Playing their second game in as many nights, the Pittsburgh Penguins started their new backup goalie, Tomas Vokoun.
The Rangers ended the game with their backup in net.
The Penguins scored six goals, including four against defending Vezina winner Henrik Lundqvist, en route to a 6-3 victory, Sunday night. Tyler Kennedy, Matt Niskanen, and Pascal Dupuis each scored, while James Neal registered two goals. Kris Letang added an empty net goal to seal the game.
The Penguins chased Lundvist after Dupuis’s power play goal mid way though the second period. Martin Biron came in and stopped 19 of 20 shots as the New York Rangers tried to get back in the game.
The game started with a fight between former Penguin, Arron Asham, and newly acquired Penguin, Tanner Glass. Both combatants went to the box and 35 seconds later, Brad Richards joined Asham after interfering James Neal.
Neal would take advantage of the penalty by burying a wrist shot past Lundvist’s glove hand. Letang moved the puck down to Malkin who found Neal creeping down the middle of the ice from the point. Neal’s blistering wrist shot beat Lundqvist for his second goal of the new season.
The Rangers responded with a goal from their captain, taking advantage of a long 5 on 3. Simon Despres went to the box for holding, then Brandon Sutter took a delay of game penalty on the ensuing face off for playing the puck with his glove in the defensive zone. Vokoun stopped Brad Richards’s slap shot but produced a bouncing rebound that found its way onto Ryan Callahan’s stick. Callahan knocked the puck out of midair and past the stick side of Vokoun to tie the game at one.
The tie didn’t last.
Five minutes later, Tyler Kennedy scored his second of the season, slamming home a rebound. Joe Vitale took the puck off the boards on the attacking blue line and charged the net. His forehand shot skipped off of Lundqvist’s pads in front and Kennedy finished the play.
The Penguins added a third goal in the first period with just over a minute remaining. Sidney Crosby won an offensive zone face off and Matt Niskanen’s slap shot from the point beat Lundqvist five-hole after deflecting off a defenseman in front.
The second period was dominated by the Pittsburgh Penguins. They out shot the Rangers 14-9, forced the Rangers to take three penalties, and controlled play for most of the period. The Penguins also got a goal from Pascal Dupuis. James Neal quickly fired the puck up ice as the Rangers were changing penalty killers. Neal found Chris Kunitz, who then fed Evgeni Malkin on a cross-ice pass. Malkin skated towards Lundqvist before wiring a pass in front to Dupuis for the easy tip-in.
New York head coach John Tortorella pulled Lundqvist after the goal. The Penguins responded with more puck control and speed, frustrating the Rangers as well as the 17,200 fans at Madison Square Garden. By the end of the second, the New York faithful loudly booed their hometown team, disappointed by the effort of the team in blue after losing the night before in Boston.
James Neal scored his second goal of the game five minutes into the third. Paul Martin shot the puck around the boards where Malkin retrieved it in the opposite corner. The Rangers lost track of Neal who snuck his way to the front of the net. Malkin’s perfect pass to Neal resulted in the Penguins’ fifth goal.
The Rangers came back a minute later with a goal by Taylor Pyatt. Newly acquired winger, Rick Nash, scored his first of the season shorthanded. But the Penguins were able to hold off the Rangers adding an empty net goal with under two minutes remaining. When the final horn sounded, the two game road trip against bitter division rivals resulted in two wins, and a four point cushion atop the Atlantic Division.
- A day after Marc-Andre Fleury celebrated his 227th career win, Tomas Vokoun won his first as a Penguin.
- Pascal Dupuis’s goal was his first on the power play since November 20th, 2006 (vs. Ottawa).
- The Penguins are now 110-109-23-8 all-time against the Rangers.
Three Stars
- James Neal
- Evgeni Malkin
- Kris Letang
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
