NHL PO - Round 1 Game 3 - Pittsburgh Penguins @ NY Rangers 1-2 - 04/20

The New York Rangers built a two-goal lead after two periods by being opportunistic on offense and stifling on defense. It was just enough to withstand the inevitable push from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third period at Consol Energy Center. The Rangers held the Penguins to 11 shots on goal through the first 40 minutes, then held on in the final 20 minutes for a 2-1 win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round series. Left wings Carl Hagelin and Chris Kreider provided the offense for the Rangers to give them a 2-0 lead after two periods. Goalie Henrik Lundqvist made 23 saves, including 12 in the third period. New York has a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. The Rangers have scored the first goal in all three games in the series. The Penguins have given up the first goal in eight of their past 10 home playoff games; they are 2-6 in those games. The Penguins started to generate more shots in the third period largely because they pushed up and started being more aggressive while they were chasing a two-goal deficit. Patric Hornqvist scored from the slot at 13:12 after a 45-second shift in the offensive zone with linemates Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz and defensemen Rob Scuderi and Ian Cole. The Penguins kept threatening, requiring Lundqvist to make some difficult saves, including one with his left skate on Ben Lovejoy, but they couldn't get another shot past him after Hornqvist's goal. Pittsburgh didn't get its first shot on goal until 15:10 of the first period, and even that was a slap shot from near the red line by Lovejoy. The Penguins had three shots on goal and 11 total shot attempts in the first, seven of which came in the final 4:50. New York was stingy again in the second, holding Pittsburgh to eight shots on goal while generating 12. The Penguins had as many shots on goal as they had blocked shots (11) through 40 minutes. The Rangers had 19 shots after two periods. Pittsburgh's opportunities were few and far between because the Rangers didn't give the Penguins much of a chance to generate sustained possession time or even plays off the rush. The Rangers felt after Game 2 that they needed better puck management; they had it early in Game 3, and it helped them build a 2-0 lead. The Rangers carried a 2-0 lead into the second intermission on goals by Hagelin in the first period and Kreider in the second. If not for an old-school, double pad-stack save by Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury on Stepan at 17:44, Pittsburgh could have faced a three-goal deficit. Fleury made 24 saves. Kreider gave the Rangers the 2-0 lead at 11:07 of the second, when he scored from the left post, knocking the puck in after Marc Staal's shot-pass from the point banged off the end boards and caromed to the left of the net. Dan Boyle might have gotten away with hooking Penguins center Maxim Lapierre seconds before Kreider carried the puck into the zone to set up the play that led to his goal. Hagelin gave New York a 1-0 lead with his breakaway goal at 8:43 of the first period. He was sprung by Keith Yandle, who noticed the Penguins were in the middle of a line change when he quickly passed the puck up to a streaking Hagelin. Pittsburgh was inches from tying the game less than eight minutes later, when Crosby's shot from the right circle hit the far post. That was the Penguins' best chance until they started to push in the third period, when time just ran out on their comeback attempt.

Pens Quotes

Sidney Crosby: "Our desperation level was much higher in the third, and you saw the difference in our game and our play. Sometimes it's hard to realize what you are doing in the first or second means as much as it does, but you have to find that desperation for the entire game."
Mike Johnston: "I thought we overpassed the puck early in the game, no question. We came in on the attack, we had lanes, and we took the pass back instead of the play ahead. That has to be a shot choice instant. You can't look, you can't wait, it's gotta be right to the net."

Chloe Moretz spotted at the game in Pittsburgh

Penalties

1st Period
03:10 PIT	Ian Cole  Cross checking against  Tanner Glass
13:11 NYR	Rick Nash  Hi-sticking against  Sidney Crosby
2nd Period
08:57 PIT	Paul Martin  Cross checking against  Mats Zuccarello
12:16 NYR	Ryan McDonagh  Slashing against  Chris Kunitz
12:16 PIT	Chris Kunitz  Cross checking against  Ryan McDonagh
18:04 NYR	Marc Staal  Interference against  Patric Hornqvist
3rd Period
16:31 NYR	Dan Boyle  Roughing against  David Perron
16:31 PIT	David Perron  Roughing against  Dan Boyle
20:00 PIT	Chris Kunitz  Roughing against  Dominic Moore

Where do the Pens go from here?
The New York Rangers' speed up the ice is a staple of their game and noticeable whenever they're playing well. But it was New York's speed on the back check in Game 3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins that caught the attention. The Rangers were dominant in the first two periods en route to a 2-1 win and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round series in part because they were so quick on the back check that it disabled any rush up the ice the Penguins were hoping to have. The Rangers back pressure was really incredible and they didn't give Pittsburgh really anything at all off the rush. It caused the Penguins to turn the puck over at or just inside the blue line when they were looking for help. It was a big part of the game.
It was hard for the Penguins to counter against that back pressure when the Rangers stay committed to being as quick on the back check as they are on their breakouts. Rick Nash was coming back tracking people down and catching them. It's tougher to carry the puck with speed than it is without it, and it was really noticeable in Game 3 where the commitment was there in that game more so than the first two.
For the Penguins to give themselves a better chance to get sustained zone time, something they did not have in Game 3 until they were chasing a two-goal deficit in the third period and the Rangers were sitting back a bit. Is to not let Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist play the puck behind the net as often as he has. While they were trying to read the play and shut his pass down coming down the boards it will still be in their best interest to lay the pucks softer, out of Lundqvist's reach. It'll allow them to get on the forecheck, where they can punish some of the Rangers' defense on the forecheck. Obviously when Lundqvist has the puck that doesn't give them a chance to be physical with the Rangers' defensemen.
Evgeni Malkin's line needs to be playing more of a dump and chase game than a carry-it-in game. Malkin, with Blake Comeau and David Perron as his wings, looked faster in the third period than he did in the first two, but he still didn't generate a shot on goal in the game and has no goals in his past 13 games, which was broken up by a two-week absence because of injury. Sidney Crosby's line has the ability and the will to put the puck in and go get it back where maybe Malkin's line tries to be creative coming over the blue line, and that's where the problem exists with the pressure on the back check. If they're going to be successful the Pens are going to have to alter their game a little bit and become more of a cycle line; get the puck in deep, get it back, go low to high, move people around, get back open and then use their creative abilities at that point. You can't score everything off the rush with this kind of pressure coming back at you on the back check.
The Rangers have to change are getting contributions from all four forward lines and the "world-class plays" their defensemen are making. There is so much more depth on the Rangers team up front and on the blue line. Over the course of time that spread in depth up front and on defense gives the Rangers the edge. That's why Pittsburgh has to play an almost flawless game. Really you just can't make mistakes, and that's difficult to do especially with the pressure the Rangers come with on both sides of the puck.