PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – While allowing the first goal seconds into the game would make you wonder if the Pens would have a hard time Sunday after an emotional win on Saturday. Another goal flurry in the first period would give the Pens a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish in a 5-1 home win against the Rangers.
“We kept the foot on the pedal,” said defenseman John Marino when asked to compare to blowing the lead Thursday against Philadelphia. “We played more together as a unit. Played more of a team game, trusted each other. We were all working together.”
“We certainly don’t want to be a team that sits on leads,” said head coach Mike Sullivan. “I think our team is at our best when we continue to try to score. We just have to do it the right way. We can’t become a high-risk team.”
“I thought our guys did a real good job tonight. They played on their toes. They defended hard. They created a lot of offense off their defense. We finished on the opportunities that we got.”
Pens have points in 11 of their last 12 games against the Rangers, 8 are wins. Another cool stat per Bob Grove. Tonight marked the 100th time Sid & Geno both scored in the same regular season GP.
Pens are 88-9-3 in those games, including 49-6-0 at home.
McCann hurt
Pens forward Jared McCann played only 8:39 due to an upper body injury late in the second period. Pens head coach Mike Sullivan said he is being evaluated.
“Jared’s playing really well for us,” Sullivan said. “He’s a good player. He brings a lot of speed, the ability to finish. Good offensive instincts. I think he’s really found his game as of late.”
“It’s discouraging from all of our standpoints to see Jared go down with an injury. Hopefully it will be something that won’t be too long. Certainly we feel for him.”
Rodrigues moved up
Versatile forward Evan Rodrigues moved back into the top six filling in for McCann.
Rodrigues started the season on Sidney Crosby’s line and was knocked out of action after a collision against the Rangers on January 24. The 27-year-old forward is just in his second game back after returning initially to play on the fourth line.
Brought back after being traded to Toronto and then released. Rodrigues opened the season with a goal. That’s was his only point in 8 games, until an assistant on the John Marino goal Sunday night.
3 goals in 61 seconds
Thursday against the Flyers, the Pens scored 3 goals in 71 seconds. Sunday night, they scored 3 goals in 61 seconds.
Just as the only Pens power play in the first period ended, Kasperi Kapanen found defenseman John Marino who sniped a shot across the goal, just inside the post on goalie Alexander Georgiev’s stick side. 1-0 Pens @16;13.
Evgeni Malkin rescued a puck at center ice, finding Jared McCann, who took a chance. The puck got through the Rangers to Kapanen who was all alone with 4 Rangers in persuit. Kapanen went high-glove side on the mini-break. 2-0 Pens @16:52
Kris Letang gathered a puck behind the net, Brian Dumoulin skated it out to center and found Sidney Crosby just as he was crossing the blue line. He split two defenders and Crosby went glove high. 3-0 Pens @17:14
DeSmith now 5-2
The attention for most of the game was on the goal scoring, Casey DeSmith made a couple of quality stops to keep the long-held two-goal lead right there. DeSmith had 23 saves to improve to 5-2 on the season.
“We were really, really solid especially in the second two periods,” DeSmith said of the team defense. “We held them to the outside. We were so good on our breakouts. Just getting the puck out, getting the puck in deep. It must have been a really frustrating game for them because we were so good defensively.”
Up Next
Pens host the Rangers again Tuesday night for the end of the home stand and a rare 6p start.