There was drama even before the puck dropped last night. Marc-Andre Fleury who had been practicing and preparing as if he was the Game 1 starter wasn't even going to be dressed. Pittsburgh was going to play a goalie who has never played a playoff game and dress a backup who has never even been in an NHL game.
This set off alarm bells across the fan base (myself included) as it was assumed Fleury must have had a setback in the afternoon. The reality of the situation was that Mike Sullivan was playing up some serious deception. Fleury was never going to start Game 1. Jeff Zatkoff was told the night before he was going to start.
Sullivan: "Obviously we didn't want to reveal who we were going to play and give our opponent an opportunity to prepare for them."
— Angie (@acarducci) April 14, 2016
The gamble paid off in Game 1. Pittsburgh's JZ had 35 saves on 37 shots. For the Penguins to be successful against the Rangers I still believe average goaltending will be good enough. This was a way above average performance from the goaltender who is third on the depth chart. He still flops around too much for my liking and eventually that will lead to goals, but it didn't last night. Given the two day breaks in this series Game 1 might be Zatkoff's only appearance of the series and if so, job well done. It was a great moment for him and his career.
This was a blown opportunity for the New York Rangers. They actually played a good game but were not rewarded at all for it. Shot volume was supposed to be Pittsburgh's advantage not the goaltending. New York controlling 59.1% of the even-strength play and still losing does not bode well for them, especially with the scary eye injury to their best player Henrik Lundqvist.
Marc Staal was careless with his stick again, but this time it didn't strike Sidney Crosby in the head it struck the Rangers golden goose in his eyeball. Today the Rangers called up another goaltender from the AHL. It remains to be seen if this is because New York wants to play some gamesmanship like Mike Sullivan did or if Henrik Lundqvist is legitimately going to miss some time.
Here's how the players performed
Rangers - Penguins shots. pic.twitter.com/1DKSDzUyPj
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) April 14, 2016
Like I said the Rangers played well. I would be surprised if Pittsburgh conceded that much at even-strength again.
The Rangers also had a marvelous opportunity to start the third period. Pittsburgh opened the door for a potential comeback by taking two penalties on the same sequence. One of the penalties was a double minor. Pittsburgh was going to have to kill a full two minute five on three and then an additional two minutes. New York did what they had to do early on with Derek Stepan scoring a very nice goal close to the goal mouth on nice feed but the Rangers threw it all away when this happened.
2. Nick Bonino sets up Tom Kühnhackl for the one-timer goal #Pens #SixSnipes pic.twitter.com/QjQ4o22fqj
— Shane O'Donnell (@shane1342o) April 14, 2016
Kris Letang hit Nick Bonino for a stretch play and then Bonino flashed his playmaking skills with a no look pass over to Kuhnhackl who is starting to find a knack for scoring shorthanded goals in that spot. What could have been a tie game turned back into a two goal deficit for New York.
Ben Lovejoy deserves mention on this sequence. He cleared away a sure fire goal from the crease area which would have tied the game. This was the definition of a game changing play.
Patric had the hat trick for the Penguins. Hornqvist did what he does best. Drive to the net front and collect the puck. His first period goal must have been quite deflating for the Rangers after crushing the Penguins that period. Not only did the Penguins score in the last minute but that also marked the end of Lundqvist's night.
Sidney Crosby had three points in his 2015-16 playoff debut. I want to say that is more than his entire tenure with Mike Johnston, but it isn't. Crosby had four points in five games last year against the Rangers. Here was Dan Girardi forgetting about Sidney Crosby. Total snipe job by Sid
hey look, a GIF https://t.co/2SHHoO3r7Y pic.twitter.com/CZoRPpIU8c
— Shane O'Donnell (@shane1342o) April 14, 2016
Sidney Crosby continues to be among the best playoff performers of all time
Per @EliasSports: Sidney Crosby (44-77—121 in 101 GP) ranks 6th in #StanleyCup Playoffs history in points per game. pic.twitter.com/RFaIhQlte4
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 14, 2016
Last but not least Conor Sheary is playing himself into a larger role. He continues to make things happen with the puck using his great speed and decent hands. He outhustled Dan Girardi on the game's first goal and fed Hornqvist out front. For those that are dead set against Mike Sullivan breaking up the HBK line one option could be placing Conor Sheary on a line with Evgeni Malkin. Whatever the line combos become with Malkin's return Sheary should start to get closer to 15 minutes than the ten minutes of ice he is getting. Only Carl Hagelin (1.23) had a higher 5v5 goals per 60 than Sheary (1.09).
The teams don't play again until Saturday. We could have our first Fleury vs. Lundqvist matchup or we could continue to see the backups take the workload. Whatever the case may be expect the Penguins to show better than they did at even-strength in Game 1. The Rangers probably squandered one of their better looks at victory in this series.
Thanks for reading!