The Pittsburgh Penguins came into Madison Square Garden on Friday riding a four-game win streak, while the New York Rangers had lost six of their last seven. Pittsburgh seemed to be cleaning up some of the bad habits that plagued their game for much of the season so far.
But those habits crept back in again.
The Penguins snapped their win streak with a 4-2 loss to the Rangers, who had been going through a bit of turmoil all day on Friday with the Jacob Trouba trade looming over them. Pittsburgh’s two goals by Blake Lizotte and Philip Tomasino were followed up in quick succession by Rangers goals on both occasions.
The first was by Artemi Panarin a minute and nine seconds after the Penguins took the 1-0 lead in the second period, and the second was scored by former Penguin Reilly Smith just a minute and 24 seconds after they tied the game, 2-2.
Head coach Mike Sullivan has talked about momentum a lot this season, and Friday night was an example of Pittsburgh being unable to handle the momentum swings when they started to go in New York’s favor.
It’s a bad habit that has been plaguing them all season long. But that wasn’t the only issue.
“Probably the worst game we played in a month, maybe,” Sullivan said. “Everything we talked about before the game, we did the complete opposite. We talked about managing the puck, we gave up six two-on-ones and a breakaway. We talked about bringing physicality to the game, we didn’t touch anybody. It’s hard to win when you’re doing things like that.”
He didn’t hold back when saying what has to change ahead of their Saturday tilt against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“Our intentions have to be different,” Sullivan said. “We have to have a willingness to play the game the right way. We didn’t manage the puck, we were on the wrong side of the puck all night long. Like I said, we didn’t win a puck battle, there wasn’t collective effort… Our intentions weren’t in the right spot from the drop of the puck. That’s my observation.”
And here are my observations from this one:
– The Penguins’ power play let them down tonight.
Going into this game, the power play was ranked 13th in the league, and it had been operating at a pretty decent level. And – granted – the Rangers’ penalty kill is second only to the Nashville Predators in the NHL.
But the power play was a mess tonight, and both units weren’t very good optics-wise. It was messy, disjointed, and slow-developing, much like it looked last season. They went 0-4 and couldn’t really generate much sustained zone time.
They really could have used a power play goal in this game to give them some momentum. The Rangers really fed off of those kills, too.
– There were a lot of things that went wrong on Panarin’s second goal of the game, which happened with 0.5 seconds left on the clock in the second period.
But it all started with an awful decision by Anthony Beauvillier.
The Penguins were cycling in the offensive zone and generating some chances – that ‘BLT’ line, once again – and Ryan Shea fed a perfect pass to Beauvillier at the right circle for a one-timer. He had a wide-open shot opportunity.
Instead, Beauvillier elected to attempt a cross-ice pass to Lizotte. He turned the puck over, and the Rangers took it the other way and capitalized.
You absolutely have to shoot the puck there, especially with little time remaining on the clock. There were less than 20 seconds left in the period at that point. That’s simply a pass you cannot make, especially with a gift-wrapped shot opportunity like that.
The Penguins tend to make mistakes when there is hesitancy in their game. Beauvillier has to just shoot on instinct there. I’ve liked his game so far this season, but just an awful, costly decision by him.
– Sidney Crosby – who was playing in his 1,300th NHL game on Friday – also passed on an opportunity to shoot with around five minutes left in the second period.
With the game tied at the time, 1-1, Rickard Rakell forced a turnover in the neutral zone and started the breakout the other way. Instead of shooting, Crosby tried to feed the puck back to Rakell, who was being smothered by a defender.
Again, in this tight a game, you can’t pass up golden opportunities to shoot the puck.
– This was one of the more forgettable games for Rakell and the first line. They were losing puck battles left and right, couldn’t get any sustained offense going, and gave the puck away at crucial times.
Certainly not one of their better nights, and it was an especially forgettable night for Crosby, who had two giveaways.
– Speaking of forgettable nights, this was a rough one for Kris Letang.
He didn’t engage well defensively on a few occasions. He had three giveaways. He was out of position in the defensive zone on several occasions.
Partner Matt Grzelcyk also got beat a few times, and on the Rangers’ third goal, he just lost his footing and got outmatched physically, which allowed the Rangers to enter the offensive zone on the rush. But Letang didn’t make a great defensive play in front of his own net, either.
He’s been better lately, but not the best game from him.
– Alex Nedeljkovic was good in the early parts of this game. He made some nice saves to keep the score even for a while, and he was good for most of the game.
Panarin’s second goal – the one at the end of the second – was a bit iffy on his part, but Trocheck’s goal that put the Rangers up 4-2 late in the game was one he would definitely want to have back.
“It wasn’t our best,” Nedejkovic said. “I didn’t think it was their best, either, to be honest with you. I don’t think, really, anybody had too good of a game.”
He added: “Two pretty tough goals for me to give up there at the end of the second and third periods. So, that’s the difference, really.”
Honestly, I was a bit surprised Jarry didn’t start this game. I know every game is a “big game,” but this one seemed just a bit bigger than Saturday’s because of the stakes. It’s nothing against Ned, but with the way Tristan Jarry has been playing, I just expected to see him in the divisional game.
– The Penguins only had eight total players register a shot on goal tonight. In fact, Lizotte was the only player in the bottom-six who registered a shot on goal. He now has five goals in 12 games for the Penguins this season.
That being said, I did like Cody Glass’s game tonight. It was his first game since Nov. 4, and he generated a few opportunities with his speed – as well as picked up an assist on Lizotte’s goal. I also like his shoot-first mentality.
“The first two periods, it was tough on the legs, trying to get back into it,” Glass said. “The game’s really fast out there, and it’s hard to simulate that in practices. I felt as the game went on, I started to feel more comfortable and feel better, but the more shifts I get, the more opportunity… hopefully, it gets better.”
He should remain in the lineup on Saturday.
– Small observation that could mean nothing, but Glass took a few shifts with Evgeni Malkin and Drew O’Connor at the end of the game instead of Tomasino. Tomasino was not on the ice at all in the last five minutes or so.
May be nothing. But definitely something to keep an eye on going into Saturday.
– Speaking of, that is now three goals in five games for Tomasino in his tenure with the Penguins.
He continues to impress.
