The Rangers must have thought they were playing in bizarro world on Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. For once it was the other team missing key players whereas the Rangers got three regulars back in the lineup.
Returning for the Rangers were defenseman Dan Girardi, winger Ryan Callahan, and leading scorer Brandon Dubinsky. All three showed signs of their missed time, particularly Girardi who played a good game but uncharacteristically mishandled the puck on several occasions.
The Penguins out-played and out-shot the Rangers 12-8 in the first period despite missing all-star centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, trailed 1-0 on Brandon Prust's eighth goal of the season on a juicy rebound.
Early in the second period the Rangers jumped to a 2-0 lead on a deflection by Artem Anisimov, his 11th of the season. The Rangers would then surrender three unanswered goals: Dustin Jeffrey's slap shot on the PP deflected in off of Dan Girardi's stick, Mike Rupp scored off a rebound while going hard to the net, and Chris Kunitz redirected a shot from the point to give the Penguins their first lead.
With just under five minutes left in the second Jordan Staal received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for punching Brandon Prust in the face after a post-whistle skirmish. Prust had knocked down a Penguins player from behind which prompted Staal to get in his face and attempt to push him. Prust, having seen him coming, braced for the initial hit but was then struck in the jaw on a Micky Ward-esque gloved left hook by Staal right in front of the linesman. Prust spun and fell down like Biff at the end of Back to the Future which led to the penalty call against Staal.
Ryan Callahan, playing in his first game since fracturing his hand against the Pens on December 15, missed wide on an open net halfway through the first period but redeemed himself on the power play with 13 seconds left in the third.
The Rangers dominated much of the third period, out-shooting the Pens 11-3 and controlling most of the play. Regardless, neither team could solve the others goaltender and the game proceeded to an uneventful overtime before heading to a shootout.
After six rounds without a goal Dustin Jeffrey again beat Henrik Lundqvist to put the Pens up 1-0 in the shootout. John Tortorella went to Marian Gaborik to try and tie but his forehand attempt was stopped by Marc-Andre Fleury to seal the victory for the Penguins. The Penguins improved their record to 32-15-4 (good for 4th in the Eastern Conference) while the Rangers dropped to 29-20-4 (6th in the Eastern Conference).
All in all it was a sloppy performance for the Rangers in a game that they should have won. The Penguins' offense revolves around their missing big three (Crosby, Malkin, Staal) yet they were still able to put up three goals on the Rangers' young defense core. With three players back and Vinny Prospal aiming to return Thursday, look for the Rangers to elevate their game in the coming weeks.
Steve Eminger, the oldest defenseman on the Rangers' roster at age 27, was a healthy scratch while Michael Del Zotto got another shot to prove himself at the NHL level. Del Zotto played a decent game and picked up an assist on Anisimov's goal, but was unable to get position and prevent Mike Rupp from punching in a rebound in front of the net on Pittsburgh's second goal.
The Rangers next play on Thursday, February 5, against their bottom-dwelling rivals, the New Jersey Devils. Despite their record the Devils always play the Rangers tough and the Rangers will have to play a lot better than they did tonight to get the victory.
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