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Penguins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk injured in loss to Rangers

Seth Rorabaugh
Seth Rorabaugh
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The Rangers’ J.T. Miller (8) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Penguins on Sunday.
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The Rangers’ Matt Rempe skates with the puck past the Penguins’ Matt Grzelcyk on Sunday.
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The Rangers’ Adam Fox skates with the puck against the Penguins’ Cody Glass on Sunday.
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The Rangers’ Will Cuylle (right) goes for the puck against the Penguins’ Kris Letang on Sunday.

It’s generous to say the Penguins made progress on Sunday.

However, they did manage to avoid giving up a touchdown’s worth of goals for the first time this weekend.

So, yes, their play in a 5-3 defeat to the New York Rangers at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday was a step in the right direction.

But considering how badly they were routed 24 hours earlier in an 8-3 home loss to the Washington Capitals, just about anything they offered on Sunday could be an improvement.

“(Saturday) wasn’t what we wanted to put on the ice,” Penguins forward Kevin Hayes said. “Today, we played a really good game. I thought we were the better team the whole game.”

In all reality, they played pretty well against the Rangers and dominated puck possession. They controlled it enough to launch 39 shots on goaltender Ilya Shesterkin while limiting his teammates to only 15.

While Shesterkin looked exactly like a two-time All-Star in stymieing a valiant offensive attack by the Penguins, his counterpart, Penguins rookie Joel Blomqvist, appeared overwhelmed by the limited offerings from the Rangers.

Blomqvist stopped only 11 of the 15 shots he faced — New York’s fifth goal was on an empty net — and saw his record tumble to 3-9-0. It was his fifth consecutive loss.

“Yeah, tough day,” said Blomqvist, who has not recorded an NHL win since Nov. 8. “I thought our team played really well. So, it’s a tough loss.”

Coach Mike Sullivan was frank in assessing the play of his goaltenders, including Alex Nedeljkovic, as of late.

“I know both (Nedeljkovic) and Joel are capable of better,” Sullivan said. “Joel is a young goaltender. He’s very athletic. We’re really excited about this guy. But he’s a young goaltender. He’s going through a learning process here. The challenge is on us as a coaching staff to help him. We’ll do the same with (Nedeljkovic). We’ll keep working.

“I know as a tandem, we’re capable of being better.”

Amplifying the Penguins’ woes was an undisclosed injury suffered by defenseman Matt Grzelcyk.

Grzelcyk was injured at 14 minutes, 24 seconds of the first period when he was hit from behind into the Penguins’ end boards by Rangers rookie forward Matt Rempe. Grzelcyk’s head struck the glass on the sequence. Rempe was assessed a minor penalty for interference on the sequence.

One of three players to appear in all 59 of the Penguins’ games this season — forward Noel Acciari and defenseman Erik Karlsson are the others — Grzelcyk entered the day as the team’s sixth-leading scorer with 28 points (one goal, 27 assists).

The Penguins played most of the contest with only five defensemen but still controlled the puck most of the game.

“That’s the game sometimes,” Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson said. “We played a good game and we didn’t end up winning. They scored more goals than us and you see that’s what it comes down to. You’re going to have games when you’re not playing your best and you win. And sometimes when you play almost at your best, you don’t win. That was one of those today.”

The Penguins struck first when forward Evgeni Malkin scored his 10th goal of the season 12:53 into regulation.

Accepting a pass in New York’s slot, Penguins forward Cody Glass curled into the right circle and lifted a wrister that was blocked by Rangers defenseman Adam Fox. Penguins forward Danton Heinen, stationed just to the right of the crease, jabbed at the rebound and was denied by Shesterkin. Off that ensuing rebound, Heinen collected the puck on the end boards and fed a pass to the right circle where Glass fanned on a one-timer. That wound up being a happy accident as the puck slid to the front of the blue paint where Malkin outmuscled Rangers defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and tapped a backhander into a mostly vacant cage. It was Malkin’s first goal since Jan. 20. Glass and Heinen had assists.

The Rangers tied it during a power-play sequence when forward Will Cuylle scored his 15th goal at 19:12 of the first period.

Lugging the puck out from behind his own cage, Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller gained the offensive blue line at the center point and offloaded a backhand pass to the left wing for Cuylle. Advancing with minimal resistance, Cuylle lasered a far-side wrister that glanced off of Blomqvist’s left leg and deflected into the cage. Miller and former Penguins forward Reilly Smith registered assists.

Forward J.T. Miller, a Coraopolis native, supplied the Rangers with their first lead of the contest with his 12th goal at 17:00 of the second period.

After Penguins defenseman P.O Joseph failed to settle a puck at the left point of New York’s zone, Miller chipped it past him into the neutral zone and generated a two-on-one rush with Rangers forward Alexis Lafreniere against Karlsson. Entering the Penguins’ right circle, Miller sizzled a wrister over Blomqvist’s glove on the near side. Fox and forward Artemi Panarin procured assists.

An unlikely source regained the lead for the Penguins when defenseman Ryan Shea — reinserted into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for six consecutive games — scored his first two goals of the season.

His first goal came only 57 seconds into the third period. As Acciari tried to fight Cullye for agitating Penguins forward Sidney Crosby near the benches, Malkin gained New York’s zone on the left wing and dished the puck to Karlsson at the right point. Dashing to the left circle, Karlsson backhand returned the puck to Malkin in the right circle. From there, Malkin one-touched a forehand pass to the high slot for Shea who fired a wrister by Shesterkin’s glove. Glass supplied a screen on the sequence. Malkin and Karlsson collected assists.

Shea’s second goal came at 3:31 of the third.

Hayes gained the offensive zone at the center point and fed a pass to the right circle for Crosby who failed to connect on a pass attempt to the backdoor of the crease with Penguins forward Michael Bunting. The puck caromed out of the left corner to the near point where Shea swiped at it to simply keep it in the zone. But the puck hit off the right hip of Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller — stationed above the crease — and deflected through Shesterkin’s five hole. Crosby and Hayes had assists.

“I tried to just whack it back down and I guess it hit (Miller’s) pants and went in,” Shea said. “That’s a good bounce that I’m not familiar with. So, it was definitely a good feeling there.”

Bad feelings returned for the Penguins when Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey restored a tie only 50 seconds later via his fourth goal.

From in front of the home penalty box, Rangers forward Vince Trocheck, a native of Upper St. Clair, fed a cross-ice pass allowing Vesey to gain the offensive blue line on the right wing. Avoiding a poke check by Joseph, Vesey flung a far-side wrister over Blomqvist’s right shoulder. Trocheck and defenseman Ryan Lindgren logged assists.

The visitors regained a lead at 11:23 of the third frame with Fox’s fifth goal.

Off the left wing, Smith centered a pass to Fox who gained the offensive zone while fending off Shea. Settling the puck in the high slot, Fox stroked a wrister past a beleaguered Blomqvist’s blocker. Smith and forward Mika Zibanejad had assists.

Miller capped the scoring on an empty net at 19:53 of the third. The assists went to Vesey and Lindgren.

The result was the Penguins’ third consecutive loss but they professed satisfaction with the process.

“Obviously, we played a much better game for the most part (than Saturday),” Karlsson said. “You’re going to lose games. Today, at least we felt like we gave ourselves a chance. We played a well-rounded game and we could have easily come out with the (win) today.”

Notes:

• Shea entered the game with one career goal. He previously scored in a 4-1 road win against the Capitals on April 4, 2024:

• Shea set a career high for ice time with 20:37 on 23 shifts.

• Penguins forward Bryan Rust, currently designated to injured reserve, missed his second consecutive game due to illness.

• Penguins forward Boko Imama was scratched due to an undisclosed injury.

• Penguins defensemen Vincent Desharnais and Vladislav Kolyachonok were healthy scratches.

• Vesey scored his 100th career goal.

Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.

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