Five stats-based observations about the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 7-2 win Monday that afforded them a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series against the New York Rangers:

1. No danger

For the first time after a victory in this series, the primary storyline surrounding the Penguins wasn’t Louis Domingue.

Domingue wasn’t a secondary or tertiary storyline, either.

When the career journeyman minor-league goalie out-performing the presumptive Vezina Trophy winner isn’t even on the radar of things to talk about, that says something. And what it said Monday was that the Penguins were masterful at stifling the Rangers’ offensively,.

New York went the first 55-plus minutes of Game 4 without what naturalstattrick.com defines as a “high-danger scoring chance.” Before the Rangers registered the last such “Grade-A” scoring opportunity, the Penguins had something of a “perfect game” going – they led in 5-on-5 high-danger scoring chances, 20-0.

That’s unheard of.

After allowing a goal 126 seconds into the game, Domingue was hardly noticed because he didn’t have to be. The Penguins completely controlled the game at both ends. To win the “high-danger” chance battle 20-1 at the NHL level is a borderline absurd.

And it’s how a team can overcome what on paper is a comically-mismatched goalie matchup.

2. More of the same

By measure of the possession metrics, Game 4 was the Penguins’ best effort of the series. But they have generally held an edge throughout all four games, to varying degrees.

Among the 16 playoff teams, the Penguins at 5-on-5 have the most goals (14), scoring chances (154), shots on goal (172), attempted shots (284) and, yes, high-danger scoring chances (78). Their leads in each of those categories is wide – however, it does come with a caveat that their series has featured more 5-on-5 minutes than any other matchup.

Going by rate of each statistic, the Penguins lead all playoff teams in percent of scoring chances and percent of high-danger scoring chances. They also rank No. 1 in the all-encompassing “expected goals for percentage.”

3. Points in the paint

Coach Mike Sullivan has repeatedly spoken of the desire to create traffic in front of star Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin. One way that has manifested itself is in that the average distance of the 16 goals the Penguins have scored on him this series.

At 15.19 feet, Shesterkin’s average goal allowed distance is the shortest of any of the 16 goalies who have played 120 minutes this postseason.

4. Spread throughout

Each of the Penguins’ four forward lines had their chances. The Sidney Crosby/Jake Guentzel/Bryan Rust No. 1 line had 10, the Evgeni Malkin/Danton Heinen/Kasperi Kapanen No. 2 unit had nine, the Jeff Carter/Jason Zucker/Brock McGinn No. 3 trio had seven and the Teddy Blueger/Evan Rodrigues/Brian Boyle fourth line had five.

While the Carter line was “under water” in allowing more chances than it created, the other three lines combined for a 24-7 edge in scoring chances.

5. All in on it

Over the past two games, every Penguins forward had at least one point. The only players who took the ice (and that includes Domingue) who did not have a goal or an assist over the course of the 7-4 and 7-2 home wins the past three days were defensemen: John Marino, Marcus Pettersson and Chad Ruhwedel.

Keep up with the Pittsburgh Penguins all season long.

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