Penguins’ poor period hands NY Rangers Game 1 win
NEW YORK – It was a parade down Broadway, but not one the Pittsburgh Penguins wanted to participate it.
Four times in the first period, their players skated to the penalty box; and while the New York Rangers only capitalized once on their power plays, it was enough for the 2-1 margin of victory in Game 1 of their Metro Division series at Madison Square Garden.
“It’s the postseason. Every little thing matters, and we gave up a lot of momentum in the first period,” said Penguins defenseman Rob Scuderi. “The offensive zone penalties. Penalties behind the play. We just don’t need that kind of stuff.”
The Rangers opened the scored just 28 seconds into the first period as Marc-Andre Fleury did as Marc-Andre Fleury is wont to do in the postseason.
Rick Nash’s blast from the left wing thumped off Fleury’s pads, as the Penguins goalie angled the puck back to the slot to a wide-open Derick Brassard, who scored an easy one. Take a bad decision by Fleury, mix in sleepwalking defense, and it’s a recipe for a Rangers’ lead in the first minute of the series.
“I don’t know what happened,” said Brassard on his goal. “I was wide open in the middle. I was just driving to the net, and I got a lucky bounce.”
“I tried to stick it to the corner, but a slap shot’s not easy [to handle],” said Fleury, who was otherwise stellar with 36 saves.
The rest of the period was that parade to the penalty box. Chris Kunitz for goalie interference. Taylor Chorney for interference. Blake Comeau for roughing. David Perron for slashing.
It was during that Comeau penalty that the Rangers made it 2-0, as Ryan McDonagh blasted the puck from the point and it deflected off a Penguin past Fleury at 15:16 for the 2-0 lead.
Comeau got one back at 6:15 of the second period, thanks to some quality net crashing by Max Lapierre. He battled Dan Boyle in front of Henrik Lundqvist, creating just enough chaos for Comeau to sneak the puck in and cut the lead.
“We knew they wanted to crash Hank’s crease, put a lot of pressure there,” said Coach Alain Vigneault.
The second period saw the Penguins play the Rangers well; the third period saw them take over in possession in a push for that equalizing goal. But Lundqvist made nine of his 24 saves, and the Rangers held on for the one-goal win.
Vigneault praised his team after the game for its discipline. “They know we play whistle-to-whistle, and they were trying after the whistle to get some stuff going. But we are not going to get involved,” he said. “We are going to play whistle to whistle.”
It was those whistles in the first period that knocked the Penguins off their game. Sidney Crosby, for example, played just 3:42 in the first due to the penalties, which really isn’t an effective way to get your best player going.
Penguins coach Mike Johnston said that the early goal and the first-period penalties “took a lot of the momentum away from our team” and that “key players couldn’t get on the ice” during that period.
The silver lining for Pittsburgh? It was one bad period. The rest of the game was anyone’s to win, according to Scuderi.
“We won the second period. Just couldn’t win the third,” he said.
“We gave up the quick one, and then gave up a power-play goal on their third or fourth power-play of that period,” said Scuderi, with emphasis. “When you’re shorthanded for seven minutes of a 20-minute period, you’re not doing yourself any favors.”
