After suffering a humiliating 8-3 loss to the Washington Capitals on Saturday in which they were outplayed, the Pittsburgh Penguins looked to take advantage of another team in the New York Rangers on Sunday coming off of a bad loss.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go the Penguins’ way.
The Rangers beat the Penguins, 5-3, despite the Penguins controlling play for most of the game. They outshot the Rangers 33-16 and spent most of the afternoon in their offensive zone, but – simply put – they didn’t get the goaltending necessary to win this game.
Rookie Joel Blomqvist – starting in just his fourth game since being recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate, on Jan. 16 – has struggled a bit in his recent string of games. He has allowed three or more goals in each of those games played – he also relieved Alex Nedeljkovic on Saturday against Washington and allowed three goals – and has posted just a .843 save percentage in that time.
“I know both Ned and Joel are capable of better,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “Joel’s a young goaltender. He’s very athletic. We’re really excited about this guy. But he’s a young goaltender, and he’s going through a learning process here. So, the challenge is on us as a coaching staff to help him.”
The Penguins opened the scoring in the first period when Evgeni Malkin capitalized on a rebound at the net-front. Will Cuylle tied it for the Rangers with less than a minute to go in the first, beating Blomqvist high-glove.
The Rangers struck first in the second period on a goal from J.T. Miller three minutes in, and – despite the Penguins dominating in terms of shots on goal and possession – the score remained 2-1 heading into the final frame.
Some of their dominance began to pay off, as they got two goals in less than three minutes from an unlikely source in defenseman Ryan Shea – back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch – for his first and second tallies of the year.
But just 50 seconds after Shea’s second goal, Jimmy Vesey scored to tie the game at 3-3. Adam Fox added a goal to pull ahead midway through the third period, and Miller sealed it with an empty-netter at the end.
The Penguins felt they deserved a better fate on…