The Penguins play the Rangers tonight at Madison Square Garden with a chance to clinch their first round playoff series. The Pens are coming off back-to-back games in which they scored seven goals, leading to their 3-1 series lead.
Coach Mike Sullivan says the Rangers are still dangerous and will be flying on the ice tonight.
The Penguins had a 3-1 series lead over the Rangers in 2014 and lost that series. Sullivan says they’re not taking anything for granted.
Monday night’s playoff win was Sullivan’s 44th as Penguins head coach, passing Dan Bylsma as the all-time winning playoff coach in franchise history. Sullivan, Bylsma, Scotty Bowman, and Bob Johnson are the Penguins’ four Stanley Cup winning coaches. Sullivan didn’t know about the record until after the game. He says coaching the Penguins has been “the honor of a lifetime.”
Captain Sidney Crosby said after Game Four Monday that the Pens know the series is not over yet.
Defenseman Kris Letang says Sullivan has the perfect leadership style for winning playoff hockey.
Letang says the Penguins have to forget the previous two games and focus on winning tonight.
The Penguins held an optional skate yesterday and injured forward Rickard Rakell wore a regular black jersey, but Sullivan emphasized that it was a non-contact voluntary session and Rakell is still not cleared for contact. He suffered a head injury in Game One and has not played since.
Defenseman Brian Dumoulin suffered an undisclosed injury in the first game and still has not returned to the ice. Injured goaltender Tristan Jarry skated with coach Andy Chiodo before his teammates took the ice and took shots for the second day in a row.
Tonight’s game faces off shortly after 7 o’clock, with pregame on Fox Sports 100.9 at 6. The NHL announced yesterday that Game Six, if necessary, will face off shortly after 7 on Friday at PPG Paints Arena.
Former Penguins forward Patrick Marleau announced his retirement yesterday after 23 seasons in the NHL. Marleau played 21 seasons with San Jose, two with Toronto, and also played eight games with the Penguins after being acquired at the trade deadline in 2020.
