Penguins Put Forth Gutsy, Inspiring Effort In Improbable 3-2 Win Over Rangers

In a game without two all-time great players in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin – also their two top centers – it would have been easy for the Pittsburgh Penguins to mail it in on Friday night against the New York Rangers in a key divisional matchup.

But, they did no such thing. Instead, they put together one of their best and most inspired efforts of the season.

Led by new first-line center Rickard Rakell, the Penguins defeated the Rangers, 3-2, collecting a crucial, clean two points that puts them just one point behind the Rangers and six points back of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

It wasn’t always pretty. The Penguins did not own a single shot in the third period of play. They had to come up with some big shot blocks and defensive plays late in the game. It certainly wasn’t easy.

But – simply put – the Penguins were the better team through the first 40 minutes of this game. And, even when they weren’t in the last 20, they hunkered down and committed to the defensive details they needed to in order to come away with the win.

And did it in front of some of the most important guys in their lives.

“I just think it speaks volumes for the type of people we have in our dressing room. You can thank that group right over there,” head coach Mike Sullivan said after the game, pointing in the direction of the players’ dads, who were in attendance for the team’s annual Dads Trip. “They’re a reflection of those guys. They’re great kids, they compete hard, and they don’t look for excuses. This was a game that we potentially could have, and we didn’t.

“I thought our guys competed hard. We battled. We found a way. Some guys stepped up. We got good goaltending. But, I thought our competitive spirit was as good as it’s been.”

The Penguins carried play from the jump, but they dealt with some adversity early on. Defenseman Erik Karlsson committed an egregious defensive zone turnover from below the goal line midway through the first period, and he fed a puck up the middle right onto the stick of Vincent Trocheck, who put it home.

However, they didn’t cave. Instead, they responded with an even better second period.

Just over two minutes into the second frame, Karlsson snatched the puck on a neutral zone turnover by the Rangers, and he forwarded it to Noel Acciari. who made a strong play to get the puck to Blake Lizotte. Lizotte beat Igor Shesterkin blocker-side to tie the game.

Although the Penguins did surrender another Rangers goal to Adam Fox just over a minute later – which made it 2-1 – they didn’t relent. Just before the midway point of the period, Rakell made a perfect cross-ice pass to linemate Bryan Rust off the rush, and Rust fed it right back to a wide-open Rakell – who deked out Shesterkin from the left side and flipped the puck over Shesterkin’s glove-hand.

Then, just a few minutes later – on a Crosby-less power play – Michael Bunting did some good work down low to pass the puck to Rust in front of the net. Rust saw Philip Tomasino lined up behind him, so he snuck a beautiful touch pass to Tomasino, who ripped it past Shesterkin to go ahead permanently, 3-2.

“It’s just the same reslience that we’ve had the last couple of games, the same attitude and mindset of, ‘We’re just going to find a way to get it done,'” goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic said. “Guys were sacrificing their body there at the end. It was awesome to see.”

Here are a few other thoughts and observations from this game:

– Rakell was absolutely outstanding in this game.

He didn’t look a step out of place at the center position, which he had not played since his early days with the Anaheim Ducks. He was winning draws. He was leading the charge on the rush and in all three zones. He was responsible defensively.

And, of course, he did his usual work offensively:

When speaking with the media after the game, Rakell said that he felt comfortable because he didn’t feel like there were too many expectations with him in a bit of an unfamiliar spot.

“I thought it was fun,” Rakell said. “It was a great challenge, and, I mean, especially in the last period, playing a lot of defense… but I thought it was great work by everyone today. I thought we played really good.”

“I didn’t feel like I had a lot of expectations on me, because it’s a new position, so I could just go out and try to play and do best as I can. But, obviously, I want to do it as good as I can. And, yeah, I thought we played pretty well.”

Rakell now has 25 goals and 47 points on the season, and he is on pace for 37 goals and 70 points – which would both be career-best marks. After dealing with injuries and adversity last season, he has found his form again in a big way.

In case anyone needs reminding – like Team Sweden apparently did for a while – he’s a hell of a hockey player. And he did a hell of a job on Friday.

– As a matter of fact, that entire first line was good on Friday.

Rust and Anthony Beauvillier were helping Rakell make things happen all night. Rakell’s goal was a collective effort from all three players, and each of them have shown chemistry together throughout the season.

Who needs 87, right?… (kidding, of course).

– It was good to see Lizotte get on the board. He had gone 16 consecutive games without a point, and he has not produced much at all since his demotion from third-line center before the holiday break.

That fourth line was very good in this game, and it was evident that everyone realized they needed to step up offensively to get the win. And Lizotte led the way with his speed, forechecking, and defensive conscience.

– In that same vein, this was one of Noel Acciari’s very best games as a Penguin.

He was everywhere in this game. He made that nice play on Lizotte’s goal, he skated well with the puck, he was finishing some big checks, and he was blocking shots left and right. In fact, he had three of them, including a huge one on the six-on-four penalty kill late in the game.

This game is the reason Acciari can be an important piece of this lineup.

– Vincent Desharnais was also really solid in this game. I’ve liked what I’ve seen from his net-front presence up to this point. He does a decent job of clearing it and not allowing the opposition to get positioning.

I don’t think that extra year on the contract is going to age as poorly as some think.

– Let’s not cut corners here: that turnover by Karlsson was ugly and inexcusable. On that play, he has to go up the wall. For some reason, he elected to try to hit Beauvillier up the middle, and, well, he missed.

To his credit, he knew it. He slammed his stick on the crossbar afterward. His teammates knew it. And you know what? He put it behind him and played a very, very solid game after that play.

Karlsson wore the extra “A” without Crosby in the lineup. This guy is well-liked, well-respected, and well-revered in the locker room. I can imagine his teammates appreciated the response from him after his miscue.

– Boko Imama left the game in the third and did not return. Honestly, I didn’t see what happened, but he sustained an upper-body injury.

I’ve liked the energy and the presence that Imama’s brought to this lineup. Hopefully, he is okay. If not, I imagine the Penguins will just slot Matt Nieto in against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

– Obviously, the Penguins will not be able to sustain winning the way they did in the third period on Friday without Crosby and Malkin.

But, man, that was their best and most valiant win of the season.

The Rangers had two late power plays, and their power play has been very dangerous since the arrival of J.T. Miller. And the Penguins – and Nedeljkovic, who I’m running out of adjectives for in this stretch of games – somehow found a way to shut them down.

If the Penguins somehow claw their way out of the basement and go on a run, this is the one you’ll remember. This is the kind of game that can make teams believe, even when the odds are not at all in their favor.

Let’s see what the Penguins can make of it.