Maybe the kids are alright

In a society, or a sports publication, where the NOW is most important, the need to step back and let something age and mature is lost.

Even on these pages, the New York Rangers have been castigated for poor play, and rightfully so.

Tuesday night, the Rangers broke out to a 2-0 lead after the first period; then as so many teams have done this season, they admired their creation and the Pittsburgh Penguins responded with two second period goals.

Instead of folding completely, New York managed to play the Pens even in the third period and Kaapo Kakko struck for his second goal of the game in extra time to give the Rangers a 3-2 win.

“Just talking to him, the way he walks around now, there’s just a whole new level of swagger to him that I hadn’t seen since he got here, not only on the ice but off the ice,” Rangers coach David Quinn said. “There’s a comfort level he’s attaining, and you can see it in his face.”

It was Kakko’s first multi-goal game in the NHL.

The game-winner came after the Rangers could not get out of their own end for more than two minutes.

“First couple minutes [of overtime] was so hard for us, but then we get the pass and a great pass by [Fox],” Kakko said. “That was easy for me.”

Alexandar Georgiev made 30 saves for the win; New York is 5-1-1 in their last seven.

“I wanted to wheel out three (Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Tony DeAngelo) foxygen tanks for all three of them, but I didn’t think they would allow me to do that,” Quinn said. “Just a heck of a play by Fox to Kakko.”

Justin Schultz and Jared McCann scored for the Pens in the second period to get the game even.

“We’re frustrated because we know we have better. That’s what it comes down to. We can’t keep having starts like this. We know that,” McCann said.

Adam Fox also scored for New York and assisted on the OT winner.

“When guys weather a storm [in overtime] and are able to battle for a little over two minutes you get your fresh legs and you think a little momentum there,” Fox said. “It was a good compete out of them, they were hemmed there. Once we got the fresh legs we got going.”

The Pens dropped to 10-6-2.

“We weren’t ready to play,” Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said.

[WATCH: All Penguins vs. Rangers highlights]

Matt Murray made 24 saves in the loss.

“It’s the same problem, we need to start better,” Penguins center Evgeni Malkin said. “We have to understand if we want to win, we have to play better. The last 40 minutes we played good, but it’s a 60-minute game.”