Finally!
In New York on Monday night, the New York Rangers grabbed a lead, AND held on to it in a 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Jason Zucker staked the Pens to a 1-0 lead in the first period and the Rangers replied with three unanswered goals.
The Rangers were playing their first game without defenseman Tony DeAngelo who was waived by the club after incidents between himself and goalie Alexander Geiorgiev.
“It’s unfortunate what’s happened in the past 48 hours, but we knew we had to come together as a team,” the Rangers’ Adam Fox said. “At the end of the day we have a job here and we had to play a solid game and win a game. The guys did a good job of pulling together.”
Igor Shesterkin made 25 saves to get the win as the Rangers improved to 3-4-2.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of our group,” Rangers head coach David Quinn said. “It has been a very difficult 24, 36 hours. … The blocked shots. The penalty kill was huge. A huge power-play goal. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you play as one.”
Chris Kreider scored off the power-play goal at 11:10 of the third period for the 2-1 lead and game-winner.
The Rangers have points in three straight games, 2-0-1.
“We’ve got five of our last six points and we’re hanging around,” Quinn said. “We continue to do that, continue to improve and get guys’ game back on track, we’re going to be in the middle of it.”
Artemi Panarin participated in all three New York goals, including an empty-net strike with less than one second on the clock.
The Pens were scoreless in six power play chances.
“It looks like we’re looking for a better play that’s not there,” Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said. “We have to do a better job of just putting pucks at the net and creating our offense that way.”
Casey DeSmith made 21 saves in the loss.
“It’s definitely a work in progress,” Zucker said of the Penguins power play. “We’re not happy with it. We’re not happy with our special teams. We have to keep fixing it, but I believe in the guys in this room, that we’re going to work on it and work hard on it, hold each other accountable from guy to guy, from coaches to players and players to coaches.”
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