Rangers Extend Series with Game 5 Win
Game 5 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers was a physical affair, and that made all the difference. Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren made his return to the lineup after missing games 2-4 with an undisclosed injury.
The Penguins got out to a 2-0 lead with goals from Jake Guentzel and Kris Letang. Everything went downhill for the Penguins after that. Sidney Crosby was hit by Rangers' defenseman Jacob Trouba. There was no call on the play, and Crosby played a few shifts following the contact, but soon made his way to the locker room during the commercial break.
Immediately following the exit of their captain, the Penguins fell apart. The Rangers' young guns really took it to them, scoring 3 goals in 2:42. Adam Fox, Alexis Lafreniere, and Jacob Trouba each notched a goal for the Blue Shirts.
Guentzel scored a goal soon after the onslaught to tie the game at 3 going into the 3rd period. The final period was a penalty filled affair filled with hits, scrums, and retaliatory penalties. Filip Chytil scored the eventual game winning goal early in the third and the Rangers never relinquished the lead. Lindgren added an empty net tally to seal the deal.
Rangers' netminder Igor Shesterkin looked more comfortable at Madison Square Garden than at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. He wasn't quite up to his .935 Vezina caliber, but tonight's .906 bested the Penguins Louis Domingue's .879.
Questions remain going into Game 6 Friday night in Pittsburgh. The most pressing of these will certainly be around the status of Crosby.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex Tuch | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Owen Power | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Drew Helleson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jirí Kulich | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Isac Lundestrom | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Johnston | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Trevor Zegras | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||