By Larry Snyder
The Pittsburgh Penguins, who have won 16 of their last 25 meetings at Madison Square Garden – both regular season and playoffs, seek to win their third contest in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs tonight against the New York Rangers. The conflict in Manhattan between these Metropolitan Division combatants begins at 7:00 p.m.
Matt Cullen, who had the game-winning-goal Tuesday in the third period, has a score in all three contests this season at Madison Square Garden. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound center joins the Detroit Red Wings Brad Richards as one of two active players to record a playoff goal for five different teams.
Ian Cole told Sam Kasan on the team’s website about limiting the Rangers Tuesday to four shots in the third period, “It was a full-team game. Our D played great, but a lot of credit goes to our forwards with the way they track, the forechecks that they put the Rangers defense under, the duress they put them under in the third period, is something that helps our full-team game.”
Jeff Bartl, senior writer for STATS, talked with Sidney Crosby about playing on the road for Yahoo Sports. Crosby said, “Our mindset is playing the right way, doing the things that have got us here. The past is the past,” Crosby said. “Right now we want to make sure we are better every game. I think we took a good step here (Tuesday).”
Bill West of the Tribune-Review had this about the Penguins on Twitter…
Murray starts for Penguins. Fleury hasn't skated last 2 days.
— Bill West (@BWest_Trib) April 21, 2016
It could get interesting this evening between the Rangers and the Pens’ Kris Letang. Seth Rorabaugh of the Post-Gazette had this on Twitter this morning about the slashing incident between Letang and New York’s Viktor Stalberg.
Stalberg said he never received an apology from Kris Letang.
Letang indicated he had apologized yesterday.
— Seth Rorabaugh (@emptynetters) April 21, 2016
New York has shown the ability to recover from a loss, as they are 18-4 in their last 22 match-ups after a defeat which includes their 4-2 victory in the second contest of this Stanley Cup series.
Head coach Alain Vigneault talked with Matt Calamia of blueshirtsunited.com about his squad’s lack of execution in Game 3, “It had a lot more to do with execution and making plays with the puck. We know what to expect from Pittsburgh as far as their play in the neutral zone and the type of forechecking they’re deploying at this time. We know what works to counter against that. We have to go out and make the plays and execute, and our execution wasn’t good enough yesterday.”
The return of defenseman Ryan McDonagh Tuesday should have the attention of Pens fans. The 6-foot-1, 216-pound captain of the Rangers owns two goals and five assists for a total of seven points against the Black and Gold in 13 career playoff meetings.
Center Derek Stepan and defenseman Keith Yandle led their team Tuesday with three shots apiece. Center Dominic Moore won 7-of-10 faceoffs while left-wing Rick Nash had the most blocked shots with three.
Andrew Gross, the Rangers beat writer for The Record in New Jersey had this on Twitter…
AV says there are some lineup decisions to be made for tonight both among forwards and d-men. Hayes could be involved in this.
— Andrew Gross (@AGrossRecord) April 21, 2016
Here is your Game Day lineup:
When: Thursday, April 21
Puck Drop: 7:00 p.m. ET
Site: Madison Square Garden
Television: ROOT Sports Pittsburgh and CNBC
ROOT Sports Announcers: Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey
Radio Coverage: 105.9 FM – The X
Announcers: Mike Lange and Phil Bourque
Audio Stream: Penguins Radio 24/7
Live (Pay) Video Steam: NHL GameCenter LIVE
Sirius XM Satellite Radio: XM Internet 942
Penguins Social Media – Twitter/Facebook: @penguins / Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins Apps: iPhone/iPod Touch Users / Android / Blackberry
Odds: The online sportsbooks at Bovada, GT Bets, and TopBet has the Pens at -1.5 and the over-under at the everyday five mark. For Pittsburgh fans, the total has gone over in five of their team’s last seven match-ups.
My Prediction: Mike Sullivan’s gang of nimble skaters claim a 3 to 1 series advantage with a 2-1 victory against the Boys from the Big Apple.
Next Up: The Penguins and Rangers return to 1001 Fifth Avenue in the City of Bridges Saturday, April 23 for Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs.
Penguins Capture Game 3 vs. Rangers Tuesday, April 19th…