PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - The first round of the NHL playoffs are set as the Penguins win over the Blue Jackets sets up an opening round with the New York Rangers.
The Rangers have had the Penguins number in the regular season as they took three out of the four games. The Penguins only scored four goals in four games vs the Rangers and only recorded one goal when it was 5-on-5 hockey.
"We'll learn from those experiences," said Mike Sullivan. "The biggest takeaway is recognizing that they're a real good hockey team. They have a lot of team speed, their power play is really dangerous and they have got terrific goaltending. It'll be a big challenge for us."
"They're a good four-line team," said Evan Rodrigues. "They're pretty balanced with an elite power play, have some elite talent. It's the playoffs now you just got to play them hard and play playoff hockey."
Pittsburgh had to earn one point in the final game of the season to secure they would play the Rangers in the first round. Pittsburgh made sure of that early with a 3-0 start in the first six and a half minutes of the game.
Jean-Francois Berube got pulled after he gave up a third goal on just five shots as the Penguins were clicking right from the beginning of the game.
Evgeni Malkin scored his 20th goal of the season, Marcus Petterson scored his first goal since October 23rd. Evan Rodrigues scored his 19th of the season, Kris Letang and Bryan Boyle also scored in the 5-3 win.
Casey DeSmith made 33 saves on 36 shots on net and picked up his 10th win of the season.
"He's been great," said Bryan Boyle. "He works extremely hard, he's a competitor. He went through it a little bit earlier in the year and you know he didn't sulk, he was determined. He's played really really good hockey."
