Penguins Vs Rangers: Shesterkin’s 31 saves lift Rangers in shootout comeback at Madison Square Garden
The New York Rangers completed a comeback and beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in a shootout at Madison Square Garden, a finish that changed both teams’ immediate records and illuminated ongoing strengths and weaknesses in the playoff race in a game billed as part of a Saturday doubleheader on ABC and the app. The matchup — labeled in previews as penguins vs rangers — mattered because the Rangers ended a five-game skid while the Penguins’ shootout struggles continued to shape late-season results.
Igor Shesterkin’s performance
Igor Shesterkin stopped 31 shots, including five saves in overtime, and made the decisive saves in the shootout on Anthony Mantha and Egor Chinakhov. Vincent Trocheck converted in the first round of the shootout; Tommy Novak missed the net in the third round to close it out. New York coach Mike Sullivan praised Shesterkin’s level of competition and called having him in net reassuring. The game marked a turning point: the Rangers, who had lost five straight (0-4-1), left Madison Square Garden with two points and the end of that streak.
Mantha, Shea and the Penguins’ scoring
Anthony Mantha opened the scoring on a power play at 2: 08 of the first period, deflecting a point shot from Erik Karlsson for his 21st goal of the season. Ryan Shea made it 2-0 at 1: 59 of the second period when his wrist shot, after spinning off Noah Laba, went in off New York defenseman Scott Morrow. Stuart Skinner finished with 23 saves for Pittsburgh. The Penguins entered the game with a long unbeaten run dating from Jan. 13 — they were 9-1-4 since that date — but have managed only four wins in 17 games that reached overtime and just one win in nine shootouts this season, a trend that coach Dan Muse said the team will continue to work on.
Mika Zibanejad, Taylor Raddysh and scoring details
Mika Zibanejad cut the deficit to 2-1 at 10: 00 of the second on a power-play one-timer from the slot set up by Vincent Trocheck; that strike was his team-leading 24th goal and his 12th on the power play. Taylor Raddysh provided the play that completed the comeback and forced overtime before the shootout. The sequence included a disallowed Bryan Rust goal after a coach’s challenge ruled Anthony Mantha had interfered with Shesterkin; Rust also hit the right post later in the first period at 13: 23. Pittsburgh had outshot New York 12-2 after Shea’s second-period goal before the momentum shifted and New York applied pressure through the rest of the contest.
Penguins season context and roster notes
Pittsburgh entered the game with a 30-15-12 record and 72 points, ranked seventh in a preseason power ranking used in coverage. Sidney Crosby was identified as injured and absent from the lineup; season totals listed him at 27 goals and 32 assists and noted he has played 369 of the Penguins’ past 378 games after returning from wrist surgery in 2021, a total 24 more than any other Penguin in that span (Kris Letang had 345). Evgeni Malkin had 46 points, second on the team behind Crosby’s 59, and his 1. 10 points-per-game pace was the highest since 2019-20 (1. 35). Pittsburgh goaltenders showed recent form: Stuart Skinner was 8-1-1 with a 2. 30 goals-against average and a. 904 save percentage over his past 10 starts, while backup Arturs Silovs was 8-2-2 with a 2. 39 GAA and a. 910 save percentage in his past 12 starts.
Rangers standings, roster and home struggles
New York’s pregame record appeared as 22-29-7 with 51 points and a 30th power ranking in one set of coverage, while the postgame result listed the Rangers at 23-29-7. The Rangers’ home troubles were a consistent theme: 6-15-5 at Madison Square Garden for just 17 home points, tied for the fewest home points and the fewest home wins (six) in the NHL, and a home points percentage of. 327 that was ahead of only the Vancouver Canucks’. 304. Coverage noted that with the returns of Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox the Rangers’ roster was the eighth-youngest in the league at 27. 85 years, even as the current top three scorers listed were all 32: Zibanejad (52 points), Vincent Trocheck and J. T. Miller. Artemi Panarin, traded before the Olympic break, had 57 points earlier in the season. A separate note: Will Cuylle now has three seasons with 200 or more hits, tied with Dan Girardi for unclear in the provided context.
Lineups, scratches and the wider Saturday doubleheader
Pre-game lineups listed New York forward groups including J. T. Miller, Mika Zibanejad, Gabriel Perreault; Will Cuylle, Vincent Trocheck, Alexis Lafrenière; Conor Sheary, Noah Laba, Brendan Brisson; Tye Karate, Sam Carrick, Taylor Raddysh; goalies Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Squick; potential scratches Urho Vaakanainen, Jonny Brodzinski and Scott Morrow; injured reserve Adam Edstrom and Matt Rempe. Pittsburgh’s forward group listings included Avery Hayes, Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust; Egor Chinakhov, Tommy Novak, Evgeni Malkin; Anthony Mantha, Ben Kindel, Justin Brazeau; Connor Dewar, Blake Lizotte, Noel Acciari; goalies Arturs Silovs and Stuart Skinner; potential scratches Kevin Hayes, Ryan Graves and Ilya Solovyov. The Rangers-Penguins game was the first game of a doubleheader that included a later Boston Bruins-Philadelphia Flyers matchup featuring players such as Charlie McAvoy, Jeremy Swayman and David Pastrnak for Boston and Rasmus Ristolainen, Dan Vladar and Travis Sanheim for Philadelphia, and it was scheduled for national broadcast at Madison Square Garden in the early afternoon slot on the network and the app.
