The Penguins peppered Rangers goaltender Jonathan Quick with 35 shots on goal, but he stopped them all as New York held on for a 1-0 win at PPG Paints Arena. The power play was again the big problem for the Pens, who managed only five shots on goal in almost nine minutes of time with the man advantage.
New York took advantage of a turnover by Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves, whose pass just inside the Rangers’ zone was intercepted by Mike Zibanejad, who quickly hit Alexis Lafreniere on a breakaway, which Lefreniere turned into a score with a backhand over the shoulder of goaltender Tristan Jarry for the game’s only goal.
A potential tying goal by Alex Nylander was negated later in the period by a Rangers bench challenge because Nylander was offsides entering the zone.
The Penguins’ power play has managed only one goal in their last eight games, November 11th against Buffalo. They are one for their last twenty and rank 26th in power play percentage in the NHL.
Coach Mike Sullivan was disappointed with the power play.
Bryan Rust did not play due to an undisclosed injury. Earlier in the day, coach Mike Sullivan said Rust is “day-to-day”. With Rust out, Drew O’Connor played on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel, and Sullivan liked the grit he brought to the line.
Jarry says the Penguins wasted a good defensive effort.
The Pens returned forward Jansen Harkins to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before the game. They also have added defenseman Dmitry Samorukov to their roster after signing him to a two-way contract on Tuesday. He did not dress last night.
Next up for the Pens: back-to-back games tomorrow night at Buffalo and Saturday at home against Toronto.
