Can NY Rangers rally against the strengthening Penguins?
The New York Rangers have beaten these Pittsburgh Penguins before.
Twice, in fact. There was the 4-3 conference semifinal win in 2014 that lit the fuse that would eventually explode the Penguins’ management team. There was the 4-1 quarterfinal win last season, when a lifeless Pittsburgh side started showing that perhaps the coaching change they made wasn’t the correct one.
The Rangers find themselves down 1-0 in their 2016 divisional semifinal series against the Penguins, having lost Game 1 by a 5-2 score. You can right that one off if you’d like, considering the injury loss of Henrik Lundqvist after the first period.
But it’s still a 1-0 hole. The Penguins are only getting stronger – Evgeni Malkin is expected back for Game 2, and Marc-Andre Fleury’s on the way. The Rangers will be without injured defensemen Ryan McDonagh (still) and Dan Girardi, who played horribly in Game 1.
So what’s the hope for Game 2, and the series?
The hope is that the Rangers get a healthy Henrik Lundqvist – or a healthy enough to play Henrik Lundqvist – and that some tweaks to their lines produces better results.
What’s interesting about Game 1: The Rangers dominated at even strength from a possession standpoint, posting a 52.2 corsi percentage (score adjusted) for the game. While some of that is a product of their scramble in the third period to try and knot the game, it was interesting to see one of the more lackluster possession teams in the League this season take it to a possession monster like Mike Sullivan’s Penguins.
The big change for Alain Vigneault appears to be moving Mats Zuccarello away from Derick Brassard and onto a line with Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider. That’s a move that happened during Game 1 and might stick, with Brassard skating with J.T. Miller and Rick Nash on Friday in practice.
“We need more from (Derek) Stepan’s line, we need more from (Derick) Brassard’s line. We need our top end players to play better. It’s time to make a difference,” said Vigneault, via Rangers Rants.
The Penguins host the Rangers at 3 p.m. in Game 2.
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
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