It’s now or never for Penguins
Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and Maxim Lapierre react after the Rangers’ Kevin Hayes scored in overtime to end Wednesday’s first-round game at Consol Energy Center. The Rangers lead the series, 3-1.
The Rangers’ Dominic Moore checks Pittsburgh’s David Perron off the puck during the second period Wednesday.
Blowouts are rare this time of year in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Still, it only counts as one win.
The New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens lead their series 3-1 with every game decided by one goal.
One more win tonight, and it’s on to Round 2 for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers.
Rangers rookie Kevin Hayes’ overtime goal Wednesday night put the Pittsburgh Penguins on the brink of elimination.
“It will be a memorable one, for sure,” Hayes said after his first playoff goal.
Martin St. Louis started a goalmouth scramble when he threw the puck in front on a wraparound. The puck pinballed to Carl Hagelin and went across the crease for Hayes to flip it past fallen goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
“I thought two of our guys worked hard and got the puck to the net and it just kind of ended up on my stick,” Hayes said.
And he buried it.
Hayes led the Rangers with 29 points after the All-Star break.
The Penguins scored two or fewer goals in 13 of their past 19 games and dropped consecutive home playoff games. But they nearly took Game 4 in the final minute of regulation but Henrik Lundqvist denied Patrick Hornqvist with a sliding save.
“If you look at the way the whole series has gone, it’s just a fine line,” Penguins coach Mike Johnston said. “I liked the way we started, but we could’ve had a couple more.”
Sidney Crosby will have to pull off a big rally if the two-time MVP wants to extend the Penguins’ season beyond the opening round. Pittsburgh has never overcome a 3-1 deficit in Crosby’s career.
“We can’t look at it as having to win three games to win the series, we have to make sure our mentality is to go there and win one and the great news for us is we don’t have to change a whole lot,” Crosby said.
“It’s not like we have to scramble, make adjustments and do different things. We’ve done a lot of good things and, just have to find a way to get a win and get home.”
The Penguins know it can be done: Pittsburgh has blown 3-1 deficits twice since 2011, including last year against the Rangers in the conference semifinals.
“We need to make sure that we’re desperate,” Crosby said. “Really, the only thing you can do is go out there and be desperate.”
Evgeni Malkin became the fifth player in Pittsburgh history to appear in 100 playoff games. Crosby played in his 99th and Fleury his 97th. Malkin has gone nine straight games without a point and 14 in a row without a goal. … The Penguins lost four straight home playoff games to one team for the first time in team history. … The Rangers are 6-1 in their last seven playoff games against Pittsburgh.