Rangers Vs Penguins Recap: Rangers Embarrassed On Home Ice In Game 4

The New York Rangers had an opportunity to tie up this series by nights end, but unfortunately, things went south very quickly. It all started just a minute into regulation after Henrik Lundqvist kicked out a big time rebound, and Eric Fehr converted to give the Penguins the early lead. You could tell early on in this game that Henrik Lundqvist wasn't totally on his game, and as a result, the Rangers found themselves fighting an uphill battle.

Of course, all of this doesn't fall on Lundqvist because the team in front of him did very little to get themselves back into the game. Aside from the horrific coverage in the defensive zone, the Rangers couldn't get much of anything going in the offensive zone either. About six minutes after Fehr got the Penguins on the board, Patric Hornqvist doubled up the lead after the puck deflected in off of his skate.

Lundqvist wasn't able to track the puck through the initial screen, and the ensuing redirection made it nearly impossible for him to make the stop. As if it wasn't bad enough already, the Penguins were able to make it a 3-0 game late in the period as Conor Sheary beat Lundqvist over the shoulder. Kevin Klein created the entire chance for Pittsburgh after he turned the puck over at the blue line, which sent Sheary in on a partial breakaway.

At the end of 20 minutes, this game was looking extremely bleak for the Rangers and that continued for the remainder of the game. Evgeni Malkin was able to score a pair goals within the final 40 minutes of play, and the Penguins jumped out to a commanding 5-0 lead at Madison Square Garden. After glaring issues haunted the Rangers all season long, they all came crashing down at the same exact time during this game.

Henrik Lundqvist struggled for the first time in a while, the defense continued to be lackluster in their own end and the offense went completely dry when it was needed the most. With Game 5 becoming an elimination game in Pittsburgh, the Rangers need to dig deep if they plan on clawing their way back into the series. Hopefully they can flush whatever happened tonight out of their memory and focus on Game 5 coming up on Saturday.