Saturday, May 7, 2022. 9:45 PM
Summary Rangers v. Penguins
The Penguins celebrated their comeback in front of their fans with a 7-4 victory in Game 3 of the series against the Rangers and took a 2-1 lead.
The task was not easy for Pittsburgh who had to keep his cool. The Penguins squandered a three-goal lead in the second period, but managed to find their rhythm and regain control of the game.
The Penguins are finding their fans for the next two games of the series against the Rangers and it will be an advantage that will not be denied for Pittsburgh.
There were less than two minutes left when Brock McGinn surprised Igor Shesterkin on the short end to give the Penguins the lead. Just over three minutes later, Kaapo Kakko provided the cue for Rangers when his shot thwarted Louis Domingue in the top half.
Moments later, Evan Rodrigues’ shot slipped past Shesterkin and the puck slid past the red line after tagging Jeff Carter. Only two minutes later, Rodrigues took advantage of a favorable return against the ramp to lodge the disc in the top of the net and offer a two-goal cushion to the Pennsylvania team.
One thing is certain, Rodrigues was on a mission. With less than five minutes left in the first, the forward let go a perfect wrist shot to increase the Penguins’ lead to three goals.
It was already a third point in the period for Rodrigues. The only player in Penguins history to have amassed more points than Rodrigues in a playoff period is none other than Mario Lemieux. He had four points in one period in a game in 1989 and again in 1992.
Shesterkin was kicked out of the game after the first 20 minutes and was replaced by Alexandar Georgiev.
The arrival of Georgiev seemed to breathe new life into Rangers, who gave signs of life in the second half. After 6:51 of play, Frank Vatrano fired a one-timer and cut the lead to two goals.
Then, a minute and seven seconds later, Artemi Panarin let go a shot into the top corner to bring Rangers just one goal behind the Penguins.
Pittsburgh narrowly avoided disaster late in the second period. As Domingue returned to the bench in favor of a sixth attacker during a delayed penalty, Rodrigues tried to put the puck back on the blue line, but no defender was there. The puck slid to the Penguins net before hitting the post.
However, it didn’t take long before Rangers tied the game. Seconds after Rodrigues’ streak, Rangers attacked shorthanded. Andrew Copp pounced on a loose puck which he then pushed into the back of the net to tie the game at 4-4.
The Penguins managed to stop the bleeding midway through the third period when a weak shot from Danton Heinen hit a stick in front of the net before ending up behind the goal line.
Pittsburgh completed the scoring late with two empty-netters from Jake Guentzel and Jeff Carter. On Carter’s goal, Sidney Crosby notably performed an impressive maneuver between his legs to return the disc to Carter.
Quebec goaltender Louis Domingue did well in the win, stopping 32 pucks on 36 shots.
The two teams will meet again on Monday for match number 4.
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