Power Play Can't Find a Timely Goal in 1-0 Loss to Red-Hot Rangers

The Penguins knew they had a tough test ahead of them with the red-hot New York Rangers in town. While Tristan Jarry turned in an excellent performance, veteran goaltender Jonathan Quick – who signed a one-year deal with the Rangers in the offseason and got the nod over Igor Shesterkin – also played well.

He kept the Penguins from converting any of their chances, helping his team come away with a 1-0 victory. The Blueshirts are now 13, 3 and 1 on the season, while the Penguins are 9-9.

“I thought it was a tight game,” Kris Letang said. “I just think they defended well, there's a reason why they’re first in our division. It was tough to get to the net and get quality chances. We had some zone time, we had looks, but they did a good job of defending and pushing us to the outside.

“Obviously, there's things to improve and things to clean up, but it was a weird game, you know? They come with that left wing lock, kind of wait for your mistakes. Sometimes we can add more pace to the game, so I think maybe if we do a better job at imposing the pace and kind of come with speed, that will help us out.”

While the Penguins feel they have enough depth to win games regardless of who is in their lineup, they had the added challenge of facing this team after getting dealt with an influx of injuries following their 3-0 win over Vegas on Sunday. Most notably, top-six wingers Bryan Rust (day-to-day, lower body) and Rickard Rakell (longer term, upper-body) were ruled out for the contest.

Drew O’Connor moved up to Sidney Crosby’s line, with Vinnie Hinostroza slotting into the spot he vacated on the third line. Alex Nylander skated with Evgeni Malkin and Reilly Smith, and appeared to get the Penguins on the board after they gave up the opening goal for the first time since Oct. 28 vs. Ottawa.

Unfortunately, the tally got overturned after the Rangers used their coach’s challenge to successfully argue it was offsides. From there, while the Penguins penalty kill shut down the Rangers on the man-advantage, Pittsburgh’s power play couldn’t come up with a timely goal despite five total opportunities on the night.

“We need to fight next game. It’s a long season, we need to fix the power play, we need to just play the same,” Malkin said. “We had a great game tonight. We fight against a good team, and I think the power play should change momentum in this game. We have lots of power plays tonight.”

It's particularly frustrating considering that top unit in particular features Hall of Fame talents with Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang, along with Jake Guentzel and Reilly Smith, who consistently top 20 goals in a season.

"I think we got ourselves some opportunities, but couldn't find a way to break them down," Karlsson said. "There's various reasons for that, but we're gonna keep pounding at it. We got everything that we need, we just got to find a way to make it all work and execute a lot better. Managing that puck when we have one more guy than they do on the ice."

Here’s what Penguins Head Coach Mike Sullivan had to say after the game.

Aside from the obvious that the power play was 0-for-5, how would you analyze how it looked? There’s some nights it could be an 0-fer and maybe not perform poorly. Was this one of those nights, or was this just a bad night? “I think it was a struggle on the power play tonight. These guys, they care an awful lot, and they've got a lot of pride. When it doesn't go the right way, they put a lot of pressure on themselves to make it work. I think that was a little bit of the case. I think we were forcing it a little bit. I think as a result, we looked robotic, instead of just instinctive. I think that's when our guys are at their best. think tonight, it was just a struggle.”

They blocked 24 shots. Obviously they were committed to that, but how much is that to your point there as far as maybe forcing things? “I think you could see guys were trying to make an attempt to get pucks to the net. We talked a lot with them just about trying to simplify the game a little bit, delivering pucks down to the blue paint and creating opportunity that way. Give the Rangers credit, they made it hard for us to get pucks through. They blocked a lot of shots.”

How do you feel the lineup changes looked overall as a whole tonight, but also specifically, Drew O’Connor on the first line with Sid and Jake? “I thought OC did a pretty good job. I think what he brings to those guys is just his ability to hunt pucks. He's a rangy guy, really good skater, has a long reach, forces a lot of turnovers, and he can use this size to get to the net. He hunted pucks, for sure, for those guys. Created some opportunities from some O-zone time. That was one of our hopes when we put him up there, is he could bring that dimension to the line. It's an important aspect of their ability to play the game they want to play, and if you want to play on top of teams, you've got to be able to skate and close unforced turnovers. I think OC did a pretty good job with that tonight.”

Thoughts on John Ludvig in his first game back since his injury (in his NHL debut on Oct. 24 vs. Dallas)? He had that one big hit, seemed to provide a little bit of energy. “Yeah, I thought he was steady. The first one is always the hardest one, and against a real good opponent. So, I thought he was pretty solid. He was steady. He plays within himself. I think he understands what his game is. He tries to keep the game simple. He brings a physical dimension. He had the one big hit as you mentioned. But I thought he was steady for his first game.”