Penguins fall to Rangers, slip to 3rd place

The Penguins were bound to have trouble scoring goals Tuesday.

After all, they were facing the New York Rangers, who have one of the NHL’s elite goaltenders in Igor Shesterkin.

And not the Detroit Red Wings.

Sure enough, the 3-2 win by the Rangers at PPG Paints Arena was a tight defensive battle. The Rangers’ defense largely stymied the Penguins’ attack, limiting them to 24 shots, one of their lowest totals of the season.

Tuesday’s outcome allowed the Rangers (43-19-5, 91 points) to hop over the Penguins (40-18-10, 90 points) for second place in the Metropolitan Division.

The result came four days after the Penguins bumbled their way through a 5-1 loss to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Certainly, the Penguins played much better Tuesday compared to Friday. But the outcome was still disappointing.

“It was a way different game tonight than on Friday,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “It was a low-event game. I don’t think there was significant scoring chances on either side. That’s a testament to both teams’ commitment to defend hard.

“It just felt like you were fighting for every inch of ice out there in all three zones. We were trying to force them to do the same. They got a couple of looks and they finish. We come up one short. Our push in the third period was really good. That’s encouraging. But this is the type of hockey that we’ve got to grow accustomed to playing here down the stretch. It has a playoff feel to it. There’s just not a lot of ice. We’re going to have to be willing to take what the game gives us.”

Tuesday’s game didn’t offer the Penguins much in terms of offensive chances. Their 24 shots were tied for their fifth-fewest of the 2021-22 campaign.

The Penguins dropped to 2-2-3 this season when they record fewer than 25 shots.

Each regulation loss has come at the hands of the Rangers.

“We passed up opportunities to put it in play a little bit more and just deliver pucks to the net,” Sullivan said. “The nature of our team is we’re not a group that shoots the puck from everywhere. We tend to hang on to pucks and look for more quality than quantity. That’s part of the DNA of our group. We’ve got some playmakers that aren’t just going to throw pucks to the net. We can adopt a little bit more of that mindset though. We can try to find a modified approach.”

The Penguins saw an 81.8 % drop in offense following their 11-2 despoilment of the rotten Red Wings at home on Sunday. They knew they would be in for an entirely different challenge Tuesday.

“The matchup, we know it’s a big game,” Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin said. “A lot of focus on ourselves here in trying to be consistent. Especially in these big games. Just play well. If they score a goal, we can’t get down on ourselves. We’ve got to continue to play, continue to push and have some more emotion throughout our lineup.”

That emotion appeared to be in place early for the Penguins, who took the contest’s first lead 14:24 into regulation thanks to their fourth line.

Gaining the offensive zone on the right wing, Penguins forward Teddy Blueger left a drop pass at the point for defenseman Kris Letang. Spinning off a check from Rangers forward Johnny Brodzinski, Letang fed the puck to the left point for Dumoulin, who snapped off a wrister towards the cage. Battling for position above the crease with Rangers forward Tyler Motte, Penguins forward Brian Boyle was able to deflect the puck with the “neck” of his stick through Shesterkin’s five hole for his ninth goal. Dumoulin and Letang had assists.

A defensive zone miscue by Dumoulin resulted in the Rangers tying the game at 13:32 of the second period.

From his own left corner, Dumoulin tried to backhand clear a puck, but Rangers forward Chris Kreider dashed those hopes with a pokecheck. The puck bounced to the slot, where Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad alertly corralled it and backhanded a pass inside the right hashmarks for linemate Frank Vatrano, who ripped a wrister through goaltender Tristan Jarry’s five hole for his 15th goal. Zibanejad and Kreider claimed assists.

The Rangers took their first lead at 17:04 of the middle frame. Gaining the offensive zone on the right wing, forward Artemi Panarin offered a slight juke in the right circle to open up space on defenseman John Marino then slipped a pass to the high slot for rookie defenseman Braden Schneider. Facing little resistance, Schneider gripped and ripped a wrister that seared Jarry’s blocker for his second goal. Assists went to Panarin and forward Andrew Copp.

After time expired in the second period, Penguins forward Jake Guentzel got tangled up with Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren near the Penguins’ bench. Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson tried to wrestle Lindgren away from his teammates. After officials sorted things out, all three players were assessed roughing minors and the Rangers started the third period with a power-play opportunity on fresh ice.

Rangers forward Chris Kreider took advantage of that opportunity and secured victory 1:06 into the third period. From the center point, defenseman Adam Fox chucked a wrister that missed the mark but hit off the end boards and deflected to the left of the cage. Kreider alertly tracked the rebound and jabbed it over Jarry’s right leg for his 45th goal. Fox and Panarin recorded assists.

Matheson was diplomatic when asked about his infraction.

“I don’t really know what I actually got called for,” Matheson said. “I’d say I respectfully disagree with the call. I see their guy going at one of our best players and I just tried to get him away from him. Obviously, it was seen different and ended up being the game-winning goal. Frustrating, but that’s all part of the game, I guess. That’s kind of all I have to say about that.”

The Penguins’ power play got in on the act at 10:37 of the third when forward Sidney Crosby scored his 25th goal.

After forward Evgeni Malkin made a strong effort to keep the puck in the offensive zone, Crosby offered a so-so imitation of Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Al MacInnis and teed up a slapper from above the left circle that blew past Shesterkin’s glove on the far side. Guentzel provided an effective screen on the sequence. Malkin and Letang claimed assists.

The Penguins made a late push in a vain effort to force a tie. Guentzel had two chances in the final 25 seconds from within the gravity field of the Rangers’ crease that were stuffed by Shesterkin. On his final shot, Guentzel pushed a wrister from the right of the blue paint that never gained altitude and was snuffed out by Shesterkin’s stick.

“I’ve got to get that one up at the end of the game,” Guentzel lamented. “That’s a little bit disappointing from my end there.”

Jarry stopped 23 of 26 shots as his record fell to 33-14-6.

His team fell for the second time in three games this season against an opponent they seemed destined to face in the postseason.

They face perhaps a tougher challenge in their immediate future with road games against the Central Division’s top squads, the Minnesota Wild on Thursday and the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.

“We’ve got another level to get to,” Boyle said. “We’ve got to continue to work to do that. We’ve got a tough (two-game road trip upcoming). We should be excited about it because this is a great challenge against two great teams.”

Entering the final month of the regular season, the Penguins anticipate their final 14 games will resemble the nature Tuesday’s contest adopted.

“We’re going to be in more and more of these games,” Sullivan said. “We’ve got to grow accustomed to it. We’ve got to get excited about it. We’ve got to embrace it.

“We’ve got to find a comfort level in one-goal games and low-scoring games and low-event games.”

Notes:

• Crosby (1,395 points) surpassed former Penguins forward Luc Robitaille (1,394) for 23rd place on the NHL’s career scoring list.

• Dumoulin (113 points) surpassed forward Shawn McEachern (112) for 78th place on the franchise scoring list.

• Panarin now has 29 points (12 goals, 17 assists) in 22 career games against the Penguins.