The Rangers still need to fix their game against the Penguins without Sidney Crosby


PITTSBURGH — No matter how many times many different Rangers have insisted that this series against the Penguins isn’t all about Sidney Crosby, the focus of the first five games was, in fact, primarily on Sidney Crosby.

But if the Blueshirts protest too much, it’s understandable. For Crosby and his linemates Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust spent the first four games of this first-round playoff matchup chewing up and spitting out the Rangers’ powerful matchup unit, centered by Mika Zibanejad.

That is, until Crosby absorbed that hit from Jacob Trouba midway through the second period of Game 5 that forced him out of the rest of that contest and kept him sidelined Friday night for potential Game 6 elimination for the Blueshirts.

Crosby, of course, has a history of concussions, so it’s unclear if the Pittsburgh captain, who had been playing some of the most compelling and dominant playoff hockey games of his career, would be in a position to pull off a Willis Reed if the Rangers were able to send the series back to the Garden for a Game 7 on Sunday.

But first things first. The Blueshirts need to take advantage of Crosby’s absence on Friday just as they did on Wednesday, when they immediately scored three goals in 3:36 after the No. 87 left the ice to overcome a 2-0 deficit before extending the series with a 5-3. victory.

In theory, Crosby’s absence should have freed up Zibanejad and fellow linemen Chris Kreider and Frank Vatrano to play with a more attack-oriented mindset after expending so much energy and focusing on stopping Crosby and company.

Sidney Cosby will not compete in Game 6 between the Penguins and Rangers on Friday, May 13, 2022.
Sidney Cosby will not compete in Game 6 between the Penguins and Rangers on Friday, May 13, 2022.
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“I think maybe we haven’t created enough offense and maybe we’ve been too concerned with the line we’re playing against and stopping them,” said Zibanejad, who had yet to score a goal in the first five games. “I think I said after Game 1 or 2 that the best way to stop their offense is to create your own.

“But I think overall we’re going to try to get through him, he’s not easy, he’s not an easy opponent. Just try to play our game and really enjoy the challenge and enjoy the intensity of the playoffs.”

It’s not like a Nate Bowman-type support player is going to take Crosby’s place the way the Knicks’ backup center replaced Reed in Los Angeles for Game 6 of the 1970 NBA Finals commemorated in the that Wilt Chamberlain scored 45 points in victory for the Lakers.

Rather it was Evgeni Malkin, one of the NHL’s top 100, albeit inexplicably shunned by the panel that selected the century-long club, filling the gap between Guentzel and Rust. On the way? It was that line that produced the 3-3 goal at the Garden in Game 5, with Guentzel burying a rebound for his seventh of the series after a mishap between Zibanejad and Igor Shesterkin.

That came 13 seconds after the Blueshirts tied the score. He also cut Zibanejad’s line to minus four for the series, with just two goals for but six against. Crosby or not, Game 6 would still present a significant challenge.

“I always talk to our guys about when he’s on the ice, it’s not just about Sidney Crosby, but all five guys need to know,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “But I still want us to play our game.

“I never told them, ‘We’re going to be in a defensive shell and make sure they don’t get chances.’ They’re going to have opportunities any way you look at it, they spend a lot of time on the offensive end, they’re a great line, a talented line, but we still have to play our game.”

Crosby’s absence, of course, changes the dynamic of Game 6. But the Rangers still need to play their game. They need Shesterkin to be at the top of his game. The Blueshirts haven’t played well enough for a consistent amount of times in this series to take anything for granted.

The Rangers need more of their first six. They need Artemi Panarin to be dangerous. They need the Zibanejad line to assert themselves.

“We still need to play our game and do the things that we did all year,” No. 93 said. “The focus is really on us. Sometimes maybe we focus too much on other things and the opposing team instead of us, but I try to remind myself to focus on what I have to do, play my game and make them care about what I do. what can we do”.

In Game 6, at least, Zibanejad and his teammates don’t have to worry about Crosby.



Reference-nypost.com

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