The New York Rangers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 4-2 in game 2. The Rangers were lucky that, Henrik Lundqvist was able to keep his playoff streak of 112 in this game. The Penguins also got a boost as Evgeni Malkin returned to their lineup after missing a lot of time due to injury.
The first period saw chippy play from the opening whistle with Chris Kreider and Patric Hornqvist pushing one another before the game even started. This was a sign of things to come as the Rangers were throwing their weight around.
The Rangers ended the period outhitting the Penguins 22-4. Both teams exchanged chances the best chance of the period went to Derek Stepan, who got a breakaway to only see it turned aside by Jeff Zatkoff.
The second period saw the first goal of the game 3 minutes in as Pittsburgh forward, Phil Kessel scored. The game stayed like this and a big glove save on Rust got the Rangers into the game. Keith Yandle scored on a backdoor play from Derick Brassard and J.T. Miller picked up the assists on the play.
The Rangers continued as they capitalized on a lucky bounce and Brassard put one past Zatkoff. The Penguins challenged the play for offside and they lost on a very close call.
J.T. Miller continued his strong night with his 3rd assist of the night coming on a backdoor play to Mats Zuccarello with about 3 minutes left in the second period.
The 3rd period saw the Rangers continue strong play as Chris Kreider got his first goal of the playoffs. Derick Brassard picked up his 3rd point of the game with an assist on the goal.
The Penguins weren’t going to be blown out as Kessel struck on the powerplay again to cut the lead back down two. Evgeni Malkin picked up an assist on the goal earning his first point of the playoffs in his first game.
J.T. Miller and Derick Brassard both had 3 point nights and were the game changers in my eyes. I joked around in saying J.T. Miller thought he was a point guard tonight creating the plays and racking up the assists. The Rangers were able to hunker down and not allow another goal
Game 3 will be New York Tuesday April 19th at MSG with the series tied at 1-1.