Passions were high at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.
So were sticks and elbows.
The goaltending on both sides was sensational, except for the times when it was even better.
Which was often.
It was, in short, the kind of game that makes the Stanley Cup playoffs so compelling.
The fact that postseason games aren't contested in late February seemed like nothing more than a detail.
And a pretty insignificant one, at that.
When two teams are so involved -- and fans are so immersed -- in all that is transpiring, it's easy to forget that the Penguins' 1-0 victory over the Rangers was one of 82 regular-season games, and not some excerpt from a best-of-seven series when the weather is warmer and the stakes are even higher.
"It had a playoff feel to it," Mike Sullivan said. "There was a lot of energy in the building. ... Both teams were playing with a lot of emotion."
Probably not for the final time, since this was just first of four during the regular season, and perhaps a preview of a collision in the playoffs.
If the playoffs started today (Spoiler alert: They don't), the Penguins and Rangers would meet in Round 1.
The Penguins' victory allowed them to hurdle New York and move into second place in the Metropolitan Division, but the Rangers have two games in hand.
That battle for seeding -- neither team seems likely to overtake the Hurricanes for first place, and both are comfortably ahead of the fourth-place Capitals, at least for now -- was one of the ingredients that made the game so combustible.
"Division opponent, someone we might see down the road," Jeff Carter said. "And it's a huge two points. We're battling with them for position now."
Then there was the matter of the Penguins' three-game losing streak, which was punctuated by a 6-1 loss to the Devils on Thursday.
That margin of defeat matched their largest of the season, and Tristan Jarry was pulled from a game for the first time in 2021-22.
He was intent on rebounding from that subpar showing, and being matched against Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin -- who is starting to turn up in discussions about contenders for the Hart Trophy, which goes to the NHL's most valuable player -- only added to his motivation.
"You want to play in those games," Jarry said. "Being able to play against a team and a goalie like that ... their team is a very good team. They have a lot of good players and they play a tight game. It shows when you have a goalie like that to help back it up."
Shesterkin was predictably brilliant, stopping 25 of 26 shots.
Unfortunately for the Rangers, Jarry topped him, turning aside all 27 he faced to record his fourth shutout of the season.
Good thing for the Penguins that he was perfect, because anything less probably wouldn't have been enough to earn a couple of points for them.
"I thought both goaltenders were terrific," Sullivan said. "Both teams had some quality looks and those guys made real good saves. Hence, a 1-0 game."
Both teams were diligent, defensively -- "It was a hard-fought game," Sullivan said. "There wasn't a lot of ice out there." -- but anytime the likes of Sidney Crosby, Artemi Panarin, Evgeni Malkin and Mika Zibanejad, among others, share a slab of ice, there are going to be scoring chances generated.
Which there were.
But there weren't any goals during the first 45-plus minutes, because Jarry and Shesterkin played so well.
"Both guys were awesome," Carter said. "(Jarry) made some huge saves for us, at really key times, I thought. He was a huge part of our win. On the flip side, it's not a lot of fun going against (Shesterkin). He's a heck of a goalie. There aren't many holes on him, so we really had to battle. We were lucky to get one there."
A little good fortune never hurts, of course, but good execution is even better, and the Penguins had that on Malkin's game-winner.
He scored the only goal they would need during a power play at 5:09 of the third period, when he took a backhand, cross-ice pass from Bryan Rust and beat Shesterkin on the far side from inside the right circle.
The scoring sequence began when Kris Letang held the puck in at the left point, then moved it down along the boards to Sidney Crosby, who slid a pass to Rust in a soft spot in New York's defensive coverage.
Malkin's goal snapped a run of 10 consecutive successful penalty-kills by New York.
"It's too bad one goal decided it," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "But they buried their power play, and Jarry made a couple of great saves on our power play."
While there's no guarantee the final three regular-season games between these clubs will be as riveting as the one Saturday, of course, it's not unrealistic to believe the standard can be met in future games.
"We'll continue to battle for the rest of the season with teams like the Rangers," Sullivan said. "They're a real good hockey team."
So are many of the others the Penguins will face during their remaining 28 regular-season games, as well as the ones that will follow.
Which means the Rangers game likely was a primer of sorts for what's ahead.
"If you look at our schedule coming up here for the remaining games, it's a lot of good teams," Carter said. "I think we're going to see that most nights."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• The Penguins seemed convinced that it was imperative to get a good start against New York.
Turns out that it actually wasn't.
Jarry had to make outstanding stops on Ryan Strome and Dryden Hunt just 90 seconds into the game, and New York recorded the first seven shots.
"We had a great first," Gallant said.
The Penguins didn't, but kept their composure and gradually elevated their play.
"Just being able to hang in there and withstand the pressure ... it's going to go both ways," John Marino said. "It just swings. That's the way it's going to go sometimes."
• Sidney Crosby's assist on Malkin's goal was his 1,374th career point, moving him into 25th place on the NHL's all-time list. He is one of just five players to get all of those points with one team. The others are Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Stan Mikita and Alex Ovechkin.
• The Rangers finished with a 43-39 edge in hits, four of which were credited to Penguins alum Ryan Reaves.
• Malkin's game-winner was the 75th of his career, moving him past Lemieux and into second place on the franchise's all-time list. Jaromir Jagr had 78.
• Although Gallant wasn't particularly happy with the hooking minor that preceded Malkin's goal, he wasn't unduly critical of the officials.
"There were hardly any power plays," he said. "The refs let us play, which I like to see a lot of times. I wish it wouldn't have been called, obviously, but it's a tough game to (officiate). It's a fast game. ... I'm not blaming the refs. They worked hard."
• Rangers defenseman Adam Fox, the incumbent Norris Trophy winner, accounted for six of his team's 16 blocked shots, but was credited with just one shot on goal.
• New York is on a decidedly upward trajectory, so it likely will fare better against the Penguins than it has in recent seasons, if only because it couldn't do much worse. The Penguins are 15-4-3 in their past 22 meetings, including 7-0-1 in the past eight at PPG Paints Arena.
• The Penguins had two minutes, 34 seconds of power-play time -- Malkin scored 34 seconds into their second and final chance with the extra man -- and Marcus Pettersson was on the ice for 31 seconds of it. That isn't much, but for a guy who had been averaging 12 seconds before the Rangers game, it was a significant bump.
And it wasn't an accident.
"We're trying to manage the minutes a little bit better back there," Sullivan said. "We know we have a lot of games coming up, and Marcus has shown an ability to be good in that area. We've used him there in the past, and we thought we would try it .
"We use John Marino a lot on the penalty-kill (and) we use him a lot, five-on-five. ... It's my hope that it will help Marcus' confidence a little bit, just to get him involved, offensively. Hopefully, that will help his overall five-on-five game, as well."
• Crosby had a forgettable day on faceoffs, winning just five of 16. Malkin, conversely, went 7-for-10 on draws.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
THE THREE STARS
As selected at PPG Paints Arena:
1. Tristan Jarry, Penguins G
2. Evgeni Malkin, Penguins C
3. Igor Shesterkin, Rangers G
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• Teddy Blueger, center, had surgery Jan. 24 to repair a broken jaw. He has resumed practicing and is expected to rejoin the lineup in March.
• Mike Matheson, defenseman, is week-to-week with an unspecified upper-body injury sustained Thursday against New Jersey.
• Jason Zucker, left winger, had core-muscle surgery Jan. 25 and is week-to-week.
• Louis Domingue, goalie, is week-to-week with a right foot injury. He has resumed skating, but is not practicing.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Danton Heinen-Evgeni Malkin-Kasperi Kapanen
Brock McGinn-Jeff Carter-Evan Rodrigues
Zach Aston-Reese-Brian Boyle-Dominik Simon
Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson-John Marino
Mark Friedman-Chad Ruhwedel
And for Gallant's Rangers:
Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Alexis Lafreniere
Artemi Panarin-Ryan Strome-Dryden Hunt
Morgan Barron-Greg McKegg-Julien Gauthier
Barclay Goodrow-Kevin Rooney-Ryan Reaves
Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller-Jacob Trouba
Zac Jones-Braden Schneider
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will play in Columbus Sunday at 6:08 p.m.
THE CONTENT
Visit our team page for everything.
