3 Rangers takeaways from 3-2 loss to Sidney Crosby-less Pittsburgh Penguins
There’s no sugar-coating this one.
This was a game the New York Rangers had to win. They were playing the Pittsburgh Penguins, a Metropolitan Division rival below them in the standings that was without its two best forwards, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, because of injury. They were in their own building, in front of a sellout crowd and coming off consecutive regulation victories in which they had trailed entering the third period – something they hadn’t done since November 1988.
It was also a game they needed to win to improve their hopes of making the playoffs after entering the evening five points out of the second wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference playoff scramble.
And it was a game they no-showed for the most of the first two periods, then couldn’t come up with the tying goal in the third despite outshooting the Penguins 7-0.
The result was one of the most painful losses of the season, a 3-2 stinker that left the Rangers (26-24-4) in the same place they started the night – 12th in the Eastern Conference and five points behind the Detroit Red Wings, who hold the second wild card.
For the first 40 minutes, the Rangers were completely dominated by the shorthanded Penguins, who pushed the pace, seemed to win every race for the puck and were clearly the better team. The Rangers played like a team that expected to win without expending a lot of effort; the Penguins were energized, while the Rangers were not. Even after Adam Fox answered a game-tying goal by Blake Lizotte early in the second period with a goal 1:14 later that made it 2-1, Pittsburgh kept coming.
Rickard Rakell, who was playing in place of Crosby as first-line center, tied the game at 9:07 and Philip Tomasino’s power-play goal less than three minutes later put Pittsburgh ahead to stay.
“It’s unacceptable,” coach Peter Laviolette said of his team’s second-period performance during his 30-second press conference.
Like the hare deciding to run hard after spotting the tortoise a lead in their fairy-tale race, the Rangers came out on fire in the third period. But even out-attempting the Penguins 32-3 in the final 20 minutes wasn’t enough to generate the tying goal.
As per NHL Stats, this was the first time this decade in which a team won a one-goal game despite having zero shots in the third period. The last time it happened was Jan. 10, 2019, when the Minnesota Wild defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3-2.
“It’s hard to play from behind,” Fox said, “We have to do a better job in the first two periods, especially when points are so important for us. It’s not what we want to be doing, digging these holes.
Related: Why Trent Frederic likely won’t be Rangers option ahead of NHL trade deadline
3 Rangers takeaways from 3-2 loss to Penguins
Here are three takeaways from the game Friday:
1. Too little, too late
A dominant third period wasn’t enough to make up for a miserable first 40 minutes.
The Rangers were forced to use the same formula that had worked for them in wins against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday and the Boston Bruins on Wednesday, when third-period comebacks carried them to come-from behind wins.
But there’s a reason teams that trail entering the third period lose more than 80 percent of the time. Chasing the game is a tough way to win, and it’s not a sustainable formula for success.
“We dug ourselves a bigger hole and then we had to try to dig ourselves out of it in the third (period),” forward Mika Zibanejad said. “We can’t rely on third periods to win the game.”
The Penguins did all their damage offensively in the second period, when they outscored the Rangers 3-1.
“We (didn’t) get the extended zone time offensively,” Zibanejad said. “They (did) a better job than we (did). I think they play a simpler game that works in their favor, and I don’t know if we were willing do so that.”
2. Taking shorthanded opponent lightly?
Full marks to Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan and his staff, who had the Penguins ready to go from the opening face-off despite the absence of Crosby and Malkin. The Penguins won a game without Crosby for the first time since Nov. 11, 2021, and they did it by outworking the Rangers in the first two periods before holding on in the third.
But what does that say about the Rangers, who played with much less energy and enthusiasm than the visitors until it was too late? Did they underestimate a shorthanded team?
Fox said no, although there were times when the lack of effort that marked the 4-15-0 slump that ended 2024 appeared to resurface.
“Perception can seem that way,” he said, “but no one in here was thinking they’re missing those two [and] it’s going to be an easy night. They’re a well-coached team. They play a good system, good structure.
“It’s never easy, no matter who’s in the lineup for them. I certainly don’t think we were thinking that it was going to be easy. But we have to come out and play better, not dig ourselves holes going into the third period every day.”
3. No time to cry about it
The only redeeming factor about this loss is that the Rangers don’t have much time to dwell on it. They went from the Garden to the airport for a flight to Columbus and a game against the Blue Jackets on Saturday.
It’s the Rangers last game before the 4 Nations Face-off, which will give all but the 100 or so players involved a midwinter vacation. The Blue Jackets, one of the League’s biggest surprises this season, are one point behind Detroit – and four ahead of the Rangers, who defeated them 1-0 in a shootout three weeks ago at the Garden.
“Get two points,” Fox said when asked about the mindset entering the game Saturday. “We’re in no position to not be doing everything we can for two points, especially against a team that’s right there against us.”
More About:New York Rangers News