AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
The Rangers dropped a tough one to the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight, 2-1 in a shootout. The play of Marc-Andre Fleury was the only reason this game wasn’t a repeat of Wednesday night. A truly sensational performance. While the loss stings, securing 3 out of a possible 4 points in a home and home with the Pens is more than we could have hoped at the beginning of the week. On to the goals…
Penguins 1, Rangers 0
- The Pens started to get their forecheck/cycling going to begin the third period. Chris Kunitz made a nice play with the puck behind the net, and found an unguarded Jussi Jokinen in the slot. He blasted a laser over Hank’s glove, and Pitt had the first goal of the game.
Penguins 1, Rangers 1
- This goal was perfect execution of a set play off the faceoff. Set up in the offensive zone, Rick Nash positioned himself in the shooting lane in the high slot. The face-off came right to him, and he slid a hard wrister between the legs of Fleury.
Shootout
- Jussi Jokinen- Goal
- Rick Nash- No goal
- Evgeni Malkin- No goal
- Mats Zuccarello- No goal
- Pascal Dupuis- No goal
- Ryan Callahan- No goal
While the Rangers weren’t quite as physical as they were on Wednesday, they generally kept up a high level of play throughout this one. Fleury really was the difference. Some saves that stood out for me were two gloves saves on Derek Stepan, a beauty on a partial breakaway by Brian Boyle, and a scrambling recovery save on Derick Brassard.
The Rangers continued to create chances and played a solid defensive game. Hank was Hank, and on most nights, they win this one in regulation. With the point, the good guys grab the 7th spot in the East and are tied with the Islanders with 40 points. The Blueshirts are right back at it against the Cam Ward-less Carolina Hurricanes. Faceoff is at 7pm from Raleigh.
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