Rangers badly outplayed, find way to defeat inept Penguins 5-3, gain ground in playoff race
One night after getting steamrolled by the last-place Buffalo Sabres, the New York Rangers barely avoided getting run out of the building by another team near the bottom of the standings Sunday. But this time, a sensational Igor Shesterkin did everything in his power to keep them in it until the Rangers found their game in a 5-3 road win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.
Shesterkin made 30 saves in the first two periods (and 36 overall) when the Penguins mauled the Rangers but could only muster one goal against the revived goalie, who didn’t survive the first period on Saturday against the Sabres after surrendering five goals on 16 shots in an 8-2 loss.
But on this day, Shesterkin was a difference-maker. Yet, even with his heroics, the Rangers let a one-goal lead slip away in the third period before Jimmy Vesey scored to tie it and Adam Fox netted the game-winner. J.T. Miller’s second goal of the game into an empty net sealed the massively important and fortunate win for the Rangers.
Fox and Vesey each finished with two points, and Will Cuylle also scored for the Rangers (28-25-4), who are two points out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Reilly Smith had two assists.
Ryan Shea had two goals for the Penguins, who’ve lost three in a row. Evgeni Malkin had a goal an assist, and goalie Joel Blomqvist was not especially good, making 11 saves on 15 shots.
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New York Rangers 5 – Pittsburgh Penguins 3
The Rangers were thoroughly outplayed in the first period, yet emerged after 20 minutes tied 1-1.
It was even worse in the second period, when the Rangers were absolutely dominated. Yet, incredibly, they skated into the second intermission with a 2-1 lead.
The difference in the game was Shesterkin. He stopped 11 of 12 shots in the first period, when the Penguins had a dominating xGF of 0.74, per Natural Stat Trick. That was just the warmup. He stopped each of Pittsburgh’s 18 shots on goal in the second period, when it had an even better 0.76 xGF.
Odd-man rushes, point-blank shots, chances directly following numerous Rangers turnovers, rebounds, you name it. The Penguins were all over the puck, firing from all angles, as the Rangers looked the part of a team that had never played nor practiced together for long stretches.
But there was Shesterkin, one day after one of his lowest moments, standing tall and confident, a virtual one-man show for the Rangers.
The only shot to beat him through 40 minutes came at 12:53 of the first period, when Malkin scored his 10th goal of the season. After an extended shift in the offensive zone, Malkin shook off an Urho Vaakanainen check to deflect a Cody Glass shot/pass past Shesterkin to make it 1-0.
Doing nothing 5v5, the Rangers received their first power play at 17:51 when Kris Letang was sent off for tripping. Before the penalty time ran out, the Rangers second PP unit came through, tying the game 1-1 at 19:12.
Cuylle hammered a left-circle shot off the rush past Blomqvist after a sweet dash up ice by K’Andre Miller. It was Cuylle’s second goal in three games, 15th of the season and second on the power play.
The Rangers were tied 1-1 after one period despite being outshot 12-5. You might think that would give them a lift heading into the second. You’d be wrong.
The Penguins had 14 shots on goal in the second period before the Rangers recorded a single attempt. That changed when Arthur Kaliyev was credited with an attempt on a shot that was blocked by the Penguins.
The Rangers didn’t record their first official shot on goal of the period until 15:12, when Braden Schneider’s floater was gloved by Blomqvist.
It was just complete domination by the Penguins. Well, not complete. Because that would overlook Shesterkin’s brilliance in goal.
Somehow, the Rangers managed to score the only goal of the second period at the 17-minute mark. P.O. Joseph couldn’t keep a bouncing puck in at the left point, letting J.T. Miller take off on a 2-on-1 the other way with Alexis Lafreniere. Miller wired a right-wing shot past Blomqvist and the Rangers incredibly had a 2-1 lead.
Outshot 30-9 and outchanced 24-7 through two periods, the Rangers had a one-goal lead on the road.
But then things got really strange in a wild sequence to begin the third period.
Shea, a defenseman who had one goal in 53 NHL games entering the game, scored twice in a span of 2:34 to put the Penguins up 3-2. First, he zipped a straightaway shot through a screen 57 seconds into the third period. Then at 3:31, Shea slapped a shot from the left point that was carrying wide of the net, but hit K’Andre Miller in front and deflected between Shesterkin’s pads to give Pittsburgh the lead.
But 50 seconds later, Vesey snapped a right-circle shot around a Penguins defenseman and into the net for his 100th NHL goal, tying the score 3-3 at 4:21.
Shortly thereafter, the Rangers had a scary moment when J.T. Miller attempted a check and appeared to jam his left hand/wrist. He skated off the ice in pain, received some treatment and remained in the game.
Fox restored the Rangers’ lead at 11:26, when he cut to the middle and snuck a shot past Blomqvist, who simply had to make that save and didn’t. Fox’s fifth goal gave the Rangers three goals on their last seven shots against Blomqvist at that point.
After the Penguins pulled Blomqvist for the extra attacker, Cuylle shot toward the empty net and his attempt deflected off Letang and then hit the post. Pittsburgh came back and stormed Shesterkin’s net, where a wild scramble included a clutch diving block just outside the blue paint by Rangers defenseman Will Borgen with under a minute remaining in regulation.
Miller iced the wild road victory with an empty-net goal with 6.5 seconds to play.
Having somehow split their first two games of this three-game road trip, the Rangers next visit the Islanders at UBS Arena on Tuesday.
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