NHL Playoffs Roundup: Rangers' Failure to Pressure Debut Goalie Will Cost Them

There were things to feel good about for New York Rangers fans entering Game 3 of the team's Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.

Among them: The Rangers would be facing a rookie goalie (Matt Murray) making his first career playoff start, and New York would be getting captain Ryan McDonagh back in its lineup.

Henrik Lundqvist, meanwhile, would be making career playoff start No. 101 for the Rangers, and he was 22-6-3 at Madison Square Garden this season.

But there was nothing to feel good about from a New York perspective after the game. Final score: Penguins 3, Rangers 1.

Frankly, New York laid an egg in this, its biggest game to date this season. Against Murray, the Rangers managed to put only 17 shots on net. Not good enough—not even close.

That's not to discredit Pittsburgh, though. The Penguins could have lost their composure—they were down 1-0 entering the final minute of the second period—but they hung in there and finally solved Lundqvist.

Sidney Crosby's power-play goal with 42 seconds left in the frame turned the game around, and Pittsburgh dominated the third period with a 12-4 shot advantage. Two of those bids resulted in goals by Matt Cullen and Kris Letang, who sealed the game with an empty-netter. Cullen's tie-breaking goal 4:16 into the stanza was all Murray needed for career playoff win No. 1.

The Penguins can take firm control of the series with a win in Game 4 on Thursday night at MSG.

Looking for some Rangers players to point fingers at?

Veteran Eric Staal would be a good start. The one-time elite forward was ineffective, failing to get a shot on net in nearly 17 minutes on the ice and posting a minus-two rating. Staal just doesn't have the wheels anymore to keep up with the ever-faster younger players in the game.

Mats Zuccarello had only one shot on net, while Derick Brassard and Derek Stepan also had quiet nights.

The question moving forward for Pittsburgh: Can Murray be trusted to continue in net?

Jeff Zatkoff played well to start the series, and No. 1 netminder Marc-Andre Fleury remains sidelined with a concussion. Coaches usually stay with the hot hand in goal, so we can probably expect to see the 21-year-old from Thunder Bay, Ontario, in Game 4.

Murray is not a total novice. He went 9-2-1 in 13 regular-season games, with a .930 save percentage and 2.00 goals-against average. Not bad for a guy picked 83rd overall in the 2012 draft.

New York can always win one game as long as it has Lundqvist in goal. But can the Rangers win three of four?

Doesn't look likely.

Blues One Win from Dethroning Blackhawks After Clutch Victory

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

A funny thing happened on the way to the St. Louis Blues blowing another big playoff game: The Blues made clutch plays to knock off the desperate defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in Game 4 of the teams' Western Conference Quarterfinal series at United Center.

St. Louis, with more heartbreak in its playoff history than a torch singer's songbook, beat Chicago 4-3 to take a 3-1 series lead. With one more win, it can ensure the NHL will again not have a back-to-back Cup winner since the 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings.

The Blackhawks showed an uncharacteristic lack of poise in this one, most especially with 2:04 left. With Chicago pressing for the equalizer, Andrew Shaw took a stupid penalty. After a whistle in the St. Louis end, Shaw charged at Blues defender Jay Bouwmeester and cross-checked him to the ice.

Instead of a faceoff in the offensive end and a likely extra attacker coming on with goalie Corey Crawford's departure, the Blackhawks had to kill a power play in the final two minutes.

When St. Louis went down 2-1 in the second period on Duncan Keith's rebound goal, it seemed like the Blues would wilt in the face of a fired-up team and its roaring crowd.

But Vladimir Tarasenko ripped a wrister past Crawford late in the period to tie it. It was Tarasenko's second goal of the game, and it was a beauty.

Early in the third, Jaden Schwartz put home a rebound on the power play, and St. Louis never relinquished the lead. Alexander Steen stole a Trevor van Riemsdyk pass and scored on a breakaway to make it 4-2 at the 4:46 mark, and Keith netted his second goal with 5:20 left to round out the scoring.

A lack of production by the Blackhawks' top forwards is taking a toll. Jonathan Toews has yet to find the back of the net in the series and has just two assists. Patrick Kane has four assists and had lots of scoring chances Tuesday, but he is still looking for his first goal, too.

The Blues have shown more mental discipline in the series, while Chicago looks frustrated. At the end of the game, Shaw was looking for anyone to hit, and even Crawford went after Robby Fabbri earlier in the contest.

The Blues, clearly, are in the Blackhawks' heads.

Jonathan Drouin Proving Doubters Wrong as Tampa Bay Takes Control

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Jonathan Drouin's reputation got trashed in the regular season. He elected not to report to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL shortly after the Tampa Bay Lightning demoted him in January, a move some—such as Syracuse.com's Lindsay Kramer—deemed selfish for a guy who had yet to prove his worth in the NHL.

All seems forgiven now.

Drouin made many big plays in Tampa Bay's 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 4 of the teams' first-round series. The Lightning hold a 3-1 series lead as they head back home to Amalie Arena.

Drouin recorded three assists in the win, none bigger than his crossing pass to Ondrej Palat that was one-timed home past Petr Mrazek with 2:59 left in the third period to break a 2-2 tie. Drouin, with the puck in the right circle, outwaited the Detroit pressure before hitting Palat.

We all knew Drouin had talent. He was the third overall pick in the 2013 draft, after all. What we had yet to see was difference-making ability in big games. We've seen it now.

It's probably safe to say Drouin won't be sent to the minor leagues again for a while—if ever.

The Red Wings? They just couldn't contain the Tampa Bay power play, nor could they do anything on their own man advantage. That was the difference. Detroit was 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Lightning were 3-for-5.

Keep in mind that Tampa Bay continues to play without its best offensive threat, Steven Stamkos (blood clot), and top-pairing defenseman Anton Stralman (fractured leg).

Drouin has stepped into the breach and made a big difference after most had probably written him off for the year.

It's possible this was the last game at Joe Louis Arena for veteran Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk, who told the Detroit Free Press' Mitch Albom that he will return to Russia after this season.

Datsyuk had three shots on net and nearly scored in the final minute, but he was held without a point for the fourth straight game. Still, if this was it, he laid it all on the line for the home folks one more time.

Desperate Ducks Get Back in Series with Shutout vs. Predators

Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

This series was never going to be a sweep either way. So it was no big surprise the Anaheim Ducks went into Nashville and beat the Predators 3-0 in Game 3 at Bridgestone Arena.

Nashville snuck out of Anaheim with a pair of 3-2 wins, so the Preds still have a 2-1 series lead with Game 4 back on their home ice Thursday night.

Frederik Andersen, who replaced John Gibson in goal for the Ducks, was excellent. He even survived a Shea Weber slap shot right off the top of his facemask in the first period. That had to hurt.

Otherwise, things were relatively pain-free for the Ducks, who got goals from Jamie McGinn, Rickard Rakell and Chris Stewart in the game's first 38 minutes.

Nashville's Filip Forsberg had a rough night, getting blanked on the scoresheet and finishing with a minus-three rating. Forsberg came into the game with a goal and two assists in the series.

Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm was excellent, playing more than 23 minutes, often against the Predators' top line.

Anaheim head coach Bruce Boudreau ripped his team after Game 2 for taking too many penalties, and he probably wasn't too happy after this one either. The Ducks put Nashville on the power play five times in the game's first 45 minutes.

But a strong penalty-killing unit, coupled with Andersen's play in net, kept the Predators off the board.