Much Improved Penguins Take OTW Over Rangers
With their third overtime in four games, the Pittsburgh Penguins held on to defeat the New York Rangers.
PITTSBURGH - Fans of both the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers have had this week highlighted since the schedule was released over the summer.
It’s finally here and the Penguins and Rangers will meet up three times in seven days.
With the heat of a playoff race adding to the intensity, these two teams kicked off their week of battles in Pittsburgh.
There wasn’t much of a feeling out process to start the contest as the Rangers took three penalties in the opening six minutes.
The Penguins’ power play has been less than stellar recently, but they were able to take advantage of a lengthy 5-on-3 opportunity.
Sidney Crosby notched his 50th assist on the season setting Rickard Rakell up for a perfectly placed shot.
The lead didn’t last too long as the Rangers’ fourth line battled to knot the game just five minutes later.
The Penguins carried most of the momentum through the first period and peppered Jaroslav Halak with 15 shots.
Jason Zucker continued his dominating run of scoring by giving the Penguins another lead early in the second period.
At first glance it looked like Alex Nylander got a stick on the Zucker shot from the point, rather it deflected off of a Rangers defender.
The heat between the two teams rose through the remainder of the second period; no goals were scored, but there was plenty of scrums and the hit counter continued to climb.
Heading into the third period, the Penguins had a one-goal lead and were doing everything they could to maintain momentum.
They didn't do a great job in carrying that momentum as the Rangers owned the pace of play through the first portion of the period.
The Rangers managed to capitalize on their momentum following a missed blatant hit to the head on Evgeni Malkin from Vincent Trocheck.
Chris Kreider took advantage of Malkin being down on the ice in pain to tie the game for the Rangers.
With the score knotted at two the Penguins were going to overtime for the third time in four games.
The Ranger took an offensive zone penalty to give the Penguins a 4-on-3 advantage.
Kris Letang riffled a beauty for the game winner, his third overtime winner of the year sealing the bonus point for the Penguins.
The Penguins took an important two points in the first of three battles between these two squads.
Make sure you bookmark Inside the Penguins for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more!
- Subscribe to Inside the Penguins on YouTube
- Follow Inside the Penguins on Twitter: @InsidePenguins