Penguins push Rangers to the brink of elimination

On the eve of the Vezina finalists announcement, New York Rangers' goaltender Igor Shesterkin was pulled for the second consecutive game in Pittsburgh. Shesterkin allowed an onslaught of 6 goals through two periods of play on 30 total shots for a .800 save percentage.

The Rangers' fan base held their collective breaths when 50-goal scorer Chris Kreider took a puck to the throat at the end of the first period.

The first period of play might have been even on the scoresheet, but the underlying stats told a different story. The Rangers received a goal from young gun Alexis Lafreniere, and the Penguins added a tally off of the stick of captain Sidney Crosby (after another lengthy goal review). Despite the 1-1 score, shots were 14-8 Penguins, faceoffs were 8-3 Penguins, and hits were 17-15 Penguins.

The Penguins came out firing in the second period. They scored two goals within 0:24 seconds early in the period. Pittsburgh goals came from defenseman Mike Matheson and forward Jake Guentzel. Crosby notched his 200th career playoff point on the Guentzel tally. Mark Friedman added a goal with a shot from the point.

The Rangers battled back with defending Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox throwing a spin around shot on net. The puck deflected off Matheson's skate for the Rangers' second goal of the contest.

The Penguins finished off their 5-goal second period with goals from Danton Heinen and Jeff Carter. Carter's goal was the second tip-in goal as well as the second faceoff play goal of the game.

With a 4-goal lead heading into the third, it was a relatively uneventful period. Alexander Georgiev played a solid period for the second game in a row, allowing one goal on 11 shots for a .909 save percentage. This may raise a goalie controversy heading into Game 5 on Wednesday night.

The only goal Georgiev allowed was an impressive play between Kasperi Kapanen and Evgeni Malkin. Kapanen fed a reverse pass from below the goal line to Malkin in front for a top-shelf backhand shot.

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