Reality set in bluntly. And quickly.

It took barely two minutes for the New York Rangers to ruin the fun.

All the memes on spicy pork and the delirium of sing-song chants gave way to a bleak realism for the Penguins.

After the Rangers took the first lead on the first shot of Game 4 of their first-round playoff series at PPG Paints Arena on Monday, the Penguins received an abrupt reminder that they were the underdog in this matchup.

Then, the rest of the game happened.

Getting offense from seemingly every corner of their lineup, the Penguins came back from an early setback to stomp the Rangers, 7-2, and claim a commanding 3-1 series lead.

With Game 5 scheduled for Wednesday at New York’s Madison Square Garden, the Penguins have a chance to close out the series and get some badly needed rest before advancing to the second round.

Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin, the favorite to win the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender during the regular season, was chased for the second consecutive contest as the Penguins reached the seven-goal mark again, two nights after they won Game 3, 7-4.

The Penguins contend a victory in Game 5 won’t be an easy task.

“Obviously, he’s a heck of a goalie, arguably the best goalie in the league all year,” Penguins forward Jeff Carter said. “We’re trying to make it tough on him, get pucks and bodies there. Luckily, we’ve had some success here. We’ve got a long ways to go, though. I’m sure he’s going to bounce back. It’s going to be a tough one.”

The Rangers looked like they were going to be tough on the Penguins on Monday night as they took a lead only 2:06 into regulation. After Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson and Carter failed to get a puck out of their own zone, Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider corralled it at the right point then slid a pass to forward Alex Lafreniere above the right circle. Facing minimal resistance, Lafreniere charbroiled goaltender Louis Domingue’s glove on the far side for his first career postseason goal on the first shot of the contest. Schneider had the lone assist.

PPG Paints Arena, raucous with taunts of “IIII-GOORRRR” up until that point, fell silent as the Rangers immediately claimed momentum.

“It’s not an ideal start,” Carter said. “There was a lot of hockey left. We’ve got guys that have been through it. We got right back to work, got a big one on the power play and kept going from there.”

The Penguins’ scuttling top power-play unit tied the game at 11:17 of the first period.

Settling a puck above the Rangers’ left circle, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang swatted a slapper towards the net. After forward Jake Guentzel slightly redirected the puck on net to the left post, Shesterkin made the initial save but slid into the cage. Positioned to the right of the crease, Crosby jabbed the loose puck across the goal line before Shesterkin recoiled his left skate and pushed it out.

Referee Kelly Sutherland ruled a goal on the ice with some hesitation and then engaged in a lengthy video review that confirmed the score, Crosby’s second of the postseason. Guentzel and Letang claimed assists.

That was the first five-on-four score by the team’s top power-play unit in the series. It was vital in more ways than one.

“It was real important,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “These guys, they’re extremely proud guys and they’re real good players. They’ve been a good power play for us. For them to score tonight, I thought it was a timely goal, first and foremost. To have that response after getting scored against so early in the game was huge for our team. It helps us get momentum. And just the fact that the first unit … I thought they executed really well. They were sharp, they were on pucks and just their execution, I think, was a lot better and it resulted in the goal. It was a really nice play all around.”

The Penguins made a lot of nice plays most of the game, six of which resulted in additional goals.

They took first lead of the game at 3:14 of the second period thanks to Matheson’s first career postseason goal. Beating Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad on a draw in New York’s right circle, Crosby swatted a backhand pass to the center point for Matheson. Surveying for a shooting lane, Matheson snapped off a wrister that glanced off the left leg of Rangers forward Frank Vatrano and then underwent a course correction, fluttering past Shesterkin’s blocker. The only assist was claimed by Crosby.

It became a two-goal lead only 24 seconds later. After gaining the offensive zone on the right wing, Crosby lost possession for a moment before reclaiming the puck in the right circle then fed a pass to linemate Bryan Rust. From below the right dot, Rust slipped a pass to the front of the crease, where Guentzel tapped in a forehand shot for his team-best fifth goal. Rust and Crosby netted assists.

Reserve defenseman Mark Friedman scored his first career playoff goal at 11:22 of the middle frame to put the Penguins up by a field goal. From the Rangers’ right corner, Penguins forward Teddy Blueger slid a pass to the high slot for Friedman, who fired a wrister. Vatrano deflected the puck once again, this time with his stick, causing it to elude Shesterkin’s left leg. Blueger and linemate Brian Boyle had assists.

The Rangers pulled within two at 14:04 with some good fortune. Weaving his way through into the offensive zone at center point, Fox pulled up on the left half wall, spun around and whipped a pass attempt towards the crease. Matheson was shielding Rangers forward Chris Krieder from the puck but inadvertently deflected it with his right skate past Domingue’s blocker on the near side. Forward Artemi Panarin and Zibanejad registered assists.

Any notion of a comeback was euthanized in the late stages of the second period. First, Penguins forward Danton Heinen scored his second goal of the postseason at the 18:53 mark. After Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen forced Rangers forward Ryan Strome into a turnover on New York’s left boards, Letang corralled the loose puck at the right point and chucked a wrister towards the cage. Positioned above the crease, Heinen reached out and deflected the puck down past Shesterkin’s right skate. Letang logged the lone assist.

Then Carter’s third goal at 19:28 made it a 6-2 contest. After Carter beat Rangers forward Filip Chytil on a draw in New York’s right circle, Penguins forward Jason Zucker chased the puck down in the high slot and whipped a wrister at the cage. From inside the right hashmark, Carter deflected the puck through Shesterkin’s five hole. The only assist went to Zucker.

Shesterkin was pulled to open the third period. The announcement of backup Alexandar Georgiev’s entry into the contest was greeted by “WE WANT IIII-GOR!” chants.

Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin capped the scoring with his second goal at 12:22 of the final period. After hounding Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller into a turnover in New York’s left circle, Malkin offloaded the puck to Kapanen. After venturing behind the cage, Kapanen distributed a clever pass back to the left circle for Malkin, who flipped a backhander over Georgiev’s right shoulder. Kapanen collected the only assist.

Domingue, regularly regaled with howls of “LLLLOOOOUUUU…” throughout the evening, made 22 saves on 24 shots in the victory.

His counterpart, Shesterkin, who was 3-1-0 against the Penguins during the regular season with a 1.01 goals against average and a .960 save percentage, absorbed Monday’s loss after making only 24 saves on 30 shots. For the series, he has a 1-2 record, a 4.26 goals against average and a .905 save percentage.

Rangers coach Gerard Gallant, who referred to his team as “soft” repeatedly after the game, proclaimed Shesterkin as his starter for Game 5 as well as “the best goalie in the league.”

The Penguins did quite a bit to shoot holes in that notion (to say nothing of shooting at the various holes Shesterkin provided) on Monday.

And it started by shaking off their bad start.

“There was a lot of hockey left,” Crosby said. “We know that. But obviously to get one on the power play was nice. Just to get that momentum back, to get the crowd into it. At that point, it was just more trying to get the next one.”

Notes:

• Sullivan (44 wins) surpassed Dan Bylsma (43) for first place on the franchise’s career postseason coaching wins list.

• In his 178th career game, Crosby recorded his 200th career postseason point (71 goals, 129 assists).

• Domingue (three wins) surpassed Michel Dion and Tristan Jarry (two each) for 12th place on the franchise’s career postseason goaltending wins list.

• Blueger recorded his first career postseason assist and his second career postseason point. He scored a goal in a 4-3 “road” loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 3 of a qualifying round in the “bubble” playoffs on Aug. 5, 2020. The game was staged at a neutral site — Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena — but the Canadiens served as the home team.

• Rangers forward Jonny Brodzinksi made his NHL postseason debut.

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