PITTSBURGH – The previous game for the Rangers was a potential first-round playoff preview against Tampa Bay. The one before that was a showdown between teams battling for first place in the Metropolitan Division. The next game is against their most bitter rival.
Saturday’s matinee against a fading Pittsburgh Penguins team at PPG Paints Arena didn’t have nearly the sizzle of those others, not with the Penguins 3-6-1 over their previous 10 games and having traded away winger Jake Guentzel last week.
Artemi Panarin had two goals and the Rangers got goals from Kaapo Kakko, Adam Fox, Mika Zibanejad, K’Andre Miller and Chris Kreider, and 34 saves from goalie Jonathan Quick to take care of business against the Penguins with a 7-4 victory. They closed out the road trip 2-1 and return home for a matchup with the Islanders Sunday afternoon.
Miller’s first goal since Dec. 27 – a span of 33 games – gave the Rangers a 6-3 lead at 4:41 of the third period and chased Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry (six goals allowed on 23 shots) in favor of backup Alex Nedeljkovic. The goal was also Miller’s 101st career point – he’d earned his 100th with an assist on Panarin’s first goal.
Pittsburgh got within 6-4 on a goal by Valtteri Puustinen at 7:23 when Puustinen finished a pass from Reilly Smith on a 3-on-1 break that was the result of Fox diving to try and keep a puck in at the offensive blue line and taking himself out of position.
But Kreider scored an empty-net goal with 18.0 seconds left to make it 7-4.
The Penguins opened the scoring at 2:36 of the first period when third-pair defenseman John Ludvig fired a shot from the left point that went through traffic and got by Quick, who never saw the puck.
But the Rangers tied it 31 seconds later when Alex Wennberg forced a turnover behind the Penguins net and Jimmy Vesey sent the puck to Kakko who put it past Jarry for his ninth goal of the season at 3:07. Fox scored 26 seconds after that to give the Rangers a 2-1…
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