Empty Thoughts: Penguins 5, Rangers 2

Observations from the Penguins’ 5-2 win against the Rangers:

The idiom “if the Penguins are fully healthy” is foolhardy. It’s an ideal they can strive for but rarely attain, especially in a grinder of a season such as the 2020-21 campaign being played during a global pandemic.

Buuuuutttt … if the Penguins are fully healthy, forward Evan Rodrigues doesn’t get a sniff at the top two lines. He’s just not that good.

Buuuuutttt … he probably will always have a shot at both lines given the health woes the Penguins seem destined to deal with. His versatility — he is capable of playing all three forward positions — will always make him a candidate for that type of deployment.

That’s been evident throughout most of this season as he has filled in on right wing of the first line as well as center and right wing of the second line, primarily due to the absences of Kasperi Kapanen and Evgeni Malkin.

“We knew that he could play up and down the lineup, he could play the center ice position, he could play on the wing, he could kill penalties if we needed him to, he could play on the power play,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s really a versatile player. He’s a solid player on both sides of the puck. We believed he could fit into this team well and he has. When he’s a guy that plays with a certain level of confidence, he trusts his instincts, he can be a very good player for us, he can be a very impactful player for us. When you look at his season to this point, he’s played a significant amount of the season in the top-six (forwards) due to some of the injuries that we’ve had and just out of necessity.”

Rodrigues showed off his versatility on Thursday as he scored the game-winning goal on a power-play chance then set up forward Jason Zucker for an insurance goal.

“He had a strong game for us tonight, he’s strong on the puck, he’s making plays for us,” Sullivan said. “We’ve utilized him up and down our lineup like we’ve envisioned. He’s been on the fourth line, he’s been on the third line, he’s killed penalties, he’s been on the power play, he’s been in the top-six (forwards), he’s played center, he’s played the wing. There hasn’t been a role that we haven’t put him in and he hasn’t embraced to this point.”

What happened

The Penguins went up, 1-0, 6:26 into regulation. Off a cross-ice pass by Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson, rookie forward Radim Zohorna motored his 6-foot-6, 220-pound frame up the right wing. Blowing past Rangers defenseman Libor Hajek, Zohorna attacked the net from the left circle, cut across the front of the crease and tucked his second career goal past the right skate of goaltender Igor Shesterkin with a forehand shot. Assists went to Pettersson and defenseman Kris Letang.

A power-play goal 2:02 into the second period tied the game, 1-1. From high in the right circle of the offensive zone, Rangers forward Kaapo Kakko fed the puck to forward Pavel Buchnevich just below the goal line. Buchnevich one-touched a pass to inside the right circle for forward Colin Blackwell who fired a one-timer past goaltender Tristan Jarry’s blocker on the far side for his 11th goal of the season. Buchnevich and Kakko had assists.

The Penguins reclaimed the lead quickly thereafter at 3:23 of the second period. Taking a pass on a crisscross sequence with Penguins forward Jake Guentzel, Letang circled to the right half wall of the offensive zone and lifted a pass attempt. Rangers forward Chris Kreider tried to front the play but the puck glanced off his stick and deflected under Shesterkin’s left leg. Letang was credited with his seventh goal off assists from Guentzel and defenseman Brian Dumoulin.

Another power-play goal at 11:28 of the second put the Penguins up by two. After Zohorna beat Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad on a faceoff in the left circle of the Rangers’ zone, Penguins defenseman John Marino controlled the puck at center point and slid a simple pass to Zucker at the left point. Pushing the puck to the left circle, Zucker distributed a puck low to the left of the cage for Zohorna. From there, Zohorna settled the puck and fed a pass to the slot for Rodrigues who lifted a wrister past Shesterkin’s glove for his fifth goal. Zohorna and Zucker netted assists.

Kreider was awarded a penalty shot at 17:59 of the second period but his wrist shot was snuffed out by Jarry’s glove hand.

Zucker scored at 10:29 of the third period to secure victory. Gaining the offensive zone on the right wing, Rodrigues fended off Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller and from the left circle, he fed a backhand pass to the slot for Zucker. Going from his forehand to his backhand, Zucker shuffled a shot that clunked through Shesterkin’s five hole for his sixth goal. Rodrigues and defenseman Cody Ceci tallied assists.

The Rangers persisted as forward Kevin Rooney got his sixth goal of the season at 13:48 of the third. After a smooth entry into the offensive zone by Buchnevich, he lost the puck in the right circle on a poke check by Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson. Rangers defenseman Adam Fox claimed the puck, veered past a stumbling Matheson, drew Jarry out of his crease and slipped a subtle pass from the right of the crease to the top of the blue paint where Rooney jabbed in an easy goal. Fox collected the lone assist.

An empty-net goal by Penguins forward Mark Jankowski — his fourth — capped the scoring at 18:29 of the third period. Forward Zach Aston-Reese had the only assist.

Statistically speaking

• The Penguins controlled shots, 32-24.

• Penguins forward Sidney Crosby led the game with four shots.

• Fox and Kreider each led the Rangers with three shots.

• Letang led the game with 24:40 of ice time on 28 shifts.

• Fox led the Rangers with 24:30 of ice time on 27 shifts.

• The Penguins controlled faceoffs, 33-23 (59%).

• Penguins forward Frederick Gaudreau was 11 for 12 (92%).

• Rooney was 7 for 10 (70%).

• Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba led the game with three blocked shots.

• Jankowski led the Penguins with two blocked shots.

• Jarry made 22 saves on 24 shots.

• Shesterkin made 27 saves on 31 shots.

Randomly speaking

• As one might imagine, the Penguins were much better defensively compared to their most two recent games, an 8-4 road loss to the Rangers on Tuesday and a 7-5 road loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday. They really could not have gotten any worse, to be frank.

Things weren’t perfect. They had a few mishaps with Jarry handling the puck, there were a couple of scoring chances on wide open nets that the Rangers botched by missing the cage and the Rangers failed to convert on a penalty shot. But the Penguins were much, much better defensively.

They managed the puck better, they didn’t allow the Rangers to attack off the rush or get many second-chance opportunities off rebounds.

There was a clear issue for the Penguins defensively and they addressed it.

• The legend of big Radim Zohorna continues to grow. Even at his size, he looks like Johann Olav Koss zipping around the ice.

What made the goal a bit confusing is that the guy he skated by, Hajek, has played with Zohorna previously in their native Czech Republic at the junior level. That’s to say, Hajek should have some familiarity with his speed. Regardless, Zohorna toasted him and scored a really pretty goal.

Later on, Zohorna decisively won a faceoff then set up Rodrigues for the winning goal on the power play.

It’s easy to forget Zohorna is just taking his first steps in North America given how much he has offered so far.

• Pettersson’s pass to spring Zohorna on his goal was no small thing. Pettersson has not had the best season by any stretch of the imagination, particularly after he returned from an early season injury. A positive play like that can restore some confidence.

• Penguins forward Sam Lafferty had a feisty game, picking up two penalties and even drew a penalty that led to a power-play chance Rodrigues scored on. He also fought Rangers defenseman Brendan Smith, a fairly rough customer who has dropped the gloves with some of the NHL’s toughest players such as New York Islanders forward Matt Martin and San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane.

• Gaudreau had a strong game, even without a point. In addition to being dominant in the faceoff circle, he was a pest on the forecheck. He continues to secure his place in the lineup.

• Blackwell has three goals in five games against the Penguins this season. He’s been quite a success story for the Rangers. After bouncing around with the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators, he signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Rangers this past offseason and really established himself as an NHLer. He can play a couple of positions, move up and down the lineup and isn’t afraid to shoot the puck. There is a little bit of Bryan Rust to him.

Historically speaking

• This was the first time in franchise history the Penguins had two players with last names beginning with Z score in the same game.

• The Penguins’ all-time leaders in goals by “Z” players:

• Kreider had only the third penalty shot ever by a Rangers player against the Penguins and the first in nearly three decades. All three have been unsuccessful. The two previous shots:

pic.twitter.com/9bWlBjBNRg

— Seth Rorabaugh (@SethRorabaugh) April 9, 2021

• Jankowski established a new career-high with a three-game scoring streak. He has two goals and three assists over that span.

• The Penguins now lead the NHL in empty net goals with 12.

• Ceci recorded his 100th career assist.

Publicly speaking

• Rodrigues admitted his confidence waned at times this season:

“I thought I personally had a stretch of three, four games that I wasn’t playing very good. Just had a talk with (Sullivan) and he just kind of told me to be confident and trust myself. Since then, I’m making plays, wanting the puck on my stick, wanting to be a difference-maker. That’s led to a lot more opportunity and a lot more chances for myself the last handful or so games.”

• Sullivan on his team’s defensive improvement:

“We were much better. Not only the quantity but the quality of the chances were not as good as what we gave up the other night and I think that’s reflective in the score. We know that we’re capable of it. It just boils down to attention to detail and then a commitment to playing the game the right way. … We can be stingy defensively and still have the ability to generate offense. It’s a much better formula for success in this league. “

• Letang on Zohorna’s skating:

“I would love to have those long legs, long stride. Once he gets going, its pretty tough to stop him. Pretty fluid for a guy his size. We saw it in the game. Even last game on (defenseman Brian) Dumoulin’s goal, he did a pretty good job of beating those defenders. It’s pretty impressive.”

• Zohorna on his goal:

“I did this in the Czech (Republic) and I did it in the AHL (with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton). I was in full speed and went and tried to skate and go to the net. I was a little bit lucky and I scored a goal. It was nice.”

• Sullivan on Zohorna:

“We’ve really liked what we’ve seen from (Zohorna) from the minute he’s been in training camp. We’ve been really intrigued by his game. We think he has good hockey sense. He’s got good offensive instincts. He’s really strong on the puck for a big man. His bottom hand on his stick is really strong and therefore he’s good in the traffic because he has the stick skills and the strength on his stick to hang onto the puck. We knew there was going to be an adjustment to a smaller rink, the pace of play.

“But we’ve been really intrigued by his game from the start of training camp. With every additional game that he’s getting in the NHL and every additional practice he’s getting with NHL players, I think the pace of the game and just the way he processes it’s slowing down in his mind. So as a result, I think we’re benefiting from his game because you can see the playmaking ability that he has shown to this point.”

• Letang on Lafferty fighting Smith:

“It’s a big boost for us. He’s not afraid of anything. He goes hard every game, he brings a physical element, a speed element to our game. He fought a pretty tough guy tonight. A veteran in this league, a guy that’s fought a lot before. To see him go out there and try to make a difference, it’s a huge boost. Going forward, that’s the type of style we need Sam to play to make us a tougher team to play.”

Visually speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

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