Pittsburgh Penguins Dominate Rangers in Game 4

Evgeni Malkin scored two and Matt Murray posted his first career postseason shutout as the Pittsburgh Penguins blanked the New York Rangers, 5-0, to take a 3-1 lead in the series.

The Pittsburgh Penguins came out swinging tonight and never let up, obliterating the New York Rangers 5-0. From the second the first puck dropped, the Pens controlled the play.

Exactly 1:09 into the game, the Pittsburgh Penguins had already stolen a lead. Eric Fehr and his cohorts crashed the New York Rangers‘ net and in the ensuing confusion, put the puck behind Henrik Lundqvist.

Thanks, Fehr Bear. That goal was un-Fehr. It was like a Fehr-y tale. I’d be Fehr-ly scared if I was Lundqvist.

(I’ll be here all night.)

These Penguins were here to play. Just six minutes into the first period they’d already posted 8 shots on goal, one of which was the scoring tally and the rest of which could have easily gone in too. Though the Rangers looked like they were out for blood, the Pens outplayed them where it counted.

Rick Nash took an interference penalty, launching Trevor Daley into Pens goaltender Matt Murray. The Pens have scored in each game on the man advantage so far, boasting a solid 4/13 powerplay success rate in the series.

Well, you can go ahead and bump that percentage up. Sidney Crosby seemingly deflected the puck past Lundqvist and put the Penguins up 2-0 before the first period was even halfway over.

Some fun stats: Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, who picked up assists on both goals, have officially passed Kevin Stevens for third place on the Pens’ all-time playoff games list. They have 104 games apiece, which… hey, that’s not bad.

The Pens have also won 7 straight playoff games when Sid scores. Finally, Crosby also tied Stevens for third place on the Pens’ playoff goals list with 46. Well, he did for just about ten minutes. His goal was credited to Patric Hornqvist before the first period was over, so these latter two facts are a little less relevant now, but they’re still fun.

The Penguins were absolutely soaring while the Rangers looked dazed and confused, and most of all, really slow. Still, Hornqvist managed to take a penalty for interfering with Marc Staal. The penalty killers looked worlds better than the attackers, though, and took care of the penalty easily.

Just as it ended, Daley and Eric Staal exchanged pleasantries after Staal went crashing in on Murray. Both were given roughing penalties as the teams moved to four-on-four play.

Almost as soon as they were released, Daley went right back to the penalty box. He hooked Viktor Stalberg as the Ranger was trying to shoot. As good as the Pens’ PK can be, taking constant penalties is a terrible gameplan – sooner or later, one’s going to get through.

That is, unless Tom Kuhnhackl‘s eaten his Wheaties and can score shorthanded at least twice. Since I’m not sure we can count on that, let’s just stick to the “don’t take dumb penalties” strategy from this point forward.

Moments later, Conor Sheary scored his first career playoff goal: he scooped up a puck that was turned over by Kevin Klein, darted up the ice with it, and rocketed the puck through Lundqvist. 3-0, Pens.

It was very nearly 4-0 just seconds later. Malkin was able to shove the puck between Lundqvist’s skate and the goalpost and into the net, but Chris Kunitz had been wrapped up in the crease and the goal was immediately called off on the basis of goaltender interference.

200 feet away, Murray showed his skills as he made a ridiculous diving save to keep the puck out of a gaping net. Though he only made 16 saves in his game three win and return to the lineup, he showed no signs of rust.