Antti Raanta and the New York Rangers were ambushed and bullied by Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.
- New York Rangers 2 (23-11-1, 47 pts)
- Pittsburgh Penguins 7 (21-7-5, 47 pts)
- NHL, Final, Box Score
- The Igloo, Pittsburgh, PA
At this moment, when stacking up the teams in the Metropolitan Division, there’s no chance an objective observer could place the New York Rangers as the best of the hot bunch. Despite their 47 points, the edge, undoubtedly, has to go to the defending champs.
For the second time this season, Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins took the paddle to the Blueshirts. This time, the Pens beat down Antti Raanta and company 7-2 in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.
Raanta had no shot from the get go. He was forced to stop 21-of-22 shots in the first period alone. If not for Raanta, Pittsburgh would have blown the doors off New York early.
While the Rangers survived the first period (leaving it at a 1-1 game), the Pens put up two goals in the second and four in the third that blew it open.
Pittsburgh saw seven different players tally a goal in this one. Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessell, Justin Schultz, Bryan Rust, Patric Hornqvist, and Nick Bonino were the men who added to their goal counts. For the Rangers, Matt Puempel picked up a gift of a goal in the first period while Michael Grabner added his 14th of the season early in the third period that cut the deficit to three (5-2).
Raanta wasn’t pulled, as Alain Vigneault elected to rest Henrik Lundqvist the entire game. He came up with 40 saves on a filthy 47 Pens shots. Matt Murray stopped 26 of the 28 he faced in picking up the win.
The two teams are now tied atop the Metropolitan Division with 47 points apiece. The Rangers have played two more games.
Next up for New York will be a Friday night matchup with the Minnesota Wild at Madison Square Garden.