RECAP: Pens vs. Rangers Round 1

After two straight seasons of being bounced by the New York Rangers in the playoffs, the Penguins were able to come back with a vengeance and take out the Rangers in five games this season. They did it convincingly and never really left the result in doubt.

The Penguins did all of this without starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. After splitting games one and two with the Rangers at home and third string goalie Jeff Zatkoff playing solidly in both games, the Pens stormed into Madison Square Garden with a new starting goalie, Matt Murray.

Murray stole the headlines in this series. The rookie went 3-0 with a 1.55 GAA and .955 save percentage. He posted a shutout in game 4 to put everyone on notice and outdueled one of the NHL’s most elite goalies in Henrik Lundqvist.

Murray’s calmness and maturity beyond his years may have just won him the starting goalie position through the rest of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He has the looks of a veteran goaltender who has gone through the rigors of the playoffs already in his career.

Lundqvist coming apart at the seams had to be the funniest, yet most shocking storyline of the series. He ended up finishing 1-3 with a 4.39 GAA and an .867 save percentage. This is Henrik Lundqvist we are talking about. Yes, he has that 0 in the Stanley Cup column. But he is about the only reason the Rangers won the series last year. The speed of the Penguins tormented the Rangers defense and Lundqvist to the point where he was yanked three times in this series (albeit one due to injury).

After the five game series, Sidney Crosby shares the NHL lead in points with Reilly Smith of the Florida Panthers, Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks, all of whom have eight points. That is likely to change, however, as Smith still needs to play at least one more game to close out his series. Evgeni Malkin is currently tied for second among multiple other players with seven points.

As per the usual this season, the Penguins depth came out in this series. Patric Hornqvist netted a hat trick in game one. Phil Kessel was able to score twice in the game two loss. in game three, 39 year-old Matt Cullen netted the game winning goal on a breakaway. Game four consisted of a four point night from a dominant Malkin. Bryan Rust had a multi goal effort in game five.

The fans asked. Carl Hagelin delivered. It took him five games, but the former Ranger finally buried a puck behind Henrik Lundqvist. After ending the Penguins season last season in overtime of game 5, Penguins fans wanted nothing more than to see Hagelin do something similar on Saturday. It wasn't an overtime goal, nor was it even the game winner. Hagelin still scored and still sent the fans into a frenzy by opening the scoring for the Penguins.

The Penguins special teams was a very key factor in this series. It had a decisive edge in who came out victorious. The Penguins were able to kill off 17 of their 19 penalties against, leading to an 89.5% success rate. The Penguins powerplay wasn't too shabby either. In converting on 8 of their 22 attempts for a 36.4% success rate, the team couldn't be anymore pleased with how well their special teams responded.

Some of the other noteworthy news of the series had to be the decision to scratch their biggest deadline acquisition, defenseman Justin Schultz and heralded prospect Derrick Pouliot who had seemed to be finding his game as of late. But with healthy veterans Ian Cole and Ben Lovejoy, head coach Mike Sullivan decided that he wanted a more veteran defensive approach as opposed to too many offensive defenseman in the lineup.

Olli Maatta’s disastrous series had people speculating that he may have been sat in favor of Schultz/Pouliot. During the morning skate of game four, Maatta had been paired with Pouliot as the extra defenseman with Schultz assuming his place during line rushes indicating that Maatta may have ended up being a healthy scratch. But Sullivan showed confidence in his young, 21 year-old defenseman by keeping him in the lineup on the top pair with Kris Letang for both game four and five.

My favorite occurrence in the entire first round had to be the emergence of Conor Sheary. Damn what a player he is. Seen as an afterthought because of his 5’8” frame, we watched as he seized the first line left wing off of Chris Kunitz. Sheary gives 110% effort every time he steps on the ice. He laid Marc Staal out behind the net on Saturday with a huge hit. If you're unfamiliar, Marc Staal is a heaping hunk of human standing at 6’4”. Sheary plays a physical game for a very undersized player. He's fast and he proved he's got the hands to play with the NHL’s best player in Crosby.

As for Kunitz, he had a disastrous series offensively. He didn't register a point and his minutes, and notability, seemed to diminish with each game. It's clear that Sullivan has found that Sheary is capable enough to play with Crosby and if Kunitz registers another goose egg in the Penguins second round series, I'm not completely sold Jim Rutherford will pay the $3.85 million cap hit that comes with a player that will be 37 years-old at the beginning of next season.

The Penguins will have a few days to rest up some bumps and bruises from the likes of Fleury and winger Beau Bennett. The Penguins will have a decision to make at the goaltending position assuming Fleury is ready to play at the beginning of next series.

But regardless, if this Penguins team shows up in round two against the likes of Braden Holtby or even the Michael Neuvirth/Steve Mason tandem incase Philadelphia does the unthinkable, then I don't like the chances of that opposing team, especially if the goaltending is there. As a matter of fact, everyone should be fearing the Penguins right now. Forget that political garbage, Sullivan has found a way to make Penguins hockey great again.

Three Stars of the Series:

1st- Matt Murray

2nd- Sidney Crosby

3rd- Conor Sheary