PITTSBURGH, Pa – Yogi Berra, who never met a cliché he didn’t like, must have been a hockey fan. In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the New York Rangers defeated Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 just as they did in Game One by outplaying, outskating, and outscoring the Penguins.
“We did a good job [in the first two periods], and we would like to see that carry over into the third and keep playing that way, but we sat back a bit,” Rangers center Derek Stepan said. “It’s just kind of in the nature of the playoffs, teams just push real hard in the third. But we find a way to win a game.”
The Rangers scored the game’s first two goals and held on in the third period when the Pens closed the game to a goal but held on for the victory
The Rangers, as they did in Game One outshot the Penguins in the first two periods 21-11 but this time the Pens outshot New York in the third 13-7.
Henrik Lundquist was excellent in net as was Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury but neither goaltender had a lot of power play opportunities to worry about as the referees put the whistle away for the most part of the night as both teams combined for only four power plays.
“It was a weird game for me,” Lundqvist said. “I just had to be in control and wait for their push. They started to come a little harder in the second, and in the third they really took it up. It was tough for us to get out, so they kept coming, and I had to make some big plays at the end there to pull this one away. It was a big win for us.”
The Penguins are still missing some key defensemen in Kris Letang, Christian Ehrhoff, and Derrick Poliot, but the offense is still missing in action. Patric Hornqvist led Pittsburgh in shots with six.
Sidney Crosby had one assist but Evgeni Malkin still struggles offensively and is so far held scoreless for the series.
“Our desperation level was much higher in the third, and you saw the difference in our game and our play,” Crosby said. “Sometimes it’s hard to realize what you are doing in the first or second means as much as it does, but you have to find that desperation for the entire game.”
Only Crosby had more than one goal for the Penguins. The good news for the Penguins is that only Derick Brassard has more than one goal for the Rangers.
“I said it after Game 2, we put a lot of pucks on their tape and they knocked a lot of pucks down and were able to spend some time in our zone,” New York defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “We did a good job having numbers back and staying closer [in Game 3]. I felt when you had the puck on our stick, you had a lot of options around you because guys were staying closer, not stretching out as much. We were able to control the puck a lot better.”
The bad news is New York is scoring off the rebounds. Carl Hagelin scored first goal of the game on a blast of a shot down the middle of the ice to get the Rangers off and running. Chris Krieger’s game winner came off a rebound to the right of Fleury.
Game Four is Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.
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