Recap: Another Quick Shutout, Rangers Win 1-0
Game three of the Rangers four game road trip kicking off the holiday season for the first of three meetings with the Pittsburgh Penguins this season. The Blueshirts looked to bounce back after their first regulation loss in a month to Dallas Monday Night as the Penguins were coming off a 3-0 shutout win against the Vegas Golden Knights. Jonathan Quick would get the start in net to give Igor Shesterkin a bit of a break during a busy week in what became quite the goaltending battle between him and Tristan Jarry.
1st Period:
A bit of a slow start with a couple of icings, although it was the Penguins getting a bulk of the chances early on. Jonathan Quick was tested early and showed he came ready to play, shutting down several high danger chances from Pittsburgh throughout the first half of the period. Just over five minutes in, Alexis Lafrenière found himself on a breakaway off a nice feed from Mika Zibanejad. On a very similar move to his shootout winner against Columbus a week and a half ago, Lafrenière cut to his backhand where he sent the puck top shelf to put the Rangers up 1-0 early on.
One of, if not the biggest concern for the Rangers going into this season was if and how Alexis Lafrenière would flourish into the player the organization drafted him to be and sure enough, through the early parts of this season he has been phenomenal as he now finds himself tied for fourth in points on the team with Adam Fox.
After both teams exchanged chances, the Rangers ended up taking the first penalty of the night with six and a half to go in the period as K’Andre Miller got called for holding. Going into this game, the Penguins were 20th in the league on the power play and they continued to struggle as Quick and the Rangers shut them down, keeping them off the board. However, just after the penalty ended, Vinnie Hinostroza bumped into Jonathan Quick in front of the Rangers net, knocking his glove off in the process. Play continued and Alex Nylander ended up tipping a shot past the Rangers gloveless netminder.
Peter Laviolette ended up challenging the play, not for goaltender interference but for offsides as the Rangers believed the Penguins entered the zone before the puck. Upon a quick review, the call on the ice was reversed and a wild streak was broken. To the outside perspective, one might think Rangers fans are a bit dramatic when it comes to believing the calls always seem to go against their favor. As it turns out, the fanbase isn’t too overly dramatic in that regard as this call snapped a 77 goal review losing streak which is absolutely wild to think about.
With just under four minutes to go, Lafrenière took a hooking penalty in the offensive zone which gave the Penguins their second power play of the period. The Rangers kept the Penguins without a shot on goal and remained perfect on the penalty kill. A shot from Kaapo Kakko towards the end of the first almost made it a 2-0 game but as the horn sounded, the Rangers took their 1-0 to the games first intermission, out-shooting the Penguins 15-9. Despite a couple big chances for Pittsburgh, the Rangers did a great job of staying on top of things, playing well in both ends of the ice.
2nd Period:
Both teams maintained the pace established in the games opening period but just about five minutes in, Jake Guentzel came very close to tying the game up at one. On a weird angle, Jonathan Quick was able to stop the puck from sneaking through him to get the whistle as a small scrum ensued around him. No harm no foul as play continued however soon after, Penguins Defender John Ludvig took an interference penalty for Pittbsurgh’s first of the night, giving the Rangers their first power play.
Despite a couple good looks, the Penguins kept them off the board and a big part of that had to do with the goaltending of Tristan Jarry. The Rangers were well into 20+ shots on goal before the game reached its midway point and Jarry was near perfect, coming up with a lot of key saves. This was slowly becoming the theme of the night as the Rangers were maintaining a great deal of offensive zone pressure and Jarry continued coming up with save after save to keep his team in it.
Lots of back and forth continued throughout the period as both teams had their fair share of chances. That would end up being the story of the second as neither team would find the back of the net. With both of Quick and Jarry playing extremely well, it was becoming quite the goalie game with Jarry having the busier night. Shots were 32-17 in favor of the Rangers in what was a fairly even game up to this point. The Rangers were blocking more shots and had the edge in face-offs but the Penguins had double the power play chances and were getting a fantastic night out of their historically inconsistent goaltender.
3rd Period:
Quick would continue to be tested early on as he came up with a huge save on a 2-on-1 chance where he shut down Sidney Crosby right on the doorstep.
While he wasn’t tested as much as Jarry had been throughout this one, Quick certainly stepped up to help his team keep the game close. Less than two minutes into the third, Blake Wheeler was called for hooking Alex Nylander which gave Pittsburgh their third power play of the night. Chris Kreider had a beautiful chance on the penalty kill as K’Ander Miller found him on a 2-on-1 which Kreider took to his backhand but was shut down by Tristan Jarry. On that same play, Erik Karlsson was called for slashing which brought the teams to over a minute of 4-on-4 but neither side would convert.
With eleven minutes to go in regulation, Jacob Trouba sent a rolling puck over the glass which gave the Penguins their fourth power play of the night. This would be a great chance for Pittsburgh as the Rangers would be without one of their top penalty killing defensemen. Nevertheless, the two minutes came and went and the score remained. Wouldn’t be long before the Penguins were back to the power play as Barclay Goodrow was sent off for hooking. A pretty weak call but again, the Rangers were excellent on the penalty kill attempt as they advanced to a perfect 5 for 5 on the night.
Alexis Lafrenière had another huge chance to pick up his second of the night as Artemiy Panarin fed him in the slot with a perfect backhand. Lafrenière has been all over the ice for the Rangers in the last couple games as this was his second night in a row where he put up more than five shots on goal. The Penguins were pushing to get back in this one but with just under three minutes to go, Erik Karlsson tripped up Blake Wheeler which gave the Rangers a power play for most of the time remaining in the game.
The Rangers were far from aggressive on the power play and the Penguins almost tied it up with a chance in front of the Rangers net. After holding them off for the majority of the game’s final minutes, Sidney Crosby had a big chance to tie things up but Jonathan Quick came up with a tremendous save off the shoulder to hold onto to his team’s lead. With 11 seconds to go and one final face-off, Zibanejad made a great defensive play at the point and the Rangers were able to hold onto the lead they kept throughout the entire game and leave Pittsburgh with a pair of points.
Final tally on shots on goal were 36-32 in favor of the Rangers. Lafrenière’s goal would stand as the deciding factor as the Rangers immediately get back in the winning column after dropping two points in Dallas Monday Night. From here, the Rangers will head over to Philadelphia to prepare for their annual Thanksgiving Showdown with the Flyers on the afternoon of Black Friday. Thanksgiving tends to be the point of the season where management does their first deep dive of how the team is performing this season and with a record of 13-3-1, the Rangers are among the best in the league up to this point.
