The Rangers achieved a 4-2 victory over the Penguins at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.
This win gave the Rangers a 10-point lead over the Penguins in the Metropolitan Division standings.
The game was another intense match between two teams that always play fiercely against each other, especially after last season’s seven-game, first-round playoff series.
Throughout the game, the Rangers played fast and varied their approach to putting the puck on net, showing a lot of movement away from the puck, give-and-gos, and cycling through the zone.
However, Jake Guentzel tied the score at 2-2 with 10:51 left in regulation, taking advantage of the Rangers’ fourth line’s long shift.
Chris Kreider then scored the go-ahead goal with 8:15 left in regulation, cleaning up a long shot from Adam Fox.
Kreider later secured the victory with an empty-net score, bringing his total goals this season to 30.
Tyler Motte also scored for the Rangers, giving them a 2-1 lead in the second period.
Motte played a significant role in the game, as he is becoming another Ryan Lindgren-type player for the Rangers.
Despite his 5-foot-10 stature, he plays bigger and is always in the thick of the action. Lindgren has been sidelined for nine straight games with a lingering shoulder injury.
The Rangers are still without Lindgren, but the defense has been cleaned up a bit in comparison to earlier this month.
The team played well in the opening period, skating hard and creating several scoring opportunities.
However, they could only manage to score once, as Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry played a sharp game.
Both teams lost players at different points in the first period. The Penguins had Jeff Petry exit early after Motte caught him with an elbow to the jaw, and he didn’t return for the rest of the game.
Motte later left after colliding with Pierre-Olivier Joseph, but he quickly returned to the game.
Crosby intercepted a pass from K’Andre Miller behind the Rangers’ net, which led to Rickard Rakell scoring the Penguins’ first goal.
Overall, the Rangers played a strong game, and the victory over the Penguins showed the team’s progress since their last meeting.
»Rangers Outplay Penguins in Intense 4-2 Victory at Madison Square Garden«
↯↯↯Read More On The Topic On TDPel Media ↯↯↯