Derick Brassard scored in overtime to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game One of a new playoff series at Consol Energy Center. The New York Rangers lead the series 1-0 and continued the Penguins streak of five overtime playoff losses in five tries at the four year-old arena.
New York took a 2-0 lead in a first period that was very poorly played by the hosts. Benoit Pouliot and Brad Richards netted the goals for the Rangers, but the Penguins turned things around in a dominant second period. Lee Stempniak and James Neal each scored within six minutes of each other in a comeback effort that left the game tied for the final 27 minutes of regulation.
In overtime, Brassard scored but the officials did not initially see it, so play continued. Not long after, Pouliot scored again and the game ended. The goal though, was officially awarded to Brassard when all was said and done. Regardless, New York leads and now has home-ice advantage in the series.
The two Penguins goals were assisted by Beau Bennett, Marcel Goc, Jussi Jokinen and Evgeni Malkin. Captain Sidney Crosby had no points and remains without a goal in the series. Chris Kunitz was -3 for the game and defenseman Matt Niskanen had a rare rough game, finishing -2 overall.
Henrik Lundqvist stopped 34 of 36 shots, while Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves on 27 shots faced. Both teams were 0-4 on the power play. Game Two is Sunday at Consol at 7:30, televised by NBC Sports.
