Rangers 3, Penguins 2 (OT - SO, 1-0)

The Pens blew a two goal lead in the third period. That's the bottom line of this game. They built a 2-0 lead, only to allow the Rangers to turn the third period into an offensive onslaught. Not good for the Pens.

The Pens withstood an early charge from the Rangers, who had the first several shots of the game. They didn't make any noise offensively until the midway point of the period when they started to change the momentum.

The only other thing of consequence was the goal that was credited to Sydor. It was a Pinball Wizard shot that bounced off of both Rosival and Kalinen behind King Henrik.

The Pens power play didn't look good at all tonight. Sydor's goal was right after a power play ended, but those two minutes were pretty bad.

The Pens did kill off a full two minutes of 5-on-3 power play during the second, which was huge. The Rangers had several good chances but Fleury was up to the challenge, and the penalty killers did an excellent job.

The Rangers turned the third period into a shooting gallery. They got an early power play goal from Naslund to start things up in the third. The Pens almost weathered the storm, but Zherdev blasted a puck high on the short side past Fleury. The thing that troubled me about the Zherdev goal was that the Pens didn't have a good defensive presence when the game-tying goal was scored. Crosby had missed the open net, and the Rangers somehow wound up with a three-on-two. That's what you call a defensive breakdown.

The Pens were able to turn it back on for OT, which is pretty unusual. They had the far better chances, but Lundqvist was up to the challenge.

The shootout was pretty simple. Crosby couldn't beat Lundqvist to keep things alive. King Henry was just better than Fleury in the shootout.

Notes:

• Nice game by Ziggy specifically, and the fourth line in general. I like Bissonnette, but I think Cooke is a better player right now. It was no accident that Cooke and Ziggy were out there with Talbot with two minutes left in the game.
• If I saw the replay correctly, the refs absolutely blew the call in the third when Fleury was called for touching the puck in the restricted area.
• Boy, the ice seemed pretty bad. In the shootout, the Rangers didn't try to deke much with the puck.
• Fleury was really good. Without him, this game could have ended much ealier.