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Penguins' season-best winning streak halted with loss to Rangers | TribLIVE.com
Penguins/NHL

Penguins' season-best winning streak halted with loss to Rangers

Seth Rorabaugh
Seth Rorabaugh
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Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin protects the net against the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby during the first period Friday.
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The Penguins’ Philip Tomasino skates past the Rangers’ Ryan Lindgren during the first period Friday.
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The Penguins’ Sidney Crosby passes away from the Rangers’ Adam Fox during the first period Friday.
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The Penguins’ Drew O’Connor shoots the puck past the Rangers’ Ryan Lindgren during the first period Friday.
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Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (39) protects the net during the second period against the Rangers on Friday.
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The Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin (71) knocks the puck away from the Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad during the second period Friday.
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The Rangers’ Filip Chytil (72) fights for control of the puck with the Penguins’ Matt Grzelcyk (24) during the second period Friday.

The Pittsburgh Penguins look much better in early December than they did when the 2024-25 campaign began in early October.

But they wound up with a result on Friday that was similar to what they opened the season with.

A loss to the New York Rangers.

At New York’s Madison Square Garden, the Penguins were defeated, 4-2, and had a season-best four-game winning streak halted.

A regulation win on Friday would have vaulted them into fourth place of the Metropolitan Division ahead of the Rangers, who defeated the Penguins, 6-0, at PPG Paints Arena in the season opener on Oct. 9.

Two goals by Rangers forward Artemi Panarin, a long-time nemesis of the Penguins, as well as a 0 for 4 performance on the power play by the visitors asphyxiated those aspirations, however.

“Probably the worst game we’ve played in a month maybe,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said to reporters in New York via audio provided by the team’s media relations staff. “Everything we talked about before the game, we did the opposite.”

Following a scoreless first period, the Penguins constructed a lead 6:19 into the second frame via forward Blake Lizotte’s fifth goal this season.

Collecting a rimmed puck in New York’s right corner, Penguins forward Cody Glass retreated to the near corner then sent a pass along the wall for Lizotte. Accepting the puck on the right half-wall, Lizotte circumnavigated his way to the blue line then to the high slot where he gripped and ripped a wrister by goaltender Igor Shesterkin’s glove that plunked off the inside right post then deflected into the cage. Glass and defenseman Erik Karlsson had assists.

Panarin responded only 69 seconds later with his 14th goal of the season.

Gaining the offensive zone on the left wing, Rangers forward Alexis Lafreniere slid a pass to the high slot for Panarin. As linemate Vince Trocheck, an Upper St. Clair native, drove to the net and drew the attention of Evgeni Malkin and Marcus Pettersson, Panarin took advantage of the space created by that maneuver and torched a slapper from the top of the right circle by goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic’s glove on the near side. Lafreniere and Trocheck tallied assists.

The Rangers took their first lead of the contest at the last second — almost — of the first period when Panarin struck again at the 19:58 mark.

Off a touch pass by Trocheck near the home bench, Panarin burst into the offensive zone like a comet. Dashing between Penguins forward Michael Bunting and Pettersson in the slot, Panarin lasered a wrister from above the upper right hashmark by Nedeljkovic’s glove on the near side once again. Assists went to Trocheck and defenseman Braden Schneider.

Penguins forward Philip Tomasino’s third goal tied the game at 8:29 of the third period.

Entering New York’s zone on the left wing as a Penguins power-play opportunity expired, Bunting dished a pass to the high slot for Bunting. With a few moments to pick his shot, Tomasino snapped a wrister that scorched Shesterkin’s blocker. Rangers forward Sam Carrick slammed Tomasino to the ice after the fact. Assists belonged to Bunting and Pettersson.

Former Penguins forward Reilly Smith restored a lead for his current employer with his fourth goal at 9:53 of the third frame.

Surging into the offensive zone on the left wing on a two-on-one rush with Rangers forward Chris Kreider against Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, Smith leveled off toward the near hashmarks and fired a wrister that was rejected by Nedeljkovic. Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad followed up on the sequence by jabbing at the rebound. Nedeljkovic negated that rebound shot as he fell onto his back but was unable to deny Smith’s forehand shot from the right of the crease, on another rebound. Zibanejad and Kreider claimed assists.

Trocheck’s seventh goal at 18:22 of the final period secured victory.

With Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea pinching deep near a puck battle in the Rangers’ right corner, Lafreniere managed to generate a two-on-one rush with Trocheck against Pettersson. Gaining the offensive blue line on the left wing, Lafreniere slid a pass to the right circle for Trocheck, who sizzled a writer through Nedeljkovic’s five hole. Lafreniere and Panarin had assists.

Nedeljkovic made 28 saves on 32 shots as his record slid to 4-5-3.

“The difference tonight was just obviously two goals,” Nedeljkovic said. “Two pretty tough goals for me to give up there at the end of the second and third (periods). That was the difference really.”

Notes:

• Glass was in the lineup after being absent for 12 games (11 while recovering from a concussion and one as a healthy scratch). He opened play as center of the fourth line.

• Glass replaced forward Matt Nieto, who was a healthy scratch along with defenseman Ryan Graves and forward Jesse Puljujarvi.

• Tomasino has a four-game scoring streak (three goals, one assist).

• Lizotte has a three-game scoring streak (two goals, three assists).

• Crosby appeared in his 1,300th career game.

• Pettersson (135 points) surpassed former forward John Chabot (134) for 68th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• In 34 career games against the Rangers, Karlsson has 35 points (six goals, 29 assists).

• Panarin continues to feast on the Penguins. In 32 career games against them, Panarin has 44 points (19 goals, 25 assists).

• Defenseman K’Andre Miller was the lone non-goaltender in the Rangers’ lineup who failed to record a shot on net.

• Earlier in the day, the Rangers traded defenseman Jacob Trouba, the team’s captain for three seasons, to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and a conditional fourth-round draft pick in 2024.

Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.

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