What a turnaround. After falling behind 2-0 and looking lifeless while doing so, the Rangers roared back with three goals in the second. Then in the third, New York didn't sit on the lead or play a shell, but kept competing and were rewarded with a fourth goal and empty net tally. After one, it sure looked like New York was headed for a three-game losing streak. But they showed grit and resilience, aided by some luck, which as you know I believe results from hard work, to earn the victory.
The game did not start out ideal. A pass to no one in the neutral zone by Nick Holden resulted in Pittsburgh regaining possession. Jake Guentzel took advantage of the mistake, beating Antti Raanta on what has to be classified as a bad goal on his first ever shot in the NHL just 1:02 into the contest. As a result, New York were on their heels throughout the period. The Penguins doubled the lead, thanks to a Jimmy Vesey turnover that created a 3-on-2 rush with that man Guentzel putting in the rebound after Kevin Klein failed to clear the puck following the initial shot. Raanta recovered from the bad initial goal and second tally allowed to have a strong period. He made a huge save denying Conor Sheary’s try from in close with less than four minutes to go in the first period to keep in 2-0. Then, in the second period, he turned away Guentzel’s bid for a hat trick from between the hashmarks, alone in front, following another turnover, this one by Marc Staal, and that save seemed to spark the Rangers.
Rick Nash, who was vilified in the blog comments early in the game, cut the deficit to one. He forced Ian Cole into a turnover along the boards and picked up the loose puck. Nash's attempted pass to Derek Stepan was blocked by Justin Schulz, but Nash stuck with it and put it into the net past Marc-Andre Fleury. Then it became the Ryan McDonagh show.
Michael Grabner's first shot was stopped by Fleury but McD was able to corral the puck behind the net. His pass went through the crease to Grabner, whose backhand found the open half of the net wide side past Fleury to even the game at two. Short handed, New York took the lead. Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller raced into the offensive zone. Hayes' pass was deflected by Evgeni Malkin, then bounced off Miller and into the net for the 3-2 lead, which the Rangers carried into the lead.
Which Rangers team would we see? The one that usually falls into a shell and has the prevent offense or one that used its speed to continually create chances and pressures the defense. Fortunately, it was the latter. The fourth goal was all McDonagh, as he intercepted a clearing attempt and was a bit lucky, as he pass went off Hayes' skate into the net. Stepan clinched the game with an empty-netter and New York headed home with a 5-2 win.
The victory was big mentally, as it followed the loss of Mika Zibanejad for 6-8 weeks and update on Pavel Buchnevich, who will miss 2-3 weeks while he strengthens his core. In addition, from a gut-check perspective, New York showed resilience after falling behind 2-0 on the road. But the victory doesn't fully mask the recent issues.
Even though New York only scored four goals over the weekend, most of us weren't concerned about the offense, despite the absences of Zib and Buch. The forward depth would be tested without those two but the general belief was that the players currently on the team would be able to compensate. Defensively though, its been a different story. Coach Alain Vigneault continues to make decisions that at best have you scratching your head. Continuing to sit Clendening, who isn't the second coming of Bobby Orr but who deserves to play way more often than he does, at least so he is sharp when needed, makes little sense. Repeatedly playing Klein, who has been the team's worst d-man most of the season, is the wrong move. Shifting Brady Skjei off of playing with Staal is less than optimal. Placing Dan Girardi, who has admittedly been better than the last two years, back on the top pairing ignores the flaws in his game, which is why he is better suited on the second or third pairing. With Zib and Buch out, even with the forward depth, the defense has to be better. But for it to be so, AV needs to play and deploy his blueline much wiser.