Penguins drop Game 6 to Rangers, head back to New York

The Penguins were not at their best on Friday.

And how could they be?

Their wonderful captain, Sidney Crosby, convalescing from a suspected head injury, was not in the lineup.

And that void was amplified by the absences of starting goaltender Tristan Jarry, stout defenseman Brian Dumoulin and skilled top-six winger Rickard Rakell.

Heck, even their backup goaltender, Casey DeSmith, was missing.

Even with those impediments, they offered a spirited effort in Game 6 of their first-round series with the New York Rangers at PPG Paints Arena.

But that effort was heavily flawed.

That’s why there will be a Game 7.

Pockmarked by a goaltending gaffe, ill-timed penalties, poor execution on both special teams units and some bad luck, the Penguins fell 5-3 as the Rangers tied the series, 3-3.

Game 7 is scheduled for Sunday at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

A goal by Rangers forward Chris Kreider late in regulation at the 18:32 mark of the third period on a shot mishandled by goalie Louis Domingue proved to be the game-winner.

For the second consecutive game, the Penguins — who at one point controlled the series, 3-1 — lost despite having a two-goal lead in the second period.

“It’s not going to be a perfect game where we score a couple of goals, stay up all game,” Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson said. “They’re going to have their pushes, they might score one or two. We need to do a better job of not getting rattled in those situations and just staying the course.”

It is unknown if the course the Penguins take in Game 7 will involve fourth-line forward Brian Boyle, who left the early after suffering an undisclosed injury and did not record a shift past the 12:15 mark of the first period.

Sullivan did not provide a substantive update on his status.

“When you go to 11 forwards that early in the game … it just places a physical burden on the rest of the group,” Sullivan said. “So that was unfortunate. But we’ve got to find a way.”

The Penguins appeared to find the right way in the first period by taking a 2-0 lead during the opening frame.

First, forward Jeff Carter, serving as an alternate captain in Crosby’s absence, found his fourth goal of the postseason 14:12 into regulation on a frantic goalmouth scramble. Taking a pass at the left point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson golfed a slapper on net. Goaltender Igor Shesterkin knocked down the shot with his glove but couldn’t corral the rebound. After Carter and Kasperi Kapanen were each denied subsequent second-chance opportunities, Carter was able to lift a backhander from the left of the cage of Shesterkin’s right leg on the near side. Kapanen and Pettersson had assists.

That was followed by forward Bryan Rust’s second goal 96 seconds later. Corralling a loose puck in the right corner, Penguins forward Jake Guentzel curled around to the right circle and slipped a slick pass to the left circle for Rust, who dropped to his right knee and dropped the hammer on a one-timer, beating a sprawling Shesterkin’s blocker on the near side. Guentzel netted the lone assist.

Once again, the Rangers rebounded from a two-goal deficit in the second period.

An uncharacteristic penalty by one of the Penguins’ more typically composed players changed the course of the game.

After being cross-checked to the ice in New York’s left corner by Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren, Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues — who had an unremarkable 14 penalty minutes during the regular season — retaliated and dropped Lindgren with a forearm to the chest away from the puck. Rodrigues was the only player penalized on the sequence as he was nabbed for roughing at 5:00.

All of five seconds later, the Rangers took full advantage of that charity and scored on the ensuing power-play opportunity.

After Mika Zibanejad beat Penguins forward Teddy Blueger on a draw in the Penguins’ right circle, Rangers defenseman Adam Fox settled the puck at the right point and then fed a pass to forward Ryan Strome on the right half wall. From there, Strome dished the puck to Zibanejad above the right circle and Zibanejad blasted a one-timer through an inadvertent screen by Penguins defenseman Kris Letang as well as past Domingue’s blocker on the near side for his first goal of the postseason. Strome and Fox collected assists.

Sullivan was curt but blunt when asked about the ramifications of Rodrigues’ penalty.

“He can’t,” Sullivan said. “He just simply can’t. He’s got to keep his emotions in check. That’s a necessary part of winning at this time of year.”

Zibanejad scored again 1:17 later to tie the game, 2-2. Collecting a loose puck on the Penguins’ right half wall, Fox backpedalled to the center point then set up Zibanejad above the left circle. From there, Zibanejad cranked another one-timer past Domingue’s glove on the near side. Fox and Lindgren logged assists.

The Penguins had a wonderful opportunity to reclaim the lead after Zibanejad (delay of game, 8:01 mark) and Rangers forward Kevin Rooney (tripping, 8:54 mark) took consecutive penalties in the second period and gifted the Penguins with an extended two-man advantage for 1:07.

Even after taking a timeout to get organized, the Penguins could not generate a single shot with that ample five-on-three power-play opportunity.

Overall, the Penguins were “perfect” on both special teams units as they went 0 for 4 on the power play and 0 for 2 on the penalty kill.

“I’m probably stating the obvious, but the special teams was the difference,” Sullivan said. “We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to be better on the power play, we’ve got to be better on the penalty kill.”

That axiom was validated later in the second period when Matheson was assessed a double minor for high sticking Rangers forward Frank Vatrano at 12:57 of the second. That led to the Rangers’ first lead via Kreider scoring his third goal of the postseason on the ensuing power-play chance at the 13:48 mark.

After Blueger cleared the puck from behind his own blue line in hopes of giving his team a line change — with the benches at the far side of the ice — Shesterkin alertly settled the puck before it entered the “no-play” zone near his left corner and flung a stretch pass back up ice, springing Zibanejad on a breakaway. After Domingue valiantly denied Zibanejad’s wrister with this glove, Kreider followed up on the sequence and cleaned up the rebound to put his team in the lead. Zibanejad and Shesterkin had assists.

A determined effort by Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin tied the game, 3-3, at 16:36 of the second. With Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba attempting a careless pass from the Penguins’ right point, Malkin poked the puck into the neutral zone and generated a breakaway. Fending off Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller, Malkin approached Shesterkin and lifted a wrister past his glove for his third goal. There were no assists.

The Penguins largely played well in the third period and had an 8-7 edge in shots during the final 20 minutes.

Things seemed destined to go to overtime for the second time this series until Krieder got his second goal late in regulation.

After gaining the offensive zone at center point, Zibanejad offloaded the puck to Kreider on the left wing. From deep along the boards, Kreider chopped a slapper at the cage. Driving in front of Pettersson, Zibanejad provided a moving screen on the sequence in front of Domingue, who tried to glove the puck but allowed it to hop over then behind him, rolling into the cage before Carter could make an attempt to clear it. Kreider was credited with the goal off assists from Zibanejad and Fox.

An empty net goal by Rangers forward Andrew Copp, his fourth of the postseason, capped the scoring at the 19:33 mark. Rooney and Fox registered assists.

Domingue recorded the loss after making 33 saves on 37 shots.

“Nobody said it was going to be easy,” said Letang, a pending unrestricted free agent who potentially played his final home game in Pittsburgh. “They’re a really good team. They have a lot of skilled players that can score goals. It’s a race to four, we have to regroup, stay positive and get the job done.”

The task at hand on Sunday is pretty simple for both squads.

A win will keep one team’s season alive.

“We’ve just to continue to compete,” Sullivan said. “I know this one is disappointing. We were hoping that we were going to have an effort that was going to bring us a win. It didn’t happen.

“We’ll be ready for Game 7.”

Notes:

• Guentzel had his five-game goal-scoring streak snapped. Though he did record an assist and maintained a point-scoring streak of six games.

• Trouba, who injured Crosby with a high hit in Game 5, was on the ice for all three of the Penguins’ goals and two for the Rangers.

• Domingue’s save percentage this postseason dropped to .898.

• Zibanejad had primarily skated against Crosby through the first five games of the series and was held to four assists in those contests. On Friday, with Crosby absent, Zibanejad had four points (two goals, two assists).

• Kreider (eight) surpassed former forward Mark Messier (seven) for most career game-winning postseason goals in Rangers franchise history.