Rangers Rally to Defeat Penguins in Shootout After Disallowed Goal

New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves, leading his team to a 3-2 shootout victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, ending a five-game losing streak.

Early Penguins Lead and Controversial Call

The Penguins appeared to take a 2-0 lead when Bryan Rust scored a power-play goal at 3:00, assisted by Evgeni Malkin. However, the goal was disallowed after a coach’s challenge by the Rangers revealed Anthony Mantha interfered with Shesterkin.

“It’s comforting (to have Shesterkin), I’m not going to lie,” New York coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think he’s the best goalie in the game. Just his compete level, he’s an elite player. So, it’s comforting to have him between the pipes.”

Mike Sullivan, New York Rangers Coach

Rust later hit the right post with another shot at 13:23.

Penguins Extend Lead, Rangers Respond

Ryan Shea extended the Penguins’ lead to 2-0 at 1:59 of the second period, with his wrist shot going in off New York defenseman Scott Morrow. The Penguins were outshooting the Rangers 12-2 at that point.

Mika Zibanejad cut the Penguins’ lead to 2-1 at 10:00 with a power-play goal, a one-timer set up by Vincent Trocheck. It was Zibanejad’s team-leading 24th goal of the season and 12th on the power play.

Shootout Decides the Game

Vincent Trocheck scored the game-winning goal in the first round of the shootout. Shesterkin then stopped Anthony Mantha and Egor Chinakhov in the first two rounds, whereas Tommy Novak missed the net in the third round, securing the win for the Rangers.

The Rangers (23-29-7) had lost five straight games before this victory. The Penguins (30-15-13) have a record of 9-1-4 since January 13th, but have struggled in overtime and shootout situations, with only one shootout win in nine tries.

“We (didn’t) play bad, we played OK, but we just need to play a little bit simpler sometimes,” Malkin said. “We try to play, like, beautiful sometimes. … When we lead, like, 2-0, we start to play a little bit cute.”

Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins Player

“They got buzzing after they scored,” Stuart Skinner said. “There’s a momentum shift there. And then, it just kind of stayed that way for a little while.”

Looking Ahead

The Rangers will appear to build on this momentum as they continue their season, while the Penguins will aim to improve their performance in close games and shootout situations.