Penguins vs. Rangers, 2015 NHL playoffs: New York advances in 5 games

One year ago, in the conference semifinals, the Rangers were in the opposite position, down, 3-1, to the Penguins, staring down a Game 5 on the road in Pittsburgh after back-to-back losses at home. New York rallied for three straight wins to capture that series, outscoring the Pens, 10-3, in the process.

“We know from last year. We’re a team that always came back from those series,” Brassard told Blue Shirts United. “We’re not playing our best right now so we can’t really be too comfortable. We’re going to try and play a better game tomorrow and just feel better about ourselves.”

This much is clear: the Blues aren’t going down without a fight.

St. Louis jumped out to a big first-period lead and kept its foot on the pedal, winning Game 4, 6-1, to even the opening round series. This marks the Wild’s worst playoff loss in franchise history.

Hagelin appeared to be calling for the pass, and Yandle couldn’t have served it up any better.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have created a distinct advantage for themselves heading into their Game 3 matchup with the New York Rangers. Now they must use it in order to take control of the series.

Pittsburgh’s win in Game 2 tied the series at 1-1, and with the next three games in Pittsburgh the time is ripe for the Penguins to take the fight to the Rangers. The key for Pittsburgh will be to continue their aggression without going over the line, something they’ve failed to do thus far.

The series now shifts to Pittsburgh, tied at 1-1.

1. New York’s special teams failed them.

The Penguins need to flip momentum desperately. They entered the playoffs coming off a tumultuous month of hockey, and are facing down another bout at Madison Square Garden. Pittsburgh needs offense, most especially from its stars, Crosby and Malkin. The duo totaled three of the Penguins’ rather paltry 25 shots on goal during the game.

The Rangers won six of their last seven games of the regular season to preserve the Presidents’ Trophy. They’ll be expected to notch another win at MSG on Saturday, where they won 25 games this past season. The Penguins had a 20-13-8 record on the road during the regular season, but went 1-3-1 in their final five contests away from the Consol Energy Center.

The Rangers, who improved to 37-0-1 this year when leading after two periods, kept their foot on the gas until the final whistle. The Pens fell to 0-19-5 when trailing after 40 minutes.

Pittsburgh will try to even the series on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Opening puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.

The New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins kick off their 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs series at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. The Metropolitan Division rivals played in the second round of the 2014 postseason, with the Rangers winning the series in seven games and ultimately advancing to the Stanley Cup Final.

It’s no secret that the Pittsburgh Penguins struggled at the end of the season. In fact, they came very close to missing the playoffs after going on a 4-9-2 run in their final 15 games. The Pens are loaded with injuries on the blueline and that’s troubling: Kris Letang (concussion) is not expected to play in the postseason, and Christian Ehrhoff (concussion) and Derrick Pouliot (upper-body) are not expected to play in Game 1.