Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Jeff Zatkoff received a text message from Marc-Andre Fleury Tuesday night informing him of his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut the following night. Zatkoff made the most of the opportunity with 35 saves in a 5-2 win against the New York Rangers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference First Round Series at Consol Energy Center on Wednesday.
Patric Hornqvist had a hat trick and an assist for the Penguins, who took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Zatkoff started in place of Fleury, who was a game-time decision with a concussion that caused him to miss his sixth straight game. The text from Fleury and a phone call from goaltending coach Mike Bales gave Zatkoff time to digest the news. Zatkoff became the first Penguins goalie to win his playoff debut since Frank Pietrangelo exactly 25 years ago against the New Jersey Devils on April 13, 1991, per Elias Sports Bureau.
Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist did not play the last two periods after he sustained an eye injury late in the first. He will be reevaluated on Thursday.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan admitted concealing Pittsburgh's starting goalie to avoid giving New York an advantage.
Zatkoff carried a shutout into the third period with Pittsburgh leading 2-0 before Carl Hagelin was called for a double minor for high sticking and Ian Cole went to the penalty box for interference. The lengthy 5-on-3 resulted in a goal by Derek Stepan when he shot into an open left side of the net 3:10 into the third.
Tom Kuhnhackl scored a shorthanded goal off a 2-on-1 with Nick Bonino 1:21 later to push the lead to 3-1. Kuhnhackl became the first Penguins player to score a shorthanded goal in his playoff debut since Brad Werenka on April 23, 1998 against the Montreal Canadiens, per Elias Sports Bureau. Hornqvist scored two of his three goals in the third period for his first NHL playoff hat trick. He had his first regular-season hat trick on Feb. 29 against the Coyotes.
Hornqvist made it 4-1 with his second goal and third point, on a power play with 11:58 remaining. New York challenged the goal for goaltender interference but it was upheld. Stepan scored with 9:49 remaining to make it 4-2, but Hornqvist scored into an empty net to give the Penguins a 5-2 lead with 2:50 remaining.
Lundqvist was injured with 48.2 seconds remaining in the first period. Cole took a slap shot with Rangers defenseman Marc Staal battling in front. Lundqvist made the save, but was hit by Staal's stick blade under his facemask. Lundqvist stayed in the game and surrendered a goal 31 seconds later.
After Hornqvist lobbed the puck from the neutral zone off the end boards behind Lundqvist, forward Conor Sheary beat everyone to it and passed through Staal's legs. A charging Hornqvist received the pass and slid a shot through Lundqvist's five-hole for a 1-0 lead with 17.6 seconds remaining in the first. Goalie Antti Raanta replaced Lundqvist to start the second period. He made 16 saves.
Zatkoff made several big saves including robbing Viktor Stalberg with 3:54 remaining in the second to maintain Pittsburgh's 1-0 lead before Sidney Crosby scored on a breakaway later in the period. Crosby got behind Dan Girardi and Staal, who each dove in an attempt to break up a pass from Hornqvist. Crosby pulled in the pass and shot over Raanta's glove to extend the lead to 2-0 with 1:04 remaining in the second.
Pens Quotes
Jeff Zatkoff: "I slept last night, not so much for pregame nap. It's the playoffs, right? I think it was still up until the end, we weren't really sure. It's the playoffs. Everything's day-to-day and we take it one day at a time. We're happy to get this one tonight."Mike Sullivan: "Obviously, we didn't want to reveal who we were going to play and give our opponents an opportunity to prepare for them. So, maybe that had a little something to do with it."
Other Results
Detroit @ Tampa Bay 2-3 - Game 1Alex Killorn scored 8:52 into the third period to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 win against the Red Wings at Amalie Arena on Wednesday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round. Tampa Bay has a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series with Game 2 here Friday. Killorn tipped the puck past Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard after Tyler Johnson sent it to the net from outside of the slot. Nikita Kucherov set up the play by winning a loose puck behind the net.
Kucherov scored twice, and Ben Bishop made 34 saves for Tampa Bay. Mike Green and Justin Abdelkader scored for Detroit, and Howard made 31 saves. Green had a chance to tie the game with less than a minute remaining in the third period when he controlled a loose puck in front of the net but his shot went over the net. Kucherov's first goal came at 6:23 of the first period. Killorn found Johnson with an outlet pass and Johnson set up Kucherov with a one-timer from the right circle that beat Howard. Detroit changed the momentum by scoring two goals in a 1:56 span early in the second period. Mike Green tied the game 1-1 at 2:11 with a shot above the right circle that got past Bishop on the stick side after Darren Helm provided the screen. Danny DeKeyser and Tomas Tatar had the assists. Abdelkader gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead at 4:07 after he redirected a shot from Kyle Quincey from above the right circle. Kucherov tied the game 2-2 at 9:29 of the second when he scored on a rebound after Braydon Coburn sent a shot to the net from the point. Nikita Nesterov got the second assist. Hedman appeared to give the Lightning a 3-2 lead at 6:55 of the third period, but Detroit challenged the play and Jonathan Drouin was called offside. The NHL installed new cameras at the blue lines for the Stanley Cup Playoffs to aid the officials on offside calls.
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