Petr Prucha Leads New York Rangers Over Pittsburgh Penguins

After being banished to Siberia (ok, the press box), Petr Prucha made his triumphant return to the Garden and scored the tying goal with six minutes left in the game, as the Rangers defeated Pittsburgh in a shootout, 3-2. He refused to go to Hartford (hey, I’ve refused to go to Hartford my whole life), and what do you know? The decision paid off immediately.

Prucha hadn’t played in 10 games (when I mentioned to my wife that he scored a goal, she said, “Is he on Pittsburgh now?”), and hustled and got thrown around the ice as usual, but this time he actually scored a goal. It was the first time he found the back of the net since January 31st (not the one coming up but the last one). The goal was so surprising that even the TV feed from the Garden was instantly scrambled.

No one could believe their eyes. Tom Renney not only accepted Prucha’s (and his agent’s) decision to stick with the team but he threw him right in the lineup. The emotionless coach, who only communicates through mathematical equations in his post-game press conferences, also switched up lines. Again. He put his best center (Scott Gomez), best right wing (Nikolai Zherdev) and best left wing (Markus Naslund) on the same line.

He’s going out on a limb with that newfangled innovation. That left Chris Drury to center Ryan Callahan and Lauri Korpikoski, and Brandon Dubinsky between Aaron Voros and Prucha. The indestructible fourth line stayed intact.

This game was a test and measuring stick for the Rangers to see how they would do against a top team. And they passed with flying colors (especially coming right after the 4-0 nightmare to Florida). Things went down pretty much the same as the last time these two teams met at the Garden, on October 25th.

Pittsburgh jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Blueshirts controlled the game for the last 30 minutes. They skated hard, and kept things simple, by dumping the puck in and actually hitting the opposition. Colton Orr had a fun battle going with Sidney “The Crybaby” Crosby all game long. Orr drew a couple of penalties, and fought Eric Godard early in the match. Crosby (and Evgeny Malkin) was held scoreless (though No. 87 had one assist).

Marc Staal finished off Crosby’s night by completely leveling him in OT. And even Michal Rozsival made a nice defensive play on Malkin on a one-on-one in the second period.

Zherdev scored the Rangers first goal, with assists from Gomez and Wade Redden (both assisted on Prucha’s goal as well). Maybe that line will actually work—if Renney keeps them together for more than two games. Though the offense only managed two goals in regulation yet again. And they need a shootout to win. Again.

It seems like that’s the only way they can win a game these days. Naslund, Zherdev and Fredrik Sjostrom all scored, which makes them 7-1 in shootouts. They were three for three on the PK, and oh-for-three on the power play. No surprise there. They actually shot more while they had the man advantage, but it didn’t help. But they dominated the face-off circle, going 33-19.

They’ve won seven straight against the Penguins at the Garden. And they’re still in first place. Next game: tonight in Montreal vs. Les Habitants.

Bag-O’-Knuckles-O-Meter

Colton Orr: 6

Aaron Voros: 5

Paul Mara: 3

Brandon Dubinsky: 3

Ryan Callahan: 1

Marc Staal: 1

Nikolai Zherdev: 1