NHL - Playoffs - NY Rangers @ Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 - Sat, Apr 16, 2016 - Game 2

The New York Rangers played precisely the way they wanted Saturday on their way to a win against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Four unanswered goals helped the Rangers defeat the Penguins 4-2 in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference First Round series at Consol Energy Center. J.T. Miller had the primary assists on second-period goals by Keith Yandle, Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello 4:14 apart to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead entering the intermission. New York tied the best-of-7 series 1-1. Game 3 is at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
Facing a 1-0 deficit after Phil Kessel scored early in the second period, the Rangers shifted the momentum with two goals in 18 seconds.
The surge began when Miller passed through the crease to Yandle. Penguins goalie Jeff Zatkoff struggled to kick off to his right while Yandle took a wrist shot into an open side of the net at 7:22. Miller converted another pass shortly after the ensuing faceoff, allowing Brassard to skate by Olli Maatta before shooting past Zatkoff’s blocker and giving the Rangers their first lead of the series at 2-1. Goalie Henrik Lundqvist preserved the lead almost three minutes later by denying Bryan Rust on a breakaway before Miller set up a third goal by passing to Zuccarello alone to Zatkoff’s left. Zuccarello buried a wrist shot to make it 3-1 with 3:08 left in the second.

Lundqvist, who made 29 saves, started despite missing the final two periods of Game 1 Wednesday after taking Marc Staal’s stick to his eye. The Rangers outhit the Penguins 57-25. Chris Kreider added a fourth goal 39 seconds into the third period to make it 4-1 Rangers. Kessel’s first of two goals opened the scoring 3:21 into the second after a series of impressive plays that involved each of the five Penguins on the ice.
With Zuccarello in the penalty box for hooking, Patric Hornqvist dove and poked the puck off Eric Staal’s stick in Pittsburgh’s zone to Kris Letang, who shuffled it up the near wall to Nick Bonino. While battling with Rangers forward Jesper Fast, Bonino spun and passed to Trevor Daley to Lundqvist’s right. Daley tipped a pass to Kessel back to the left, allowing Kessel to shoot past Lundqvist’s blocker.
Kessel scored again on a 4-on-3 power play to cut New York’s lead to 4-2 at 5:42 of the third period. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan decided to keep a line of Kessel, Bonino and left wing Carl Hagelin intact despite center Evgeni Malkin’s return. Malkin previously centered Hagelin and Bonino.
Lundqvist shined in a scoreless first period that included two scoring chances for the Penguins set up by Malkin. Letang carried the puck into the neutral zone before slipping a pass to Malkin along the far wall. Malkin returned a pass to Letang through Yandle, which Letang tipped on Lundqvist 3:34 into the first before being denied a second time on a wrist shot two seconds later. Malkin, who had one assist, slid a similar pass to Hornqvist while on Pittsburgh’s first power play later in the period, but Lundqvist made another stop. After practicing the past two days, Malkin played for the first time since sustaining an upper-body injury on March 11. He centered a line with left wing Conor Sheary and Rust, who returned from a lower-body injury.

Pens Quotes

Mike Sullivan: “We like that line. It’s played extremely well for the last six, seven, eight weeks. We think they’ve generated some chemistry … It gives us more options on how we want to use our guys.”
Evgeni Malkin: “It’s the playoffs. You have to play right all 60 minutes. It’s a tough situation for us, but it’s still 1-1. It’s a series and we go to New York.”

Other Results

Philadelphia @ Washington 1-4
The Philadelphia Flyers threw everything but the kitchen sink at Braden Holtby in the first period, but he didn't budge. The Washington Capitals used 41 saves from Holtby, a fluke goal and their suddenly rejuvenated power play to defeat the Flyers 4-1 at Verizon Center on Saturday in Game 2 of the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round series. The Flyers had 19 shots on goal in the first period, equalling their total from Game 1, a 2-0 Capitals win, but Holtby kept them all out of his net. John Carlson, Jason Chimera, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom scored for the Capitals, who have a 2-0 series lead heading into Game 3 at Wells Fargo Center on Monday. Chimera scored from center ice at 2:26 of the second period for a 2-0 Capitals lead. With his back to the Flyers net, he tipped an outlet pass from Karl Alzner into the Philadelphia zone that trickled through goalie Steve Mason's legs. It was the sixth game-winning goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Chimera's career, tying him with Peter Bondra for most in Washington history. The Capitals were 2-for-2 on the power play. They were 1-for-6 in Game 1 after going 0-for-12 in their final five regular-season games. Backstrom and Johansson each had two assists. Jakub Voracek scored for Philadelphia. Carlson made it 1-0 with a power-play goal at 14:09 of the first period. For the second consecutive game, he scored through traffic with a slap shot from the point. Voracek scored his first goal of the series at 9:37 of the second period to make it 2-1. With the teams playing at 4-on-4, Brayden Schenn worked his way to the slot and tipped the puck to Voracek, who beat Holtby under his right pad. Ovechkin scored Washington's second power-play goal at 17:21 of the second to give the Capitals a 3-1 lead. Backstrom sent a pass through Oshie's legs to Ovechkin in the left circle, and Ovechkin beat Mason on his glove side with a slap shot. Ovechkin has 37 goals and 71 points in 74 career NHL playoff games. Backstrom scored with 2:13 remaining to make it 4-1.