Pittsburgh Penguins Trounce Rangers in Game One

Jeff Zatkoff and Patric Hornqvist led the Pittsburgh Penguins past the New York Rangers in their first game of the postseason, 5-2.

Jeff Zatkoff made his playoff debut, Patric Hornqvist scored a hat trick, and the Pittsburgh Penguins glittered in gold as they opened their postseason run at home.

With Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray both still out of the lineup, the 28-year-old Zatkoff got his first look at playoff action on home ice. Though many were worried about how the goalie would handle things, he impressed from the start, coming out of the crease to challenge Rangers players and make acrobatic saves. His team helped him out early by blocking shot after shot while the crowd voiced their support.

Viktor Stalberg took a penalty early in the period for hooking Pittsburgh defenseman Justin Schultz. The Pens had some pretty good chances on Henrik Lundqvist, but the puck also ended up in their own end more than they would like. The New York penalty kill was certainly aggressive but that said, they didn’t have much to work against.

The Rangers threw some heavy hits early, slamming Trevor Daley and Phil Kessel into the boards. Several less-than-polite conversations took place in front of both nets, making clear there was no love lost between these teams.

Conor Sheary is no Evgeni Malkin, but his skillful transition game tonight said otherwise. He had a few great moves through the middle of the ice, setting up Sidney Crosby and Nick Bonino on separate occasions.

He seemed to be the only one here to play, though. The Rangers threw a barrage of shots on Zatkoff while Lundqvist had to turn away relatively few. Though the Pens had their share of slow starts during the regular season and almost always bounced back, the first playoff game isn’t really a time or place where you want to see that kind of start.

Stalberg headed back to the box just moments after being freed from his first penalty, getting called for an illegal hit to the head on Ian Cole. In my opinion, the video reviews didn’t actually show contact with Cole’s head at all, but at the rate the Pens were playing any advantage they could get would be helpful.

The kill was aggressive again, though, shutting down the men on the powerplay.

Almost as soon as Stalberg escaped the box for the second time, Eric Fehr took a seat in his own team’s sin bin for unsportsmanlike conduct. He gave Lundqvist a snow shower when sliding to a stop in front of the goal.

I hate blaming refs, I really do; they’ve got a lot to look at on the ice and they’re only human. But you really have to wonder why on earth they were calling the game so tight – three penalties were called during the first period alone, one of which was not really a penalty and the other of which is probably going to be ignored 9 out of 10 times.

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Fehr, a gifted penalty killer, also made it out of the penalty box without incident. As lethargic as his team looked up to this point, they really got their feet under them during their kill. Carl Hagelin had a beautiful chance against his former goaltender, as did a few other Pens.

Lundqvist, who was in and out of practice yesterday with an illness, didn’t look as confident or strong as usual. He took a puck up high and then a stick to the eye – through his mask – from his own defenseman Marc Staal near the end of the period, but stayed in net for the rest of the first stanza.

That may not have been the best idea, either for his own health or for his team. With just under twenty seconds in the period, Patric Hornqvist scored Pittsburgh’s first goal of the playoffs. Sheary stormed the net as a fluky rebound tricked the Rangers players, allowing Hornqvist to somehow shove it into the net from the slot.

That marked Sheary’s first NHL playoff point, and it’s well deserved.

Antti Raanta replaced Lundqvist in goal to start the second period – a move that probably should have been made as soon as Lundqvist went down. Then, only nine seconds in to the period, Chris Kreider was sent to the penalty box for interfering with Kris Letang.

The Pens had a major resurgence in the late first period, holding the Rangers to fewer shots and taking more of their own to almost draw even. None of those had come on the powerplay opportunities, though.

A weird sequence during the powerplay led to Tanner Glass seemingly injuring Bonino’s hand or arm, and Bonino ricocheted the puck up into Glass’s face, drawing blood. No penalties resulted either way, despite the blood, and the Pens’ powerplay expired.

Even though the Pens were ahead on the board and players were dropping like flies on both sides, the middle stanza was somewhat lackluster. The Pens couldn’t manage a shot in Raanta for nearly half the period; Fehr was the first to finally get one through.

Tom Kuhnhackl drew a penalty as Dom Moore seemingly tried to bear-hug him, and as Zatkoff skated off for the extra attacker Justin Schultz almost put one past Raanta. This powerplay was the strongest the Pens looked on the man-advantage all night, sustaining pressure and taking repeated shots.

It didn’t last, though, as Trevor Daley tripped up Rick Nash just in front of Zatkoff. Nash went down heavily and headed off to the locker room; meanwhile, Daley went on his way to the box for a brief 4-on-4.

Zatkoff continued to be stellar in his playoff debut, standing on his head to keep the Pens in the lead. His continually impressive play was a wakeup call to the rest of his team, given that he was really the only one who kept them in the game up to this point.

Captain Crosby widened the Pens’ lead with another late goal. I’m still at a loss for words about it. It was just… beautiful.

A Rangers shot was blocked in the Penguins’ zone; Hornqvist got ahold of the puck and rocketed it to Crosby up ice. The puck went right through two diving defenders who went sprawling across the ice, leaving Crosby alone to go off to the races and roof the puck past Raanta.

The Rangers came out swinging as the third period began, but the Penguins boast a stunning record of 39-0 when leading after two. This may be the postseason but they certainly weren’t looking to stop that streak now – and they didn’t.

Unfortunately for the home team, they received penalties on penalties on penalties. All at once, Carl Hagelin was given a double-minor for high-sticking Kevin Hayes while Ian Cole was called for interfering with Eric Staal, the eyebrowless wonder himself. Zatkoff stoned the onslaught but eventually it was too much.

Derek Stepan got the Rangers on the board and freed Cole from the box several minutes before he would have preferred to leave.

Tom Kuhnhackl and Nick Bonino found themselves up the ice with the puck, and Kuhnhackl put the puck behind Raanta for his first playoff goal in his first playoff game. The shorthanded goal gave the Penguins their two-goal margin back.

Kuhnhackl now has six goals total on the season, three of which came shorthanded. Wow.

The momentum was all in Pittsburgh’s favor now. Eric Staal took a penalty for goaltender interference following Kuhnhackl’s shorty, marking the Pens’ fifth powerplay of the night.

Despite the missed opportunities of the four previous ones, this one made a difference. Hornqvist slid it past Raanta for his first multi-goal playoff game. Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault challenged the goal on the basis of goaltender interference, given Phil Kessel‘s position in the crease, but the goal stood!

Derek Stepan picked up his second goal of the game thanks to sneaky plays from Mats Zuccarello and Dan Boyle. Zatkoff allowed a rebound from Boyle’s shot and the puck bounced straight to Stepan.

Next: Playoff Questions and Predictions

As time ran down, Raanta headed to the bench for an extra attacker. Crosby and Hornqvist headed down the ice to the empty net and our magnanimous captain passed to Hornqvist, allowing him to score a hat trick.

Before this season, Hornqvist had never scored a hat trick; now, he’s picked up two in the past month or so. This is, therefore, his first of the playoffs – and only the 15th playoff hat trick in Penguins history.

Game 1 of this series is in the books as a win for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Zatkoff put up a performance that exceeded all expectations, stopping 35 of 37 in his first-ever playoff game. The crowd chanted his name as the clock ticked down.

Game 2 isn’t until Saturday, which may give both teams’ starting goalies time to get back on their feet. If that doesn’t happen, though, the Pens seem like they’ll be pretty well off.