Who had the Penguins jumping to a 2-0 start on their bingo card? If you’re a skeptic on the Rangers’ and Islanders’ tactical improvements in the offseason, then perhaps you did.
In the Rangers’ home opening 3-0 loss to Pittsburgh on Tuesday, they looked every bit as ho-hum as they did in the spring.
Here’s where the venn diagram met: no sustained offensive zone pressure, turnovers in their own zone, a power play that mustered three shots on two chances, no big hits and the top players were dust in the wind.
The difference was one Justin Brazeau goal before two empty-netters sealed the game for the road dogs, who closed at +195, in front of a tepid MSG attendance.
These Penguins cashed on another upset Thursday when they exploited more of the same special teams woes from the Islanders. Though on 5-on-5, the Pens were dominated by a make-shift Isles lineup.
Two games is no sample size to consider, so let’s remember why everyone was low on the Penguins, who have now missed the playoffs three years in a row, in the preseason.
It’s an aging core and with long-term uncertainties around its veterans, there is a cloud that hovers over the locker room.
The secondary scoring is thin and lest we forget Arturs Silovs has 20 games worth of NHL experience in net, which has made for an .886 save percentage.
Behind him is Tristan Jarry, whose coffee stop in the AHL last season didn’t spark an upturn in his game; he ended the year with -4.7 goals saved above expected per MoneyPuck.
These are all advantages to the Rangers, who were galvanized in a 4-0 win against Buffalo on Thursday. They were cohesive in their own end and complemented Igor Shesterkin’s 37-save brilliance with a shutdown penalty kill that is now 7-for-7.
In contrast to Pittsburgh’s wilting backend, Chris Drury redesigned the Rangers’ blue line to execute more aggressive gap control, better breakout efficiency and a fluid flow through the neutral zone — all of which evidenced in Thursday’s win.
So, can we count on that to carry over in Pittsburgh? The Penguins will regress, and if Mike Sullivan can sustain the pulsation that converted to offense early in frames, the value on the puck line is worth the punt no matter who is in net.
Besides, it’s difficult to imagine the two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach falling to his former team twice in five days.
THE PLAY: Rangers -1.5 (+170 at DraftKings)
Sean Treppedi handicaps the NFL, NHL, MLB and college football for the New York Post. He primarily focuses on picks that reflect market value while tracking trends to mitigate risk.