#Rangers snap four-game skid with win over Penguins

While New York City is braving the blizzard, so are the Rangers.

On the same night that team brass had to address its decision to part ways with the team’s second-highest paid defenseman Tony DeAngelo, the Rangers pulled out their third win of the season behind a third-period power-play goal from Chris Kreider to defeat the Penguins 3-1 Monday night at Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers had only scored two third-period goals and hadn’t registered one in the last five games heading into Monday’s contest. Kreider broke that streak at 11:10 of the final frame with a redirection of a no-look shot from Adam Fox at the top of the zone.

Artemi Panarin chipped in an insurance tally with a second left on the clock, in addition to two assists, to complete a three-point performance. While Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin picked up his second win of the season, turning aside 25 of the 26 shots he faced, including nine saves in the final 20 minutes to secure the victory.

General manager Jeff Gorton said prior to the game that the team’s focus had to be on winning, and the Rangers went out and plowed through a Penguins team that they had lost to in their three previous games against them.

“I just can’t say how proud I am of our group,” head coach David Quinn said after the win. “It has been a very difficult 24, 36 hours and the way we kind of game together.”

Aside from being without DeAngelo, the Rangers lost Kaapo Kakko to the COVID-19 Protocol list and recalled Jonny Brodzinski from AHL Hartford for his first game in a Rangers uniform. Anthony Bitetto, who had been with the team’s taxi squad to start the season, replaced DeAngelo for his Rangers debut as well.

To add further pressure to the Rangers’ already depleted lineup, defenseman Brendan Smith collided with Brandon Tanev at 17:12 of the first and went straight to the locker room, where he remained with an upper-body injury.

The Rangers were forced to roll with five defensemen for the rest of the night.

Whether it was the collective inexperience of the lineup or the Penguins’ uncanny strength managing the puck, the Rangers took a slew of penalties throughout the game. They started both the second and third periods on the penalty kill as a result of infractions in the final two minutes of each frame.

Julian Gauthier, who hadn’t played since Jan. 19 against the Devils, was called for holding minutes after the Rangers took the 2-1 lead to force them to compete shorthanded for the sixth time in the game. However, the Rangers’ penalty-kill unit was their strongest component and staved off all six of the Penguins’ man-advantage opportunities.

The Rangers had one of their most competitive third periods so far this season, blocking seven shots and refusing to give the Penguins any time or space.

“The way we played that third period was really good for us, just going forward and understanding that we can win these games,” Fox said. “We have to play a certain way to do it.”

The Penguins came out of the first period with the lead for the third time in their last four games against the Rangers. Jason Zucker quickly took the puck off the boards and caught Shesterkin far out of the crease, stuffing it in for the 1-0 score at 9:05.

But the Rangers capitalized on a delayed Penguins penalty call with an extra skater on the ice later in the second, as Kevin Rooney registered his second goal in as many games to tie it up.

“Listen, I know what our record is, we have felt pretty good about a lot of things we’ve done this year — I know that may sound crazy, but we really have,” Quinn said. “We’ve just got to continue to move forward and keep building. We’ve got five of our last six points and we’re hanging around.”