New York capitalized on Pittsburgh playing their third string netminder to take Game 2 last night by a score of 5-2.  It was a welcome result after Tuesday's disappointing end in Game 1, and avoids going to Pittsburgh in a 2-0 series hole.

It wasn't a perfect game by any stretch, and the result was far from certain thanks to the play of Sidney Crosby and the Penguins' top line, who have accounted for 5 of the 6 goals scored in the series by the Penguins.  As we saw in Game 1, the Penguins aren't rattled when they get behind, and they came back twice to put pressure on the Rangers, and could easily have tied the game early in the third if not for some stalwart play by Igor Shesterkin.

Outshot 9-0 to start the final period, Shesterkin kept the Rangers ahead, buying them time to break the game open on an opportunistic goal from Artemi Panarin, followed soon after by Frank Vatrano's first as a Ranger.  Shesterkin would make additional saves on high danger chances to close out the game, and finished with 39 saves on 41 shots, to go with the 79 saves on 83 in the first game. 

Twenty Thoughts:

1. With Barclay Goodrow out, Dryden Hunt got to appear in his first playoff game as a Ranger.  He became the 493rd player to dress for New York in the post season, in what was his third playoff game of his career, the previous two coming for Florida in the 2019-20 season
   
   
2. In Game 1, the Rangers came out the stronger of the two teams, but this time the play was a little more even.  Both side had some modest early chances before Patrik Nemeth took his third minor penalty of the series on a soft cross-check.  It gave the Penguins their fifth straight power play in the series, though they were not able to generate much on it
   
   
3. COPP THAT: Andrew Copp was brought into the line-up at the trade deadline, and was better than a point per game player as he slotted into the second line.  He struck first for the Rangers last night, with a shot that was almost a mirror image of his goal in Game 1.  Finding some open room in the mid-slot, he fired a shot through two Penguin defenders and into the net to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead
   
   
4. Justin Braun, playing in his first playoff game as a Ranger, and 101st overall, picked up a secondary assist on the Copp goal.  He was the 492nd player to appear in a post season game for New York, the 314th to record an assist, and 342nd to record a point
   
   
5. That lead lasted all of 2:02 though, with the Penguins' top line responding with their fourth goal of the series.  An Artemi Panarin turnover in the neutral zone put the Rangers on their heels, and when Crosby's shot riccocheted off of K'Andre Miller's skate, it went straight to Jake Guentzel in the slot who misfired a shot that slide under Shesterkin's sliding pad to make it 1-1
   
   
6. Less than two minutes later and the Rangers were under pressure again in their own zone, leading to Ryan Strome hacking at a puck in an attempt to clear it.  Unfortunately for him and the Rangers, the puck went clear over the glass and gave the Penguins their second power play of the game.  The Rangers responded though, and made sure the score would remain tied, even without two of their primary penalty killers in the line-up.  The kill brought the Rangers series total to 5 kills on 6 attempts, the only goal coming off of a 5 on 3 in Game 1
   
   
7. The Rangers finished the first period outshooting the Penguins 14-11, and had a slight edge in play over their opponents including killing off 4 minutes of penalties
   
   
8. SECOND COMING: In Game 1, the Rangers were badly outplayed from the point where they opened up a 2-0 lead, giving up 25 shots in total in a largely one-sided middle period.  This time round the team looked more settled, and was in general, a much better performance.  The hosts earned their first power play in over 118 minutes when John Marino got called for another weak cross check, that looked very similar to Nemeth's in the first period - drawing a similar response from the Penguins bench to Gallant's in the first
   
   
9. It looked as if the Rangers might have missed their chance, despite holding the puck in the Penguins zone for much of the two minutes, including a redirection that went wide by Ryan Strome with a good portion of the net open.  Strome would get a second chance though, and gave the Rangers their second lead of the game when he tipped a shot by Louis Domingue for his first playoff goal as a Ranger with 6 seconds remaining on the man advantage.  Strome is the 261st player to record a playoff goal for the franchise, and 140th to record a post season power play goal.  The conversion on the power play meant the Rangers were 2 for 2 on their chances to date
   
   
10. Adam Fox picked up his first playoff assist, and first on the power play, being responsible for the shot from the blueline that Strome tipped.  He is the 315th player to record a playoff assist for New York, and 180th to do on the power play
    
    
11. Both teams continued to press for the next goal, with plenty of shots at either end, but the Rangers would open up their second 2-goal lead of the series when Chris Kreider redirected Frank Vatrano's shot past Domingue for his second goal of the playoffs.  Kreider now has goals in consecutive games, and has 26 in his playoff career
    
    
12. The assist by Vatrano was his first playoff point for the Rangers, and he became the 316th player to record a playoff assist for the Rangers and 343rd to record a playoff point.  K'Andre Miller also picked up his first career playoff assist and point on the goal, becoming the 317th and 344th respectively in those categories.  Miller would finish with two assists in the game
    
13. CROSBY STILL can CASH in: It looked as if the Rangers would finish the middle period in a strong position, but after Shesterkin stopped a breakaway by Bryan Rust, Crosby took matters into his own hand and both backed off Jacob Trouba as well as carrying Justin Braun almost on his back as he carried the puck into the Rangers zone to feed Rust just outside the crease.  Rust was unable to beat Shesterkin, but Crosby beat the defense to the rebound and pulled the Penguins back within one
    
    
14. The Rangers managed to make it to the third period with a one goal lead, but the complexion of the game had changed.  This was certainly true when Pittsburgh game out in the first five minutes of the third period and dominated the play, outshooting the Rangers 9-0, including a weak side shot from Evgeni Malkin that Shesterkin managed to slide over to save
    
    
15. PASS THE BREAD PLEASE: New York would regain their two goal lead after some nifty work from Panarin along the near boards allowed him to beat Kris Letang and send a pass from behind the goalline into the crease and see it bounce off of Mike Matheson's skate and by Domingue.  The goal was a bit of good fortune for Panarin, who finished the game with three points, including a goal and two assists, even while not playing his best.  More importantly the goal seemed to settle the Rangers down
    
    
16. Vatrano gave the Rangers some additional insurance 1:47 later when he picked up a pass from Braden Schneider along the far boards, beat Matheson's attempted check and wristed a shot by Domingue to open up a 5-2 lead for New York.  It was Vatrano's first playoff goal for New York - 262nd in franchise history, and his third point of the game to go with his two assists on the goals by Kreider and Panarin.  Schneider also picked up his first playoff career assist (318th for NYR) and point (345th)
    
    
17. A SHOT BY IGOR: With the teams skating four on four following matching minors to Filip Chytil and Brock McGinn, Shesterkin attempted to fire a lead pass down the center of the ice, only for the pass to miss connection and go on goal.  Shesterkin was credited with a shot as a result
    
    
18. A SHOT ON IGOR: With the Penguins playing much of the remaining 5:15 with an empty net, Pittsburgh were pushing hard to get back into the game.  One such series resulted in Shesterkin playing the puck behind the net and then taking contact from Jeff Carter as he skated in to try and recover the puck. The Rangers' netminder fell to the ice and did not move for about 90 seconds, causing everyone to collectively hold their breaths.  Shesterkin would remain in the game and said afterwards that he just "fell poorly".  Let's hope he chooses to avoid contact going forward
    
    
19. New York finished earned a power play out of the collision, and Gallant elected to send the fourth line out to help finish the game off.  The Rangers did so successfully, holding the puck for an important victory to level the series as they head back to Pittsburgh
    
    
20. This was the first post season victory for the Rangers, dating back to May 4th, 2017.  A period of five years and one day.  The Rangers had lost six straight playoff games - including the three in the play-in series during 2020