Penguins Outlast Rangers in 3 OT Game 1 of Eastern Conference First Round
The Pittsburgh Penguins upset the New York Rangers 4-3 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Madison Square Garden. Evgeni Malkin scored 5:58 into the third additional time. Malkin put the Penguins ahead when he redirected a wrist shot from John Marino.
For the Penguins, the No. 3 seed Bryan Rust had two objectives, Jake Guentzel scored two times, and Sidney Crosby had two bits of help. Casey DeSmith made 48 saves before exiting with an apparent injury 9:18 into the second period.
Shesterkin made 79 scores for the Rangers, the second-highest total in a Stanley Cup Playoff series since shots on goal first counted in 1955-56. In-Game 1 of the 2020 first round, Joonas Korpisalo made 85 saves for the Columbus Blue Jackets against the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won 3-2 in fifth OT.
The division’s No. 2 seed, New York, got goals from Adam Fox and Andrew Copp, while Mika Zibanejad added two assists.
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Game 2 Series
The best-of-seven series continues on Thursday with Game 2. The Rangers’ Filip Chytil had a goal overturned with 3:10 remaining in the third period, and the score knotted at 3-3 after the Penguins challenged for goaltender interference.
At 9:19 of the first period, Fox scored a power-play goal through traffic to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. It was his first playoff goal in the NHL. Copp made it 2-0 with a one-timer on a feed from Ryan Strome at 3:08 of the second period.
On a feed from Crosby, Guentzel cut the Penguins’ deficit to 2-1 at 4:32. Crosby drew two defenders and fired a backhand ball to Guentzel, who scored from close range, tying the game at 2-2 at 11:47.
At 17:07, Chris Kreider scored on a 2-on-1 with Zibanejad to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead. On a 5-on-3 power play at 18:50, Rust knotted it 3-3 near the side of the net.
Rickard Rakell of the Pittsburgh Penguins departed the game late in the first period after being struck by Ryan Lindgren. Louis Domingue, Pittsburgh’s third-string goalkeeper, made 17 stops. After replacing Casey DeSmith, who had made 48 saves before hobbling off the ice with 10:42 left in the second OT.
The first playoff game at Madison Square Garden was since the Ottawa Senators defeated the New York Rangers. 4-2 in Game 6 of the second round on May 9, 2017.
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