The Pittsburgh Penguins defense allowed almost nothing en route to a Game 4 victory.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have a 3-1 series lead over the New York Rangers after a dominant Game 4 performance. The Penguins rode the momentum of a five-goal second period to capture the victory in a series where, up to this point, nothing has come easily.
While the offense was spectacular, chasing Rangers starting goaltender Igor Shesterkin for the second straight game, the defensive play solidified this victory.
The Penguins entire team bought into head coach Mike Sullivan's defensive system early this season when both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were slated to miss the early portions of the schedule. That system was in full-effect on opening night when the Penguins stunned the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning on their banner raising night 6-2.
The system itself is called a 1-2-2 defense. It emphasizes team defense with an aggressive forecheck that attempts to force the opposition to turn the puck over before the breakout begins. Sometimes the Penguins will be extra aggressive and deploy a 2-1-2 to put extra pressure on the defense, but their base defense is the 1-2-2.
Once the puck is broken out and reaches the defensive zone, the Penguins switch into a zone-based coverage that emphasizes keeping the puck to the outer parts of the defensive zone. The one downfall for the Pens late in the regular season, was keeping people out of their net-front, but they have been able to slam the door on any Rangers that have attempted to screen Louis Domingue for the better part of this series.
In Game 4 the Penguins put on a masterclass of defense, allowing only 22 total shots on goal.
The majority of the Rangers shots were low-danger opportunities from the point or outside of the face-off dots. New York finished with only one high-danger scoring opportunity at even strength and only two total in the entire game.
This defensive success allowed Domingue to put together his best start of the series, stopping 20 of the 22 shots he faced.
The defense prevented most of the Rangers shots from being deflected onto Domingue, and in turn, he was able to swallow them up and prevent second-chance opportunities the entire night.
The Penguins offense has been phenomenal these past two games, but if the defense can continue this performance, the Penguins will be a tough team to beat throughout the remainder of the playoffs.
Make sure you bookmark Inside the Penguins for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more!
- Subscribe to Tip of the Ice-Burgh YouTube Channel
- Follow Inside the Penguins on Twitter: @InsidePenguins