It's official. The Penguins will play the Islanders in the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs, and will begin the series on Long Island.
The Penguins' secured the No. 3 seed in the Metropolitan Division on Saturday with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Rangers, a game that nearly saw the Penguins drop to the first wild card spot.
The stakes were high entering Saturday's game. A regulation or overtime win over the Rangers, along with a regulation Islanders loss to the Capitals would have secured home-ice advantage over the Islanders in the first round. Had the Penguins lost in regulation and the Hurricanes won in any fashion, the Hurricanes would have leapfrogged the Penguins, and the Penguins would have opened the playoffs in Washington.
Jake Guentzel's late-game heroics sent the game to overtime, securing the third spot.
In the final minutes of regulation, all the Penguins needed was one goal. The Islanders were close to winning their game against the Capitals and locking up the No. 2 seed, and the Hurricanes had a one-goal lead over the Flyers. The Rangers had taken a 3-2 lead after goals 1:16 apart, with the latter coming on a Penguins power play. With 2:35 remaining in regulation, Guentzel stepped up and scored his 40th goal of the season:
The Penguins held onto the 3-3 tie until the buzzer to secure the first round matchup with the Islanders. Overtime was all but meaningless -- regardless of the outcome, the Penguins were locked into the third seed. Ryan Strome scored 2:09 into the overtime period to end the regular season.
With the Penguins earning all they needed from the game, the Penguins quickly shifted their focus forward to their impending first-round opponent.
"The Islanders will be a tough opponent," said Mike Sullivan. "They're a real good team, they've had a great year. We've had some really hard-fought battles against them; it'll be a tough opponent. Having said that, I'm excited about the opportunity we have. I think we have a real good hockey team, and we've just got to make sure that we play the game the right way, and we compete, and we control what we can to be at our best."
Sullivan said that the Islanders have a "defense-first mindset" and are hard to play against. The Penguins will have to be patient and disciplined to find success. The season series between the two teams is tied at 2-1-1, with two of the games being decided by a shootout.
"The type of hockey they play is a playoff style, said Sidney Crosby. "It's tight, they don't give up a lot. You look at the games we've played against them, and you've got to earn the space you create out there. I think that they're defensive-minded, but they can score too. It'll be a good challenge for us, but it's the best time of year."
That time of year officially gets underway on Wednesday.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THREE STARS
My curtain calls go to …
1. Jake Guentzel
Penguins right winger
Without him, we'd all be booking hotels in D.C. this week. No better way to get goal No. 40.
2. Sidney Crosby
Penguins center
Points No. 99 and 100 on the first goal of the game and the primary assist on Guentzel's tally.
3. Ryan Strome
Rangers right winger
I feel obligated to include the guy who scored the overtime winner on here even though it was completely, completely meaningless.
THE GOOD
Securing the No. 3 seed almost overshadowed some pretty big milestones.
Guentzel picked up his 40th goal of the season, nearly doubling his career high of 22 from last season.
With his first-period goal and and the assist on Guentzel's tally, Crosby recorded his 100th point. It was the sixth time Crosby reached the century milestone in his career, and the first time since the 2013-14 season.
"They're huge accomplishments by all those guys," said Sullivan. "Sid and Jake have been probably our most consistent forwards, our most consistent players all year. I think 40 goals in this league is quite an accomplishment, especially as a young player like Jake. I think Sid getting 100 points is a great accomplishment as well. We rely on him in so many situations, both offensively and defensively. The fact that he's as dynamic as he is offensively, when he for the most part plays against other team's top lines night in and night out, I think is a real testament to the mature game that Sid has."
With Crosby's 100th point coming on Guentzel's 40th goal ... who gets to keep the milestone puck? Guentzel seemed in favor of splitting it down the middle. Crosby plans on making a case to keep the puck for himself, and for good reason.
"I might try to negotiate something with (Guentzel)," Crosby laughed. "He'll get 50 at some point, so maybe I'll hold onto that one."
Marcus Pettersson hit an interesting milestone when he appeared in his 84th game of the season, a product of playing in every game this season and the Ducks having played more games than the Penguins at the time of his trade to Pittsburgh.
THE BAD
The power play wasn't at its best.
When the Rangers' Lias Andersson was called for hooking in the third period, the score was 2-2. The Islanders had already put their game out of reach, so the Penguins had no chance at home ice at that point. All the Penguins had to do was cling to a tied game and get the overtime point to ensure that they would not be surpassed by the Hurricanes in the standings. The Penguins didn't even need a goal, they just needed to not allow one.
Then, 36 seconds into the power play, this happened:
Vladislav Namestnikov's shorthanded goal was the 15th one the Penguins allowed this season, tying the Bruins for the most in the league.
"(The Penguins' power play) wasn't as good (Saturday)," said Sullivan. "I don't think we executed as well, we didn't handle the pressure as well, and so it wasn't as good tonight as it was the other night. I thought the other night was really good. So we just have to make sure that we're locked in moving forward."
The Penguins failed to score on all four power play opportunities in the regular-season finale.
The Islanders' penalty kill ranked in the middle of the pack this season, 18th in the league at 79.9 percent. Perhaps of interest to the Penguins, they've also only scored six shorthanded goals on the season.
THE OTHER SIDE
The Rangers, 12th in the Eastern Conference with a 32-36-14 record, saw their season come to a close on Saturday.
Much like the Penguins' last opponent, the Red Wings, the Rangers as a team no longer had anything to play for, but all the young players with a lot to prove sure did.
"I'm very proud," goaltender Alexandar Georgiev said of the win. "Everybody battled so hard. Obviously, guys are fighting for their spots for next season. I think it's going to be important for us to feel a bit more confident coming into next season."
Rangers head coach David Quinn said he thanked his team for their effort following the game, calling them a "great group to coach."
The Rangers have some low odds in the Jack Hughes lottery, with a 7.5 percent chance of winning the top pick.
The Rangers really don't have many impending free agents this summer. Forward Connor Brickley and defenseman John Gilmour are the lone unrestricted free agents. Forwards Vinni Lettieri, Pavel Buchnevich, Brendan Lemieux, and defensemen Neal Pionk, Anthony Deangelo, and Fredrik Claesson are restricted free agents.
THE DATA
• Pettersson played his 84th game. The last player to play 84 games in one season was Jamie McGinn in 2015-16, with games split between the Sabres and Ducks.
• The Penguins attempted 79 shots to the Rangers' 43.
• Kris Letang led the Penguins with 10 shot attempts, all at even strength.
• This is the first time neither Evgeni Malkin nor Crosby led the Penguins in goals in a full season since they joined the team. The last time a player other than Malkin or Crosby led the Penguins in goals was Chris Kunitz in the shortened 2012-13 season, with 22 goals in 48 games.. The last player in a full season was Ryan Malone in 2003-04, with 22 in 81 games.
• The Penguins blocked seven shots, the Rangers blocked 20. The Penguins had 17 giveaways, the Rangers had eight.
THE INJURIES
• Brian Dumoulin, defenseman, missed his third game with a lower-body injury but is progressing according to Sullivan. He skated Saturday morning.
• Zach Aston-Reese, forward, missed his 13th game with a hip injury and is considered to be out longer-term.
• Chad Ruhwedel, defenseman, missed his 19th game with an upper-body injury and is also considered to be out longer-term. He is skating on his own.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
McCann - Crosby - Guentzel
Rust - Malkin - Kessel
Simon - Bjugstad - Hornqvist
Blueger - Cullen - Wilson
Maatta - Letang
Johnson - Schultz
Pettersson - Gudbranson
And for Quinn's Rangers:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Buchnevich
Namestnikov - Andersson - Strome
Lemieux - Howden - Vesey
Smith - Nieves - Brickley
Skjei - Shattenkirk
Staal - Claesson
Lindgren - Pionk
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will have an off day Sunday. The full schedule for the first round can be found here, with Game 1 on Wednesday.
THE COVERAGE
Visit our team page for everything.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Rangers, PPG Paints Arena, April 6, 2019 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS