N.Y. Rangers: Blueshirts Suffer Sixth Period Heartbreak

From the desk: RAISE GRESCHNER WITH THE GREATS

GAME ONE

Penguins   4

Rangers     3

3/ot

Strong Start and Long Night Comes to Bitter End

It would be hypocritical of me to criticize Coach Gallant.  These young players must first learn how to lose in the playoffs if they are to win a Stanley Cup.  Lest we forget, the rebuilding process is still in progress.  This is the last stage of that process.  Tuesday's loss will prove invaluable.  But, no, it makes me feel no better today, and yes, Coach Gallant ignored the matchups.  

The Penguins double-shift; it's what they do.  Forward lines; blueline pairings; it doesn't matter; they've done it for years.  Coach stuck with his four-line rotation while the Pens kept pressing the kids with their first line, and it worked, evidenced by two second-period goals.

Igor Shesterkin was brilliant.  I'm not entertaining anything to the contrary.  He faced 84 shots in 105:58 minutes.  Ryan Reaves led all skaters with eight big hits.  Yeah, Chris Kreider's goal should have been the knockout punch.  Sure, Pittsburgh scored on a five on three power-play, and you can argue that Kaapo Kakko got screwed out of a goal for goalie interference.  But, again, there is no better teacher than experience and five-plus periods of chaos on ice was quite an indoctrination, to say the least.

Once you go into double/ triple overtime ... fuggedaboudit.

Pittsburgh is a battle-tested team.  

The Rangers played a hell of a first period but didn't sustain.

Game two is Thursday.  The Rangers need to figure out a way of freeing up Artemi Panarin and stay away from penalties.  Pittsburgh committed one penalty all game in the first ten minutes of the first period.  Afterwhich, the tide of the game changed.

Next lesson: Finish!