Both the Rangers and Penguins were shorthanded Thursday because 106 minutes of playoff hockey two nights earlier took its toll.
It wasn’t surprising that Ryan Lindgren was sidelined with a lower-body injury, which caused the defenseman to come in and out of Game 1, but the Rangers were also without Barclay Goodrow for their 5-2 win over the Penguins in Game 2 of their playoff series at the Garden.
Goodrow is week-to-week with a lower-body injury, Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant revealed after the series-tying win. Gallant wouldn’t say when Goodrow will be able to return, which isn’t an encouraging sign.
Lindgren, a top-pair defenseman, and Goodrow are important penalty-killers for the Rangers. Still, the Rangers managed to go two-for-two on the penalty kill.
Justin Braun filled in for Lindgren next to Adam Fox and Dryden Hunt stepped in for Goodrow on the left wing of the fourth line next to Kevin Rooney and Ryan Reaves. Braun recorded an assist on Andrew Copp’s first-period tally and logged 17:44 of ice time in his 101st career playoff game.
Justin Braun gets into a scuffle with the Penguins’ Mark Friedman during the Rangers’ 5-2 Game 2 win.Corey Sipkin “They’re two good hockey players,” Gallant said of Braun and Hunt. “They battle and play hard. Obviously, you’re missing two top players but that’s the way it is in the playoffs. They’re missing a couple, too. You grind away and battle through the best you can.”
The Penguins were down to their third-string goalie, Louis Domingue, after Casey DeSmith left in the second overtime in Game 1 with a lower-body injury. Pittsburgh’s starting netminder, Tristan Jarry, suffered a fractured foot toward the end of the regular season.
Domingue turned aside 35 of the 40 shots he faced in just the second playoff game of his career.
“He made some big saves, especially when it was a one-, two-goal difference, that kept us in it,” Sidney Crosby said. “He’s competing in there and giving us a chance. It would’ve been nice to give him some help there and tie it up and see what happened.”
The Penguins also were without defenseman Brian Dumoulin, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, and trade-deadline acquisition Rickard Rakell.
After taking a big hit from Lindgren in the first period of Game 1, Rakell went to the locker room and stayed there for the remainder of the Penguins’ 4-3 triple-OT win.
Chris Kreider was named as the Rangers’ nominee for the 2021 King Clancy Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to “the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.”
