10 Takeaways From Penguins' Triple-Overtime Victory Over Rangers

For a franchise with its fair share of historical moments, Game 1 can be added to that long list. The Pittsburgh Penguins battled the New York Rangers into a third overtime, eventually coming out on top, 4-3, to take a 1-0 lead in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It was nationally televised on ESPN. It was filled with everything a hockey fan could ask for—speed, skill, physicality, controversy. And the Penguins, with their aging superstars, fought back from a 2-0 deficit and prevailed over a younger, faster Rangers team.

Prior to the start of the series, most believed the Rangers hold a distinct advantage over the Penguins. And perhaps New York will inevitably prevail. After all, the name of the game in hockey today is speed, and the Rangers have more of it than the Penguins. New York also has the advantage in goaltending, and that was on full display Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Even so, the Penguins are the ones who landed the first blow. In 10 takeaways from Game 1, we might find the road map for this team to pull off the upset.

Sidney Crosby. Evgeni Malkin. Kris Letang. These three names are already among the greatest players in franchise history. Crosby is potentially the fifth-best player of all time. Malkin is undoubtedly one of the top 100 players of all time. Letang might be the most underrated defenseman of his era.

The Penguins needed all three of them to be at the top of their game to have any chance of winning what turned out to be a near-six-hour marathon. And all three delivered.

Crosby turned in yet another dazzling performance, highlighted by primary assists on both of Jake Guentzel's goals. Even outside of what he did on the scoresheet, Crosby did all of the little things right. There isn't much else to say. Even at 34 years old, Crosby is still one of the best players in the game. And Tuesday night, he was the best player on the ice.

Nobody logged more time on the ice than Letang. The 35-year-old defenseman played 46:41, and didn't look fatigued whatsoever. His skating never faltered and he helped set up the game-tying goal in the second period. It was the same type of performance we saw in the 2016 Stanley Cup Final, and those who remember the level at which Letang played understand how special that is.

Malkin was determined to score from the time the puck dropped just after 7:00 p.m. When he is on a mission like that, it comes with the typical Geno play. He made some mistakes, including a couple at the blue line in the offensive zone. However, Malkin wasn't afraid to go to the dirty areas, which was epitomized with the game-winner when he chose to screen Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin instead of cycle with Kasperi Kapanen. 

The speed of the Rangers was going to be a problem for Pittsburgh, and that was on full display for the first 25 minutes of the game. The Penguins were out-skated and out-muscled during that time, and the Rangers rightfully earned their 2-0 advantage.

The Penguins weathered the storm, and perhaps the Rangers were a bit too aggressive early on. Like sprinting for the first few minutes of a 10K. Sure, you can get ahead, but can you sustain the energy needed to remain in front? The Penguins answered with Guentzel's first goal of the game just 1:24 after the Rangers scored their second goal.

It was all the Penguins needed to not only stop the bleeding, but also cauterize the wound. Pittsburgh registered a whopping 25 shots in the period, and did enough to enter the third with a 3-3 tie.

The Penguins' starting goaltender was simply sensational throughout the night. Sure, the first goal was not a great one to give up and the attempt on Chris Kreider's shorthanded goal to put the Rangers up 3-2 could have been better.

However, DeSmith kept the Penguins in the game. He withstood the first period onslaught with save after save and he got stronger as the game went on. In total, DeSmith stopped 48 of 51 shots. Most importantly, there were no deer-in-the-headlights look; no panic. That kind of resolve is crucial in playoff hockey.

The only true deterrent was what head coach Mike Sullivan described as a lower-body injury in the second overtime period. DeSmith had to leave the game with obvious discomfort. With regular starting goaltender Tristan Jarry rehabbing a broken foot, the only one to step in net was...

Louis Domingue came in and picked up where DeSmith left off, even though he had just downed a plateful of spicy pork and broccoli in between the first and second overtime periods.

Domingue immediately faced two shots off defensive-zone face-offs, and remained calm and poised throughout 16:40 of ice time, stopping all 17 shots.

"I felt zero pressure," Domingue said. "You dream about that your whole life. You're playing in overtime in the playoffs. Are you kidding me? You'd think that you'd be nervous going into a situation like that. It was just fun for me."

If DeSmith is out for Game 2, and he's described as "day-to-day" by Sullivan, it will be Domingue's net. Jarry likely won't be ready until later in the series.

It's a great story for Domingue. He's a career backup. And now, he's yet another backup goalie to come up big in a crucial spot for the Penguins in the playoffs. Even if the Rangers take Game 2, Domingue helped the team earn a crucial split on the road.

Yes, we've talked about Crosby already. We've also talked about Guentzel's two goals. But the Guentzel-Crosby-Bryan Rust combination was a threat just about every time they touched the ice. 

The Penguins' top line practically willed the team back into the game as the first two Penguin goals came in the same fashion: Jake Guentzel, from Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust. The first goal came in a crucial moment, answering a two-goal deficit. Grit and determination led to the goal, turning a near-goal by Letang into Guentzel sliding one under Shesterkin off two pinpoint passes by Rust and Crosby.

The second goal was vintage Crosby. Rust led the breakout with a cross-ice pass right on Crosby's tape. Then the Penguins' captain cut across the ice after entering the New York zone and slid a brilliant backhand pass to a driving Guentzel, who buried the tying goal.

If the Rangers don't have an answer for this line, it could be a serious problem for them. This trio applied pressure throughout the night, and the Penguins would not have won without this type of a performance.

We've seen this Penguins core be shut down by an opposing goaltender in the playoffs. Anyone remember the 2013 Eastern Conference Final against Boston?

Simply put, Shesterkin was remarkable. He made 79 saves, which is the second most by any goaltender in the playoffs since 1955-56. But the Penguins did not waver. They continued to pepper him with shots, some lower quality and some that could have easily been goals.

They didn't get frustrated when the puck didn't go in. That displays the growth and experience of this team. The guys who have been here a while have seen this before. And they still did enough to get the job done.

The game remained deadlocked at 3-3 until the 16:50 mark of the third period. Kaapo Kakko drove hard to the net and collided with DeSmith, knocking him over and completely out of the crease. This led to an easy empty-net goal for Filip Chytil.

With only 3:10 left in the game, it was obviously an easy call for Mike Sullivan to challenge for goaltender interference—and the Penguins had a legitimate case. While Brian Dumoulin definitely made contact with Kakko on the way to the net, it appeared the Rangers winger was on a collision course for DeSmith with or without contact.

With no clear pushing motion from Dumoulin, replay called goaltender interference and erased the go-ahead goal.

In my humble opinion, this was the correct call. Dumoulin is entitled to contact with Kakko in that situation and made no clear shove into DeSmith (no extension of the arms). Kakko still even had the ability to make a shot attempt after making contact with DeSmith. Rangers fans won't like to hear it, but it was the correct call.

But it's not the NHL without a little controversy. Speaking of which...

Late in the first period, Penguins winger Rickard Rakell chipped the puck into the Rangers zone and was subsequently hit by defenseman Ryan Lindgren. Hits at the blue line are not uncommon, but this type of hit was.

Lindgren hit Rakell high, leaving his feet and making contact with the head. Initially, the call on the ice was a five-minute major penalty. Then, it was changed to two minutes for ... roughing?

According to Rule 51.1, roughing is:

What happened was not roughing. It's either a major penalty for an illegal check to the head or it's not a penalty. Period.

John Marino turned in his best performance as a Penguin. Forget about 29:07 of ice time. Marino bounced back from a rough first period where he took multiple big hits. He fed off the resolve from the rest of the team and played a sound hockey game.

His best moment was on the game winner, taking the pass from Kasperi Kapanen and making a slick move to shoot the puck from long distance with Malkin and Brock McGinn in front. 

Marino had another pedestrian season and hasn't been the same guy since his rookie campaign in 2019-20. But he added to strong performances by Letang and Mike Matheson, giving the Penguins a much-welcomed boost from the blue line.

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