Penguins vs. Rangers: Game 4 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NHL Playoffs

For a team that was trailing 2-1 in its first-round playoff matchup, the New York Rangers were flat on Thursday, as they were outworked, out-skated and outplayed by the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 5-0 Game 4 loss at Madison Square Garden.

After their dominant performance, led by Evgeni Malkin's two power-play goals and two assists, the Penguins are headed back to Consol Energy Center with a commanding 3-1 series lead.

The Rangers might have been looking for physical retribution instead of trying to even the series at the game's start. Following Kris Letang's non-penalized slash on Viktor Stalberg in Game 3, the Rangers went right after the Penguins to establish a physical presence.

It didn't bother Pittsburgh much, though, as Eric Fehr put the visitors ahead just one minute and nine seconds into the game when he drove to the net and sent home a big rebound off Henrik Lundqvist: 

The rebound was "big" and "meaty," according to 96.1 Kiss' Mike Dougherty:

An interference penalty on Rick Nash gave Pittsburgh an opportunity to double its lead on the power play. 

Less than 30 seconds into the man advantage, Patric Hornqvist, who recorded a hat trick in Game 1, scored to put Pittsburgh up 2-0 with 12:49 left in the first.

Sidney Crosby deflected a shot from the point by Malkin off Hornqvist, who was standing in front of Lundqvist:

It was a flying start, which impressed ESPN's John Buccigross:

Things got even better for Pittsburgh when Conor Sheary picked off a Kevin Klein pass in the Rangers' zone and turned on the jets to create a breakaway goal with 3:48 to play in the period: 

CBS Pittsburgh's Colin Dunlap was enjoying the rise of the Penguins rookie, who played in 44 games in the regular season:

The Rangers couldn't generate anything against a hungrier-looking Penguins team, much to the disapproval of YES Network's Chris Shearn:

If there was one positive from the first period for the Rangers, it was that they threw 11 shots at rookie Matt Murray's net after recording just 17 shots in all of Game 3.

New York finished the night with 31 shots on goal, but Murray was up to the task on all of them. In his two games in the series, he's stopped 47 of 48 shots.

Undisciplined play made the Rangers' deficit even larger in the second period after a Dominic Moore tripping penalty put the Penguins up a man. Pittsburgh made it 2-for-2 on the power play when Malkin sent a screaming slap shot past Lundqvist four minutes into the period.

NHL on NBC showed Malkin's first goal since returning from a 16-game absence (shoulder injury):

That was all for Lundqvist, who was pulled for Antti Raanta two minutes later.

Hockey Night in Canada's Elliotte Friedman caught a glimpse of Lundqvist on the bench:

The Penguins' Twitter account was ruthless toward the King after his departure:

The young replacement didn't get much help, as Tanner Glass was called for a double-minor high-sticking penalty 10 seconds into his arrival. But the Penguins could muster only three shots on the four-minute power play.

They made up for the rare special teams sputter in the third period after a J.T. Miller slashing penalty gave them another power-play opportunity.

Malkin again reaped the rewards of an extra attacker when he banged home a pass sent to the front of Raanta's net 3:28 into the period.

Vice Canada's Davril Lavignezo likened the big Russian forward to a fictional Russian boxer:

While a 3-1 lead is commanding, it isn't necessarily safe against the Rangers. In each of the past two postseasons, New York has turned around 3-1 deficits and gone on to win the series. In 2015, it was against the Washington Capitals. In 2014, it was against these Penguins.

That is something Pittsburgh might have in the back of its mind heading into Saturday's Game 5.

Postgame Reaction

He might be new to the league, but Murray was a seasoned vet when it came to addressing the media after his first career playoff shutout, via Lavignezo:

On the offensive side of the ice, Malkin made it clear that he's feeling just fine after injury troubles kept him out of Game 1, via Pens Inside Scoop:

Upon his return, some questioned if his presence would mess up Pittsburgh's team chemistry. It obviously didn't on Thursday night, as Fehr spoke to the media following the game, via Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

This Game 4 performance was as complete a game as the Penguins could have played against a Rangers team that's made the Eastern Conference Final in each of the past two seasons. A beatdown like this should have Pittsburgh's confidence sky-high heading into Saturday.

Expect that confidence to be portrayed on the ice as the team tries to finish off New York at home.

Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault obviously wasn't happy with his team's performance, via Newsday's Steve Zipay: "It’s definitely uncharacteristic of this group to come up with this type of performance ... We picked a very bad night to have a very bad game."

Lundqvist wasn't shying away from his role in the bad night either, via Zipay:

At the end of the day, the Penguins still have a young, fairly inexperienced goaltender between the pipes no matter how well he's played over his first two starts.

With their physicality, the Rangers have to get a forecheck going, get bodies in front of the net and simply throw everything at the young goalie. All that's needed is one bad bounce, one bad deflection to rattle Murray's confidence, which could begin to turn the tide in the series.