Geno Strikes Before Midnight as Pens Edge Rangers 4-3
Recap by Yinzer Crazy Featured Penguins Contributor Patricia Beninato
We all heard about it in the days leading up to the first game between the Penguins and the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Rangers were on a roll, young and fast and hungry. But, unfortunately, the Penguins weren’t playing well.
So into Game One we went, at once happy that it’s officially the Most Wonderful Time of the Year--the playoffs--and nervous about the matchup.
Who knew that this game would end up being among the most legendary in Penguins history?
The Pens did not get rolled by the Rangers in Madison Square Garden. Instead, they won 4-3. In TRIPLE OVERTIME.
No one could foresee that in the first period. The skating was off-the-charts fast from the start, but the Rangers were taking more shots. Then Teddy Blueger, with whom I’ve developed a love/annoy relationship, slashed Filip Chytil. You know, one of the Pens’ best penalty-kill guys. The Rangers, who were fourth in the NHL in PP scoring this season, made them pay courtesy of Adam Fox’s high-slot shot at 9:19, a mere 23 seconds after Blueger’s penalty. It didn’t help that Ryan Lindgren lay a nasty hit on Rickard Rakell late in that period. Rakell didn’t return to the game, and Lindgren only got a minor for roughing. If you raise up to hit someone as Lindgren did, that’s a major, but I don't make the calls as I wrote in the live Tweet.
In the second period, the Rangers made it 2-0 at 3:08 when Andrew Copp, a beast since the Rangers picked him up before the trade deadline, got a one-timer past Casey DeSmith. That seemed to wake up the Pens, particularly Jake Guentzel, who single handedly tied the game (okay, Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust helped him out on both goals) at 4:32 and 11:47.
You may remember that I’ve called the Pens out on the high number of short-handed opportunities they like to hand out to their opponents. They handed out a prime one to Chris Kreider, better known for leading the NHL in power-play goals but had no issue with scoring a short-hander at 17:07 to take back the lead for the Rangers. Fortunately, Rust scored with help from Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang with 90 seconds left in the period to tie things back up.
The third period contained lots of skating, but it wasn’t until there was a bit over three minutes left that the only real controversy happened. Kaapo Kakko went to the net with Brian Dumoulin all over him. He shoved DeSmith out of goal, which Chytil promptly took advantage of to score for a 4-3 Rangers lead. But, wait! The Penguins challenged on the grounds of goalie interference--and won, ensuring the best kind of bonus hockey--playoff bonus hockey.
No scoring in the first overtime. Lots of attempts, though.
No scoring in the second, either. Ditto on the attempts. But here came a monkey wrench, with DeSmith pulling himself out due to injury. Louis Domingue, with even less experience than DeSmith, came in. Who was going to be the hero?
Did we forget that GENO IS SCORE? 5:58 into the third overtime, Geno caught a John Marino deflection, which was started by Kasperi Kapanen, and ended things with his second-ever playoff OT goal, to the joy of Pens fans and the disgust of Rangers fans.
There were
151
shots in this game. Igor Shesterkin stopped
79 of them. The first goalie ever to make his playoff debut in double overtime, Domingue stopped 17, DeSmith 48. I take nothing away from the Rangers--they could have just as easily won this.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs always brings the excitement, but in only one game, the Pens and Rangers set a phenomenally high bar for the rest of the series.
As the legend Mike Lange used to say,
this is going to be good.
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