And thanks to three second-period goals, the Rangers tied their first-round playoff series against the Penguins with a 4-2 win in Game 2 Saturday afternoon at Consol Energy Center.
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There were the Penguins doing whatever they could to annoy Henrik Lundqvist, flinging pucks at him the length of the ice on delayed penalty whistles, even with their own men trapped deep in the NY zone. Lundqvist made 29 noteworthy saves. It was the second NY goal of three in a five-minute span that handed the Rangers their first lead of the series. NY focused on taking the body and throwing the Penguins off their skates as much as possible. He set up Zuccarello beautifully for New York’s third goal of the game less than four minutes after Brassard’s goal to build a two-goal advantage.
Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin looked rusty in his first game back from injury, which is understandable.
Lundqvist saw the puck just fine three days after the scare he and the entire population of Rangerstown endured when the goaltender was hit around the right eye by Staal’s stick blade late in the first period before leaving when the area around the eye swelled up.
The Rangers played sound defense throughout the third period to close out the game.
Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist flipped the script rather quickly in Game Two, backstopping the Blueshirts to a 4-2 win in Pittsburgh. As Sullivan noted, sometimes those kinds of stats suggest one team has the puck a lot more but that wasn’t the case Saturday as the Penguins were guilty of a series of turnovers and miscues on which the game turned. Kessel now has 15 goals in 24 career playoff games -.63 goals per game in the playoffs is best among active players.
The Rangers improved to 6-2 in playoff games following a loss fueled by a sharp performance from Lundqvist and an 18-second span that changed the complexion of the series.
Lundqvist stayed in the game and played the next game, but later revealed doctors told him he was at risk of having a stroke by continuing to play without letting what he referred to as a strained blood vessel heal. Lundqvist was superb at even strength; the two goals, both by Phil Kessel came on the power play.
Officials reviewed the goal to see if Brassard’s feet crossed the blue line before the puck, but replays were inconclusive and the Rangers were ahead to stay.
NY got goals from Keith Yandle, Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello, and Chris Kreider. The Rangers can not continue giving the Penguins five power plays per game because it is much harder to hold Pittsburgh to under three goals when their man advantage scores. Asked on Friday if Girardi had an upper body or a lower body injury, coach Alain Vigneault replied “the whole thing.”.
The San Jose Sharks are now two wins away from exorcising the demons of 2014 when they had a 3-0 series lead over the L.A. Kings and then collapsed to lose the next four and the series in seven games.
Dylan McIlrath made his National Hockey League playoff debut for the Rangers, playing for the injured Dan Girardi.
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“With McIlrath and Brady Skjei “ subbing for captain Ryan McDonagh (right hand) “ in the lineup, it marked the first time the Rangers had dressed two rookie defensemen in a playoff game since McDonagh and Mike Sauer played in Game 5 against the Capitals on April 23, 2011.
