NEW YORK — The late February game between the Pittsburgh Penguins (30-15-12) and the New York Rangers (22-29-7) was indeed supposed to be a battle between a playoff contender and a team entering a rebuild. And it will be, but the roles are reversed as the win-now Rangers are on the rocks as they host the second-place Penguins at Madison Square Garden Saturday.
It’s an early game. The puck drops after 12:30, though it is a national TV game, so beware a longer pregame show and later start.
Thursday, the Penguins won their first game following the three-week Olympic hiatus, beating the New Jersey Devils 4-1 at PPG Paints Arena.
It was not entirely smooth sailing as the game was tied 1-1 in the third period, but a burst of offense by the Penguins was capped by a pair of goals just 50 seconds apart.
Tommy Novak scored the first Penguins goal on a net-front deflection. Connor Clifton scored the game-winner with a heavy slap shot in the third period, and shortly afterward, Egor Chinakhov celebrated the birth of his daughter with a breakaway goal. Blake Lizote lit the lamp with the empty net goal to seal the win.
Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs was quite good, stopping 28 of 29, including a couple of 10-bell saves, while the Penguins struggled through the second period.
The Rangers blew a third-period lead to the Philadelphia Flyers, then lost in overtime, 3-2 Thursday at MSG. Flyers winger Matvei Michkov notched the game-winner.
Alex Lafrenierre and Sam Carrick scored for the Rangers, and Igor Shesterkin stopped 21 of 24.
The Penguins have a three-point lead on the Washington Capitals as the first team out of the playoff picture, but the Penguins have a whopping four games in hand. The other threat, the Columbus Blue Jackets, trails the Penguins by seven points.
The Penguins have back-to-back games this weekend, so both goalies will get a start. Coach Dan Muse’s choice will be telling because the No. 1 goalie generally plays the first of the two games. Silovs is expected Saturday, too.
Muse chose Silovs as first up after the Olympic break, and the gut feeling is that he will lean toward Silovs as the starter down the stretch, especially as the NHL trade deadline nears and goalie Stuart Skinner is a pending unrestricted free agent.
Also, Penguins defenseman Sam Girard did not practice Friday due to a lower-body injury.
Update: Stuart Skinner will start in goal and Girard is available per coach Dan Muse.
TV: ABC
Radio: 105.9 The X
Egor Chinakhov-Tommy Novak-Evgeni Malkin
Avery Hayes-Rickard Rakell-Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha-Ben Kindel-Justin Brazeau
Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari
Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea-Kris Letang
Ryan Graves-Ilya Solovyov
Goalie: Stuart Skinner, confirmed.
J.T. Miller-Mika Zibanejad-Gabe Perreault
Will Cuylle — Vincent Trocheck-Alexis Lafreniere
Conor Sheary-Noah Laba-Brendan Brisson
Jonny Brodzinski -Sam Carrick-Taylor Raddysh
Vladislav Gavrikov-Adam Fox
Braden Schneider-Will Borgen
Matthew Robertson-Vincent Iorio
Goalies: Igor Shesterkin, expected
Penguins power play: 26.0%, 4th. Penguins penalty kill: 84.5%, 2nd
Rangers power play: 22.2%, 10th. Rangers penalty kill: 79.9%, 14th.
The Penguins and Rangers have traded wins in each of their last six matchups. The Penguins are 3-3-0, but the Penguins have won three of their last four at Madison Square Garden.
Road warriors: The Penguins have points in six-straight road games (5-0-1) and are 8-1-1 in their last 10 road contests.
Egor Chinakhov has points in four-consecutive games (3G-2A) and points in eight of his last nine games overall (6-3-9).
No forward line (min. 250 minutes played together) has allowed fewer goals against at 5-on-5 player than Pittsburgh’s fourth line of Noel Acciari, Connor Dewar, and Blake Lizotte (7GA).
Categorized:Penguins Pregame
Follow us for breaking news and latest updates at Pittsburgh Hockey Now
Get the best Pens coverage and breaking news from the PHN team delivered to your inbox.
Hockey News