|
 The coach's words proved prescient.
Eleven players recorded at least one point in the Penguins' 5-3 win
over the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon in New York.
Matt Cullen's tie-breaking goal with 8:51 left in regulation was the
game-winner. Cullen spun off of Derick Brassard behind the goal
line, then flipped a shot which ricocheted off of Marc Staal.
"Sometimes you get lucky bounces," Cullen said. "You will take every
one.
Conor Sheary scored twice, and Patric Hornqvist and Sidney Crosby
each added another for Pittsburgh, which improved to 36-24-8. The
Penguins have won two straight, and three of their last five.
Sheary, Crosby and Tom Kuhnhackl each recorded two points in the
win.
"I was really proud of the way the guys battled," Cullen said.
"That's a big response for us."
Pittsburgh now has 80 points, and passed Detroit for the first
Eastern Conference wild-card spot. The Red Wings hosted Toronto
later Sunday night.
 "The standings are so close," said Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 24
saves. "The division is so close."
Despite getting goals from Brassard, Chris Kreider and Ryan
McDonagh, New York fell to 39-23-7. Even with the regulation loss,
the Rangers maintained their three-point lead over the idle New York
Islanders for second place in the Metropolitan Division.
"We need to get the points," Dan Girardi said.
Henrik Lundqvist made 28 saves, but he would want back Cullen's
behind-the-net bank shot which broke a 3-3 tie.
Pittsburgh never trailed in the game.
The teams went into the first intermission tied at 1-1, even though
New York had the better of play for much of the period. The Rangers
outshot Pittsburgh 19-13 in the opening 20 minutes. But it was the
Penguins who got on the board first as Hornqvist's side-of-the-net
bank shot caromed off of Lundqvist to open the scoring at 11:56.
New York drew even six minutes and 10 seconds later as Kreider
tapped Derek Stepan's cross-ice feed past Fleury for his 16th of the
season. Kreider's goal was the culmination of a sequence which began
with Chris Kunitz missing Crosby with a goal-mouth pass that could
have given the Penguins a 2-0 lead.
Whereas New York was the better team in the first period, it was the
Penguins who dominated the final two. Pittsburgh outshot the Rangers
10-2 in the second period, and outscored their rivals 2-1 in the
stanza.
[to top of second column] |
The Penguins and Rangers traded goals in a span of one minute and
twenty nine seconds in the second. Sheary gave the Penguins their
second lead of the game by redirecting Justin Schultz's shot from
the right point at 7:30, but Brassard's power play goal at 8:59 tied
the game 2-2.
Sheary's second of the period put the Penguins ahead 3-2 with 4:05
left in the period. The 23-year old collected a pass from Kuhnhackl
and broke in on Lundqvist uncontested.
New York tied the game for the third time on McDonagh's wraparound
5:04 into the third.
Crosby's empty netter with 34.7 seconds left ended the scoring.
"There's definitely some concern with how we played in the second
and third after a real strong first period," Alain Vigneault said.
"After the first period we didn't do much on the ice.
Despite having a 19-13 advantage in shots on goal in the first, the
Rangers finished the game being outshot 33-27.
"We didn't have that killer instinct," Girardi said.
NOTES: Sunday's matinee was the second of three meetings between the
Metropolitan Division rivals in March. The Penguins topped the
Rangers 4-1 in Pittsburgh on March 3. The teams will finish the
regular-season series on March 27 at Madison Square Garden. New York
did beat Pittsburgh 3-0 at Consol Energy Center on Feb. 10. ...
Rangers associate coach Scott Arniel announced prior to the game
that C Derick Brassard would return to the lineup. Brassard missed
Saturday's 3-2 overtime loss to Detroit with the flu. ... Brassard
replaced LW Tanner Glass, who sustained an upper-body injury in the
loss to the Red Wings. ... Rangers D Dylan McIlrath missed his third
straight game with a knee injury. ... Pittsburgh did not have C
Evgeni Malkin, who is out 6-to-8 weeks with an upper-body injury.
... Pittsburgh scratched G Jeff Zatkoff, D Derrick Pouliot and C
Scott Wilson. ... Prior to the game there was a moment of silence
for Bill Gadsby, who died Thursday. Gadsby played for the Rangers,
Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks in his career.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
