Rangers beat Penguins despite Guentzel's impressive debut
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[November 22, 2016]
PITTSBURGH -- J.T. Miller was
mindful that he was on the ice as a penalty-killer, so he was
turning away from the play, ready to head back to his own end. Then
he figured out that the puck glanced off of him and into the
Pittsburgh net for what was eventually the New York Rangers'
deciding goal.
The puck, sent to the net by teammate Kevin Hayes, appeared to first
hit the Penguins' Evgeni Malkin before it went off of Miller for a
shorthanded goal in the second period of a 5-2 Rangers win Monday at
PPG Paints Arena.
"No, I didn't; I actually didn't even know it went off me," said
Miller, who is from nearby East Palestine, Ohio. "I just kind of ran
into Malkin a little bit there. I obviously thought Hayes scored.
... I tried to bust up the ice and got a fortunate bounce."
It was the third of three unanswered goals by New York in the second
period. That negated a smashing NHL debut by Pittsburgh's Jake
Guentzel.
Rick Nash, Michael Grabner and Miller scored in the second after
Guentzel scored his first two goals, including one on his first
shift and first shot, in the opening period. Hayes added an
insurance goal for the Rangers at 12:46 of the third, and Derek
Stepan scored an empty-netter.
The win allowed New York to break a two-game losing streak and
stiff-arm Pittsburgh atop the Metropolitan Division. The teams play
the second half of a back-to-back set Wednesday at Madison Square
Garden.
The Penguins called up Guentzel because winger Chris Kunitz was put
on injured reserve. He played in Kunitz's spot on the second line.
Guentzel, 22, a third-round draft pick in 2013, cashed in for a 1-0
lead at 1:02 of the first. His shot from just below the left dot
slid under goaltender Antti Raanta's left pad and inside the far
post. An astute broadcast crew caught Guentzel's family jumping up
and down in wild celebration in the stands.
"It was a dream," Guentzel said. "I was just trying to throw the
puck on the net and see what happens."
Malkin got the primary assist, extending his home points streak to
seven games.
Guentzel wasn't the first Penguins player to score on his first shot
in the NHL, or the most famous. The most recent was defenseman
Derrick Pouliot, who did it Dec. 20, 2014, against Florida. The most
notable was Hall of Fame center Mario Lemieux, who did it Oct. 11,
1984, at Boston, also on his first shift.
Neither of those players got another goal in the same period,
however. Guentzel made it 2-0 at 13:12 on a close-range rebound,
giving Pittsburgh a 2-0 edge.
"He's got real good offensive instincts," Pittsburgh coach Mike
Sullivan said of Guentzel. "We're really excited about him as a
player. He comes to our team tonight, he brings a lot of enthusiasm.
That becomes infectious. We're obviously thrilled for him that he
had such a great game in his first game."
Phil Kessel assisted on both goals, giving him a team-leading 18
points and a share of the NHL lead with 14 assists.
New York has the most prolific offense in the NHL, now with 80 goals
in 20 games, and that part of its game would not stay quiet.
Nash pulled the Rangers to within 2-1 at 4:51 of the second. He
pounced on a loose puck near the crease and lifted it over the glove
of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.
"(Defenseman Justin) Schultz made a good play stopping the pass
across, and it got kind of stuck there and the guy just came in and
put it in," said Fleury (6-4-3), who made 31 saves.
[to top of second column] |
Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) handles the puck against New York
Rangers center Derek Stepan (21) during the second period at the PPG
Paints Arena. The Rangers won 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles
LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
He had been 5-1-1 at home and 19-4-2 in his previous 25 starts.
Fleury, the longtime Pittsburgh franchise goalie who now is in
something of a rotation with Matt Murray, has allowed four goals in
two of his past three starts.
"It's just frustrating to give up four again and lose the game
again," he said.
At 14:23 of the second, Grabner grabbed a share of the NHL goal lead
with his 12th and tied the score 2-2 when he rifled a shot under the
crossbar.
New York took a 3-2 lead with 48.5 seconds left in the second on
Miller's shorthanded goal.
"We know a lot about this team," Miller said of Pittsburgh. "We've
played them so much over the last handful of years. We were just on
our heels a little too much to start. We were a little too passive,
and we were more aggressive after that. When we did that, we kind of
forced them into more turnovers and got a couple more lucky bounces.
We did a really good job of defending after that as well."
Raanta, who made 29 saves and stopped every Penguins shot taken by
those not named Guentzel, said the comeback -- one that allowed the
backup goalie to keep his record unblemished at 5-0 -- was plotted
out between periods.
"After the first period, we talked about it a little bit," he said.
"We started to put pucks deep and behind their (defensemen). We
started to get our forecheck going and when those good things
happen, as they've been happening early in the season, guys get the
chance to score and they put the puck in the net."
NOTES: Pittsburgh placed LW Chris Kunitz (lower body) on injured
reserve. Coach Mike Sullivan said Kunitz will be out on a
"week-to-week" basis. ... To fill Kunitz's roster spot, the Penguins
recalled C Jake Guentzel from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.
Guentzel made his NHL debut. ... Pittsburgh RW Patric Hornqvist
(concussion) continues to skate on his own. ... The Rangers claimed
F Matt Puempel off waivers from Ottawa. Puempel did not play Monday,
and it is not clear whether he will join New York or be given a
minor league assignment. ... With C Mika Zibanejad (broken left leg)
out for several weeks, the Rangers dressed C Oscar Lindberg, who had
played in seven of the previous 14 games. ... New York coach Alain
Vigneault said RW Pavel Buchnevich (back spasms) will be out at
least another two to three weeks while he undergoes rehab to
strengthen his core. ... The Penguins collected donations for
policeman Scott Bashioum's family. Bashioum was killed in the line
of duty recently in nearby Canonsburg, Pa.
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