The Rangers may be getting healthy, but they aren’t making things any easier on themselves.
The Blueshirts, who welcomed Ryan Callahan (hand), Brandon Dubinsky (leg) and Dan Girardi (ribs) back from the injured list, jumped out to a two-goal lead against the Penguins last night at the Garden.
But because of a rough 10-minute stretch in the second period when they allowed three goals — and Marc-Andre Fleury standing on his head through seven rounds of the shootout — the Penguins, playing without Sidney Crosby (concussion) and Evgeni Malkin (sinus infection), left town with a 4-3 shootout victory.
“It’s tough,” Dubinsky said. “We had a 2-0 lead and we have to find a way . . . that’s where we’re at our best, with leads. We just let that one slip away.
“It’s disappointing. Obviously one point is good, but I don’t think we feel like it was good enough tonight.”
After dominating the third period and overtime — they outshot the Penguins 13-4 — the shootout turned into a battle of attrition between Fleury and Henrik Lundqvist. Both stopped the first six shots before Pittsburgh’s Dustin Jeffrey managed to slip one by Lundqvist in the seventh round and Fleury stopped Marian Gaborik on the final attempt.
“I thought our game was good,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said. “It was the first game back; I thought we played hard and we had the [scoring] chances . . . Fleury just made one more save than Hank.”
Said Lundqvist, “You want two points right now. It’s so tight in the standings . . . I hate losing in the shootout as a goalie. I made the first move on their goal . . . it’s disappointing.”
Early on, the Rangers looked like they hadn’t taken a day off, let alone a week for the All-Star break, when they took a 2-0 lead on goals by Brandon Prust 3:52 into the first period and Artem Anisimov 1:41 into the second.
But after the Penguins got goals from Dustin Jeffrey, Mike Rupp and Chris Kunitz during a 9:42 span in the second period, the Blueshirts looked like they were in danger of being run off the ice. But they caught a break late in the second period, and managed to turn the momentum, thanks to a punch from Pittsburgh’s Jordan Staal.
After Prust checked Tyler Kennedy, Staal returned the favor and followed it up with a left hook to Prust’s chin that sent him straight to the ice at the 15:27 mark of the second. Staal received a five-minute match penalty for attempting to injure another player, and was ejected.
For much of that power play, the Rangers struggled to generate many opportunities, but Callahan, in his first game back after missing the previous 19, deflected a Michael Del Zotto shot from the point past Fleury to tie the game at 3 with 12.5 seconds left in the second period.
“It was a big goal heading into the third period,” Callahan said. “I thought we played well in the third, but it came down to a shootout.
“Hank stood on his head . . . we have to get one for him there.”
