These are not the Pittsburgh Penguins that the New York Rangers eliminated in the Stanley Cup playoffs the last two years. Not even close.
They are not even the Penguins who began the regular season under a different coach, and that might be the biggest difference of all.
Bryan Rust scored two goals and set up another, while fellow rookie Conor Sheary added a goal in Pittsburgh’s four-goal second period as the Penguins overwhelmed the New York Rangers with their youth and speed, finishing off the first-round series with a 6-3 rout on Saturday.
“It was great to close it out,” Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said.
Goaltender Matt Murray — yes, he is a rookie, too — won his third straight game by making 38 saves as the Penguins won their 18th in 21 overall, needing just five games to eliminate the Metropolitan Division rival that put them out of the playoffs the last two seasons.
The difference from then to now is obvious, according to defenseman Kris Letang.
“Before, when Sid [Crosby] and Geno [Evgeni Malkin] didn’t score, we had trouble winning games,” Letang said. “[Now] we have four lines that can contribute — and we’ve got speed.”
Every Pittsburgh goal was scored by a player who was not on the much slower Penguins team the Rangers beat in five games last spring.
Rust — whose two-goal game was the first of his career — Sheary and Murray began the season with now-Penguins coach Mike Sullivan at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL), but they all played pivotal roles in the Penguins’ first playoff series win since they beat Columbus in 2014.
Pittsburgh is 37-17-5 since Sullivan moved up from the minors to replace former coach Mike Johnston in mid-December last year.
Phil Kessel, Carl Hagelin and 39-year-old Matt Cullen also found the net as the Penguins shook off two early deficits before steamrolling the Rangers 4-0 during a dominant and decisive second period. Hagelin, a year ago, scored the Game 5 goal for New York that eliminated Pittsburgh.
The Penguins scored on six of 23 shots against Lundqvist, who frustrated them in the post-season in 2014 and last year. He gave up 10 goals in the final two games — Pittsburgh won Game 4 by 5-0 — or two more than he allowed the Penguins in a five-game series last season.
“The second period, it was a feeling of embarrassment to give up that many goals,” Lundqvist said. “It was a sense of hopelessness... It was not a good feeling.”
In other NHL action, it was:
‧ Ducks 5, Predators 2
‧ Blackhawks 6, Blues 3
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