Rookie's early goals can't help Pens
PITTSBURGH — The New York Rangers aren’t about to let the loss of two top forwards derail their hot start.
The Rangers were hit with adversity the previous two days, first on Sunday after learning Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich would miss extended time because of injury, and the following day when they fell behind early against their division rival Pittsburgh Penguins.
Rick Nash sparked a comeback, though, and J.T. Miller scored short-handed to cap a second-period rally, helping the Rangers overcome an early two-goal deficit to beat the Penguins 5-2 on Monday night.
“We know a lot about this team because we played them so much over the last handful of years,” Miller said. “I think we were on our heels a little too much to start, a little too passive. I thought we were a lot more aggressive after that, and when we did that, we forced them into more turnovers and got a couple lucky bounces.”
The teams play again Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden to complete a pivotal, early season home-and-home between Metropolitan Division contenders. The Penguins have lost four of six and trail the first-place Rangers by four points.
Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel scored twice in the first period of his first NHL game, but Rick Nash and Michael Grabner made it 2-2 before Miller, a Pittsburgh native, got his eighth of the season.
Kevin Hayes added his ninth goal midway through the third, and Derek Stepan also scored into an empty net.
Antti Raanta, starting the second game of a back-to-back for New York, rebounded after the first period and made 29 saves for his fifth win in six games.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 31 shots for Pittsburgh. It was the first time he started two straight games since Matt Murray returned earlier in the month from a broken hand.
“It’s a long season and things aren’t always going to go your way,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “What’s most important, from our standpoint, is how we react to it. That’s the lesson we need to learn from this game.”
Zibanejad, injured a day earlier against Florida, is expected to miss six to eight weeks for the Rangers with a broken leg, while Buchnevich is out two to three weeks with a back injury. Zibanejad had five goals and 15 points in 19 games, while Buchnevich scored four goals and eight points in 10 games.
That didn’t deter the Rangers on Monday, as New York, with an NHL-best 81 goals through 20 games, was able to rally.
Miller scored in the final minute of the second period to put the Rangers ahead. A centering pass deflected off Penguins defenseman Kris Letang and forward Evgeni Malkin before hitting Miller and going past Fleury.
The Rangers next goal was also a lucky one, as Ryan McDonagh’s centering pass hit off Hayes’ skate and went behind Fleury.
“The game didn’t start the way we wanted, but I thought after the first period we settled down,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. “That’s a really strong team, but we were able to do what we had to do to get the job done.”
Guentzel made his debut against the same team that drafted his father Mike in the seventh round in 1981. The younger Guentzel scored on the first shot of his first shift, a similar feat accomplished by Penguins co-owner Mario Lemieux 32 years earlier.
