'Kiss my a--e': Avalanche win Stanley Cup for third time
The Colorado Avalanche are back atop ice hockey's mountain after dethroning the two-time defending champions. Behind a goal and an assist from Nathan MacKinnon,…
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Penguins goalie Matt Murray was 6-0-0 against the Rangers ever since the 2015-16 Stanley Cup Playoffs, meanwhile Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist has been pulled from the game 5 out of the last 11 times against the Penguins
The first period showed how good the Penguins were and why they were back to back Stanley Cup Champions, with Phil Kessel scoring within 45 seconds of play – stunning the crowd and the Rangers goalie.
The Penguins continued their dominance with another goal coming midway through the period with Carl Hagelin scoring a fantastic sniped goal on Lundqvist.
The Penguins were feeling good going into the second period, however, the Rangers had something else in mind with David Desharnais scoring and surprising goaltender Matt Murray up and over the glove.
Things got heated really fast with Penguins captain Sidney Crosby hit with a double minor high-sticking Jimmy Vesey, drawing blood. The Rangers looked to strike on the powerplay and get some retribution for what happened to Vesey and they did, twice.
Pavel Buchnevich tied the game for the Rangers at two during the first half of the powerplay and one minute later a go-ahead goal from the JT Miller gave them the lead on the powerplay.
However, the Penguins were not quite finished as they scored a late equaliser in the second period with Patric Hornqvist scoring the game-tying goal.
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In the third period, the Rangers came out with speed and toughness as defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin got into a scrap over the hit by Shattenkirk on Bryan Rust.
The Rangers retook the lead with Michael Grabner scoring a fantastic goal from the pass of Desharnais. This angered the Penguins players as they felt they were the better side.
With one minute to go, the Penguins had to take a chance by pulling goaltender Murray to make it a six-on-five opportunity. The Penguins capitalised on the play with Crosby scoring an unbelievable goal on the backhand behind the net to make things even at 4-4.
This sent the teams into overtime and also gave both teams a point in the standings.
Rangers fans were trying their best to give their team extra motivation in three-on-three overtime play, but the Penguins were too fast and too skilled.
A mistake occurred behind the Rangers net saw Patric Hornqvist feed a pass to Evgeni Malkin with a wide open net to score the game-winner.
The Penguins take the extra point in Madison Square Garden and climb higher up the Metropolitan standings. They’re now third, behind the New Jersey Devils and Columbus Blue Jackets.
Meanwhile, the Rangers awful start to the season continues with them coming dead last in the Metropolitan division and Eastern Conference with only one win from seven games.