Wow.
I mean double WOW. As I watched our Penguins knock the stuffing out of the favored Rangers in Game 4 last night, I was reminded of our back-to-back losses to the Flyers and Oilers only a couple of weeks before. Defeats so listless, onerous and utterly reprehensible, I thought they’d surely brought the final curtain down on the Sid-Geno-Tanger era.
No way we’d find the elusive on-switch to our game. Especially after months of mediocre hockey at best. And especially against a tough nut like the Rangers.
Yet there we were last night, authoring a consummate playoff performance. Never taking our foot off the gas pedal, never giving the Rangers an inch to breathe or a wisp of life. All the while reducing likely Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin to a pile of rubble. (Not be be confused with rubles.)
I’m also reminded of our final regular season game against the Rangers back on April 7. Not only did Shesterkin shut us out, he taunted us after the game.
What goes around comes around. He’s not looking too cocky right now, is he? Not after being chased from his net for the second game in a row.
Neither are the Rangers. Stars Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider…normally so dynamic…were barely noticeable. Same goes for perpetual thorn Frank Vatrano, a minus-three on the night. It’s as if all the confidence and swagger they displayed in the early stages of the series has been beaten out of them.
They seem stunned, like they don’t know what (or who) hit ‘em.
The playoff Penguins, that’s who.
The Goals
Hard to believe the Rangers scored first, barely two minutes into the game. Alexis Lafreniere, who’s looking more and more like a No. 1 overall pick, walked down the slot and beat Louis Domingue glove side.
Uh oh, I thought. The Rangers came to play.
Turns out, we did, too. Thanks in no small part to Sidney Crosby’s tenacity, we willed ourselves back into the game. Working on a power play courtesy of a Patrik Nemeth high stick, Kris Letang fired a rocket from center point that lodged under Shesterkin’s left pad. The embattled goalie appeared to make the stop, but Sid, in perfect position at the side of the net, dislodged the puck with a precise pickle stab and sent it over the line.
The Pens continued to control the tempo, piling up a 14-8 edge in first-period shots on goal. Shesterkin made 13 saves to keep his team in the hunt. Little did anyone realize his night would end in 20 minutes.
Our slice-and-dice job began in earnest at 3:14 of the second period. Mike Matheson’s drive from center point deflected in off Vatrano’s stick. In the blink of an eye (or 24 seconds to be exact) it was 3-1, as Jake Guentzel converted a picture perfect feed from Bryan Rust at the far post.
The fireworks continued at 11:22. Brian Boyle scooped up a loose puck near the end wall and fed Teddy Blueger, who in turn found Mark Friedman in the high slot. The feisty defender walked around Vatrano and ripped a shot past Shesterkin glove side.
The Rangers hinted at a comeback at 14:04 when Adam Fox cut loose a shot from a wide-angle that deflected in off Matheson’s skate. But the Pens responded with another offensive squall to blow the game wide open.
With just over a minute left in the period, Danton Heinen exquisitely tipped a Letang drive home. Thirty-five seconds later Jason Zucker pounced on a loose puck, turned and fired. This time the biscuit hit Jeff Carter and went in, running the score to 6-2 and finishing Shesterkin for the night. (Maybe the series, too.)
For the second game in a row, Rangers coach Gerard Gallant turned to Alexandar Georgiev in the third period. Midway through the frame the Pens dented him, too, with perhaps the prettiest goal of the night.
Evgeni Malkin stripped the puck from K’Andre Miller and moved it to Kasperi Kapanen. Kappy deked around Fox and escorted the puck behind the cage before dishing an unconscious blind backhand pass to Malkin cutting through the slot. Geno roofed a backhander over Georgiev’s shoulder from close range to complete the demo job and cap a chili-goal night for our Pens.
Puckpourri
The Penguins were dominant…almost ridiculously so. We held the edge across the board, including shot attempts (62-50), shots on goal (41-24), scoring chances (41-22) and faceoffs (60 percent). Even hits (54-49).
High-danger chances? A mind-blowing 22-2 advantage. (Someone should’ve poked the Rangers to see if they had a pulse.)
All but five black-and-gold skaters registered at least one point. Top star Crosby paced the attack with three points (1+2). Number two star Guentzel finished with a goal and a helper. Letang recorded two assists.
Sid’s second assist gave him 200 career postseason points, sixth on the all-time NHL list and one behind former Pen Jaromir Jagr.
Domingue made 22 saves to earn the third star. The Pens did a good job of insulating Louis.
Malkin’s line continues to jell. The unit dominated possession-wise (73.68 Corsi). The Crosby (62.96) and Blueger (58.62) lines also showed well. Only the Carter unit struggled (31.82).
Loved Friedman’s goal celebration. He skated to the sideboards and pounded the Plexiglas with both fists…directly in front of two Rangers fans. Wonder if that was intentional?
An observation. The Pens appear to be shooting the puck more from the high slot and center point, to great effect. We’re crashing the net with abandon as well.
Kudos to Mike Sullivan and the coaching staff for pushing the right buttons and getting our guys to embrace a playoff-style game.
A word of caution. In 2014, the Pens went up 3-1 on the Rangers in second-round action, only to lose three straight and blow the series. Although this squad has a decidedly different feel, we can’t count our series victories before they hatch.
If I’m Gallant, I’d be sorely tempted to go with Georgiev in Game 5. Speaking of, the series shifts back to the Big Apple for Wednesday night’s clash.
Around the League
Colorado completed a sweep of Nashville. The Panthers and Flames knotted their respective series at 2-games apiece. The Kings-Oilers, Wild-Blues, Hurricanes-Bruins and Lightning-Maple Leafs are likewise tied at 2-2.
Oh, the Islanders fired two-time Jack Adams winner Barry Trotz following four seasons at the helm. Someone (Nashville perhaps or even the Rangers should they lose) is gonna’ snap him up but quick.
Rick, pretty description of the Kap-to-Geno goal. That’s how they looked two years ago, and it seems some of that mojo is back. Good timing. Kap bags one next game.
On taking puck to the middle – astute; it has dawned on them that these low percentage, low-IQ shots from just inside the line are give-aways in disguise and that our forecheck is fizzled by them, trapping our low-down guys while they turn the play up-ice. Grateful for the eureka moment. Also critical: on our first PP, on which Sid tied the game, Letang has puck on right point and immediately dropped down to circle as the umbrella shifted. Had our feet moving during that sequence and by taking the puck down the right boards Tanger upset the Rangers’ (everybody we play??) high-in-zone disruption that often results in losing the puck outside the zone and sometimes the dreaded short-handed fioray. I have pined in disbelief that Letang with his great wheels had abandoned that type of vertical movement that, after driving the PK box in deeper, allowed him to then dish weakside with the now opened up space above the circles. That’s the Letang who creates space and time and who has been so good at forcing box shifts and goalies to move their feet.