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PITTSBURGH – The playoff atmosphere is nearing.
In their first meeting of the season with the Penguins, the Rangers fell just short, 1-0, in a high-octane matchup that featured a goaltending battle, a plethora of scrums and a genuine nastiness to it at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.
With the win, the Penguins wrestled possession of second place in the Metropolitan Division away from the Rangers and snapped a three-game losing skid in the process.
After a scoreless two periods, roughly 4 ½ minutes into the final frame, Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren was called for a soft hooking penalty on the only player on the ice who would draw it: Penguins star Sidney Crosby.
The Rangers’ penalty kill, which has largely been effective as of late, couldn’t get over in time to defend a dynamic Penguins power play. Evgeny Malkin’s rocket shot at 5:09 was ultimately the decider.
To start the second period, the Rangers and Penguins skated four-on-four after Kevin Rooney and Malkin earned matching roughing penalties at the end of the opening 20 minutes. It was ultimately the first of three four-on-four stretches of play as both teams dialed up the physicality.
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The two teams combined for eight penalties through the first two periods, earning four each, on the way to 10 in total for the game. While there were some questionable non-calls and makeup calls from the officials, the hostility between the two clubs was a byproduct of the tightness of the game.
Half of the penalties were for roughing after the whistle, which seemed to become customary halfway through the middle frame.
Igor Shesterkin iced the Penguins for much of the game, as he often does, turning aside 25 of the 26 shots he faced in the loss. The Russian netminder got a piece of a hard shot from Crosby on the doorstep in the second period that had the Pittsburgh crowd convinced it was going to be a goal.
The Rangers doubled the Penguins’ shot total, 12-6, in a first period that grew more and more chippy as it progressed. Pittsburgh didn’t register a single shot on goal until over seven minutes into the game, allowing the Rangers to spend a good portion of the opening 20 minutes in the offensive zone.
If the regular season ended today, the Penguins would be the Rangers’ first-round matchup. If this first meeting was any indication of what it could be like, that would be quite the series.
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