljkovic cleanly to make it 2-1.
Neither team did much on a power-play chance early in the third period, but Phillip Tomasino tied the game at 8:29, 11 seconds after Zac Jones finished serving a tripping penalty. The Rangers let Tomasino come down the middle alone, and he used K’Andre Miller as a bit of a screen to beat Shesterkin with a perfect wrister to the top left corner for his third goal in five games since being acquired by the Penguins from the Nashville Predators.
But for the second time, the Rangers needed little time to answer back. Smith led a 2-on-1 with Zibanejad; Nedeljkovic stopped two shots but couldn’t get the third one after a wide-open Smith picked up a rebound with the goaltender out of position.
Trocheck’s wrister put the game away, and the cheers that greeted the final buzzer after the Rangers’ best effort in weeks were as much relief as anything else after a day like few others in their recent history.
“It was a very important win for us, for sure,” Shesterkin said. “It was a really tough day. We just need to build our game, be together and play every game step by step.”
New York will try to build on the victory when the Seattle Kraken come to MSG on Sunday afternoon in the first of back-to-back home games, with the Chicago Blackhawks in town on Monday.
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