It’s generous to say the Pittsburgh Penguins made progress Sunday.
However, they did manage to avoid giving up a touchdown’s worth of goals for the first time this weekend.
So, yes, their play in a 5-3 defeat to the New York Rangers at PPG Paints Arena was a step in the right direction.
But considering how badly they were routed 24 hours earlier in an 8-3 home loss to the Washington Capitals, just about anything they offered Sunday could be an improvement.
“(Saturday) wasn’t what we wanted to put on the ice,” Penguins forward Kevin Hayes said. “Today, we played a really good game. I thought we were the better team the whole game.”
In all reality, they played pretty well against the Rangers and dominated puck possession. They controlled it enough to launch 39 shots on goaltender Ilya Shesterkin while limiting his teammates to only 15.
While Shesterkin looked exactly like a two-time All-Star in stymieing a valiant offensive attack by the Penguins, his counterpart, Penguins rookie Joel Blomqvist, appeared overwhelmed by the limited offerings from the Rangers.
Blomqvist stopped only 11 of the 15 shots he faced — New York’s fifth goal was on an empty net — and saw his record tumble to 3-9-0. It was his fifth consecutive loss.
“Yeah, tough day,” said Blomqvist, who has not recorded an NHL win since Nov. 8. “I thought our team played really well. So, it’s a tough loss.”
Coach Mike Sullivan was frank in assessing the play of his goaltenders, including Alex Nedeljkovic, as of late.
“I know both (Nedeljkovic) and Joel are capable of better,” Sullivan said. “Joel is a young goaltender. He’s very athletic. We’re really excited about this guy. But he’s a young goaltender. He’s going through a learning process here. The challenge is on us as a coaching staff to help him. We’ll do the same with (Nedeljkovic). We’ll keep working.
“I know as a tandem, we’re capable of being better.”
Amplifying the Penguins’ woes was an undisclosed injury suffered by defenseman Matt Grzelcyk.
Grzelcyk was injured at 14 minutes, 24 seconds of the first period when he was hit from behind into the Penguins’ end boards by Rangers forward Matt Rempe. Grzelcyk’s head struck the ice on the sequence. Rempe was assessed a minor penalty for interference on the sequence.
The Penguins played most of the contest with only five defensemen but still controlled the puck most of the game.
“That’s the game sometimes,” Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson said. ‘We played a good game, and we didn’t end up winning. They scored more goals than us, and you see that’s what it comes down to. You’re going to have games when you’re not playing your best, and you win. And sometimes when you play almost at your best, you don’t win. That was one of those today.”
After Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin opened the scoring 12:53 into regulation with his 10th goal of the season, Rangers forward Will Cuylle responded with his 15th goal at 19:12 of the first period during a power-play sequence.
Forward J.T. Miller, a Coraopolis native, gave the visitors their first lead at 17:00 of the second period.
An unlikely source regained a lead for the Penguins when defenseman Ryan Shea — a healthy scratch for six consecutive games — scored his first two goals of the season 57 seconds into the third then at the 3:31 mark of the frame.
Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey’s fourth goal tied the score again at the 4:21 mark, then Rangers defenseman Adam Fox scored his fourth at 11:26. Miller capped the scoring on an empty net at 19:53.
The result was the Penguins’ third consecutive loss, but they professed satisfaction with the process.
“Obviously, we played a much better game for the most part (than Saturday),” Karlsson said. “You’re going to lose games. Today, at least we felt like we gave ourselves a chance. We played a well-rounded game, and we could have easily come out with the (win) today.”
Notes: Penguins forward Bryan Rust, currently designated to injured reserve, missed his second consecutive game because of illness. … Penguins forward Boko Imama was scratched for the second consecutive game with an undisclosed injury.