Pittsburgh’s win streak ended at four games in disappointing fashion on Friday night in New York City. The Penguins lost to the Rangers, 4-2, at Madison Square Garden.
“Probably the worst game we played in a month, maybe,” Mike Sullivan said. “Everything we talked about before the game, we did the complete opposite. We talked about managing the puck. We gave up six 2-on-1’s and a breakaway. We talked about bringing physicality to the game. We didn't touch anybody. You know, it's hard to win when you do things like that.”
Alex Nedeljkovic got the start in the first half of this back-to-back for Pittsburgh. He was strong in the scoreless first period, producing that aforementioned breakaway stop as one of several quality saves.
The Penguins found a goal from Blake Lizotte in the second period when he lined up a shot and sniped one past Rangers netminder Igor Shesterkin. After entering tonight with multiple points in back-to-back games (1G-3A) for just the second time in his career, Lizotte tied his career-long point streak of three games set four times, most recently from Dec. 16-19, 2021.
Cody Glass, playing his first game since suffering a concussion on Nov. 7 at Carolina, got an assist on the play.
“The first two periods was tough on the legs trying to get back into it, the game’s really fast out there, and it's hard to simulate that in practices stuff like that,” Glass said. “So, I felt as the game went on, I started to feel more comfortable, feel better. The more shifts I get, the more opportunity, hopefully it gets better.”
The Rangers responded with a tremendous shift. Nedeljkovic did his best to keep them off the board, coming up with a highlight-reel stop, but Artemi Panarin managed to get one past him.
The Penguins had a couple of opportunities to get back in front, with Rickard Rakell hitting the post on their third power play of the game late in the frame. Rookie defenseman Owen Pickering, who scored his first NHL goal in Tuesday’s win over Florida, also rang one off the red painted metal with a nice shot after the Rangers returned to full strength.
But it was Panarin who got the puck over the line for a second time, right before the horn.
“His first one, he walks into it and then lets a clapper go. It's hard from inside the slot there. He's got a good shot. He's gonna bury those,” Nedeljkovic said. “Even the second one too, same thing. He's a good player. But I don't think the second one was his best shot, to be honest with you.
“I wasn't really on the puck. I was just a little bit on his body. If I make one more shuffle to my left, honestly, it probably gets me in the elbow. It's not like it went post and in or anything. So, that was a tough one to swallow, especially the timing of it with a second and a half left.”
At the 8:29 mark of the third, Phil Tomasino once again stepped up with another big goal, which is all he’s done as a Pittsburgh Penguin since being acquired from the Predators last week. He now has three goals in five games.
“It’s unreal. I knew he had it in him, and he was blessed with opportunity, and takes full advantage of it,” said Glass, who played with Tomasino in Nashville. “So, I'm proud of him. He's really a great person off the ice, too. I'm glad now we have him and he's been able to produce.”
Vince Trocheck sealed the win in the last two minutes of regulation. Sullivan said his team’s intentions have to be different when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena.
“We have to have a willingness to play the game the right way,” Sullivan said. “We didn't manage the puck. We were on the wrong side of the puck all night long. We didn't win a puck battle. There wasn't collective effort. Our intentions weren’t in the right spot from the drop of the puck. That's my observation.”
