PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - Igor Shesterkin slams the door on Pens again as Rangers win 3-0 in final meeting of the regular season.
In what will more than likely be a first round playoff matchup, the Penguins had to throw out a different lineup after news broke that Sidney Crosby, John Marino and Radim Zohorna were all out due to a non-covid related illness.
Evgeni Malkin slid up to the top line, Danton Heinen moved to the third line and Filip Hallander made his NHL debut on the fourth line.
After a scoreless first period it didn’t take the Rangers long to get on the scoreboard as Frank Vatrano got a rebound score off a Chris Kreider shot to make it 1-0 Rangers in the second period.
Artemi Panarin netted his 20th goal of the season on a backhander past Tristan Jarry as the Rangers took a 2-0 lead just past the halfway mark of the second period.
“I thought I had a good angle on him coming across and then he just changed the angle quick and he’s able to get a heck of a back-hand off and it goes in and I wasn’t able to get it,” said Jarry.
Dryden Hunt scored an empty netter to seal the deal as the Rangers beat the Pens 3-0.
Despite not having three starters, coach Mike Sullivan isn’t using that as an excuse for the loss.
“We’ve got enough in our lineup to win games,” said Sullivan. "I thought we pushed hard tonight, it’s just been a struggle to score.”
Scoring has been a struggle especially against this Rangers team. Igor Shesterkin did what he has done all season to the Penguins… Slammed the door shut. Shesterkin robbed multiple chances that the Pens had on the attack and made 30 saves on 30 shots on net in the game.
In the season series the Pens went 1-3 against the Rangers and only scored a total of four goals against Shersterken. Kris Letang says he isn’t worried about this being the opponent they will most likely see in the playoffs.
“I’m not concerned,” said Letang. “I think tonight was a tight game. We battled hard and gave ourselves a chance to come back. There are little areas where we have to get better but overall I think there weren’t many scoring chances on both sides. Their goalie did a good job in key moments. No concert. We have to keep preparing and feel confident in ourselves.”
It’s been a slump for the Penguins as they have now lost six of their last eight games including a three game losing streak. Sullivan says it’s not something he is concerned about.
“We’re competing hard, we’re in every game, when you look at the last handful of games I feel like the team has played pretty hard. We just haven’t gotten the result, but we just got to stay with it.”
Up Next
Pens host the Washington Capitals Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. Washington is coming off a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning Wednesday.