Pens run Rangers out of rink
Pittsburgh one win from moving on after rookie outduels Lundqvist
NEW YORK From his perch at the end of the New York bench, Rangers star goalie Henrik Lundqvist had little to be optimistic about as the clock clicked down on Game 4 of the first-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night. He wasn’t the only one. The once-capacity crowd at Madison Square Garden had little to cheer about on this night — and didn’t — as the surging Penguins took one step closer to advancing to the second round and a possible clash between Sidney Crosby and the Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin.
With Evgeni Malkin looking every bit the superstar he can be when healthy en route to a fourpoint night, the Penguins blew the Rangers right out of their own house, administering a humiliating 5-0 beat-down on the hosts at the world’s self-proclaimed most famous arena.
The victory gave the Penguins a 3-1 lead heading into Game 5 in Pittsburgh on Saturday. The Caps, meanwhile, also are up 3-1 and can finish off the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 5 of their series Friday night in Washington.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. After all, it was just two years ago that the Penguins blew a 3-1 lead in a series against the Rangers, with New York winning the final three contests.
But this certainly looks like a different Penguins team from that 2014 edition.
This time around, Pittsburgh’s best players are playing like it while at the same time exhibiting the ability to play a suffocating style of defence if needed, a trait that has been foreign to previous Penguins teams.
As for their matchup against the Rangers, the Penguins outscored the hosts 7-0 in the final 81 minutes of hockey on Madison Square Garden ice, dating back to the final minute of the second period in Game 2.
Not really the type of fodder that indicates a potential comeback by Lundqvist and his teammates the rest of the way, does it?
Lundqvist was given the hook in favour of backup Antti Raanta early in the second period after the Penguins had taken a 4-0 lead, but to put the blame on the future Hall of Fame goalie would be ridiculous. The lethal Penguins offence was allowed to generate quality scoring chances time after time, hardly the recipe of success for a Rangers team attempting to tie the series.
Rubbing salt into the Rangers’ wounds is the fact that rookie Penguins goalie Matt Murray, 21, registered a shutout in his second career playoff game.
Over the two contests in New York, the Rangers could beat him just once in 120 minutes of hockey.
Malkin scored twice for the Penguins, with Eric Fehr, Patric Hornqvist and Conor Sheary adding singles. Three of the goals came on a lethal Penguins power play that has already scored seven times in the series.
All the while, the Rangers looked like an older, slow-footed team which, in some instances, they are. And with a lack of high draft picks at their disposal in the immediate future, you have to wonder if the window is closing on Lundqvist’s chance to win a Stanley Cup with the Rangers.
With less than 48 hours to regroup, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault will have to hit the reset button in a big hurry. But does he have the horses to pull off another miracle such as the one they put together two years ago?
At this point, there is very little evidence of that happening — at least judging by the past two games.