Postgame takeaways: Artemi Panarin propels weary Rangers with five-point game

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The unrelenting schedule landed the Rangers at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday afternoon, where they would take on the Penguins for their fifth game in eight days.

Their legs looked heavy for spells, with several players nursing various ailments and general fatigue. But the Blueshirts dug deep for a 7-4 win − their fourth victory in five contests since the Mar. 8 trade deadline, all of which have been played without injured captain Jacob Trouba.

It wasn't the prettiest win in that stretch − although there were certainly highlight-worthy plays from some of their star players − but it required a level of fortitude that's become a team characteristic under head coach Peter Laviolette.

"This is nothing new that we did today," goalie Jonathan Quick said. "These guys, they battle hard. Offensively, we fight hard for chances, and defensively, we fight hard to block shots and box out and get pucks out of the zone. It's stuff that’s in our team’s DNA, and we're going to need that going forward, for sure."

The team defense, which had been sharp while allowing one combined goal in the first three games of this grueling stretch, has tapered off in the last two. They coughed up six goals in Thursday's loss in Tampa and looked loose again at times against the Pens, who out-shot the Rangers, 38-28, while generating 19 high-danger scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.

"They got behind us too much and had some chances in our zone, so there's things that we can tighten up," Laviolette said. "There were too many odd-man rushes for me."

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On the other hand, the offense was rolling − both at even strength and on the power play.

Artemi Panarin produced his fifth career five-point game, while Adam Fox, Chris Kreider, K'Andre Miller and Vincent Trocheck also registered multiple points apiece.

The desperate Penguins, who are now sitting seven points out of the Eastern Conference's final wild-card spot, often overextended themselves. And when they did, the Rangers were ready to pounce.

"Sometimes when you're pushing one way, it bleeds the other way, and it felt like maybe we were both doing that a little bit," Laviolette said. "Offensively, I thought that we had good looks, but I don't know if it's because it was coming off of them pressing so hard."

There isn't any rest for the weary on the horizon, with another quick turnaround coming for these Rangers (44-19-4). They were scheduled to jump right on a flight back to New York, where the rival Islanders are waiting for Sunday's 1 p.m. matinee at Madison Square Garden.

It'll be another gut-check moment for a tired team that's willed itself to wins in these situations before.

"We’re building an atmosphere and the style of play that we want to play every night," Miller said. "It’s playoff hockey, almost. It's coming up, and I think those plays are going to be huge coming here the next couple of months. Doing it now and having it translate to the playoffs is the goal, but a lot of guys are blocking shots and doing whatever it takes to get the win."

First-period fireworks

An eventful first period featured three goals in the first 3:33 and five in total.

It started with a long slap shot from Penguins defenseman John Ludvig that was somehow able to sneak through traffic untouched and beat Quick on the glove side, but the Rangers responded with two goals in a span of 23 seconds.

The first came from Kaapo Kakko, who charged the net and hammered a one-timer feed from Jimmy Vesey for his ninth goal of the season. Vesey was a surprise pregame addition to the third line with Kakko and Alex Wennberg, as he briefly swapped places with rookie Will Cuylle only to return to his usual fourth-line spot in the final period.

"From watching the game and looking at it, I just went back to where it was," Laviolette said.

On the very next shift, it was Fox making a strong move into the slot and finishing with a backhanded shot for his 12th goal of the season, giving the Rangers a 2-1 lead before most fans watching at home had even settled into their couches.

The fast start was followed by a brief slow down, but the fireworks returned soon.

Pittsburgh tied the score at 2-2 with 7:33 to play in the opening period on a goal from Bryan Rust, who benefited from Sidney Crosby drawing the attention of the New York defense and finding him at the far post.

Once again, the Rangers bounced back swiftly.

Just over three minutes later, Miller intercepted a pass from Rust and sprang an odd-man rush going the other way for his 100th career point.

He quickly pushed the puck ahead to Trocheck, who made one of the passes of the year to setup a Panarin one-timer. As Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves went down to the ice to cut off the lane, Trocheck flicked a feathery pass over Graves' back and right onto Panarin's stick for the easy finish.

"The goalie (Tristan Jarry) probably couldn’t believe it because the puck was kind of going slow," Panarin said. "He probably thought, because the defenseman laid down, it was not possible to go to me."

Power play powers second period

After all five first-period goals came at five-on-five, special teams took over in the second.

Pittsburgh took advantage of Fox becoming the latest Blueshirt to sacrifice his body for a blocked shot, with a bomb from Kris Letang leaving him down on the ice in pain and visibly uncomfortable for the remainder of the game. It was one of 19 blocks for New York − including three from No. 23, who didn't miss a shift after quickly regrouping on the bench.

Lars Eller scored a power-play goal moments later to knot the score at 3-3, but the tie didn't last long.

"I just liked the responses," Laviolette said. "Pittsburgh played hard tonight. They were tough all night. They didn't stop working. I think our guys just kept battling, as well. There are a couple things we can clean up, but it’s a pretty good win against a team, where their urgency, you know it was high."

The Rangers entered Saturday having registered power-play goals in only six of their last 20 games, going 11-for-66 (16.7%) in that span. But they converted both of their second-period opportunities to turn the game in their favor.

It began with a long shot from a hobbled Fox that caused a scramble in front of the Pens' net, with Kreider, who was playing in his 800th career game, kicking the loose rebound to Panarin for the finish.

That gave the Rangers a 4-3 lead with 3:33 to play in the second while increasing Panarin's career high in goals to 38. He's also up to 93 points, putting the 32-year-old just three shy of his previous career high with 15 games to play.

It seems like a foregone conclusion that he'll set a new high-water mark and hit triple digits for the first time, but a grinning Panarin had no interest in discussing that hypothetical.

"I’m not thinking about points or not," he said. "Maybe I’ll think about it after the season, but never in the season. You can always (mess) it up in the last 10 games, so I don’t want to say anything too early."

New York remained on the power play thanks to a gift from Letang, who was called for unsportsmanlike conduct right after Panarin's go-ahead tally.

The Rangers cashed in on that one, too, on a pretty passing sequence from Panarin to Kreider to Mika Zibanejad, who drilled a one-timer for his 21st goal of the season.

"I thought we made some good decisions with the puck," Laviolette said of the power play. "I thought that Foxy did an excellent job at the top, just finding room and space and taking away the flanks. He was finding lanes to the net and delivering pucks. There was some really nice passing in there, as well. Quick puck movement, as opposed to slowing it down."

K'Andre Miller, Jonathan Quick come up big

Miller, who has been a standout throughout this hectic week, opened the third period with an insurance goal to push the lead to 6-3. He also assisted on Kreider's empty-netter to earn his fourth career three-point game.

He was a force defensively, as well, shutting down a handful of Penguins' rushes by using his closing speed and long reach to close off scoring lanes. The 24-year-old and new partner Braden Schneider − who finished with a game-high four blocked shots − continue to step up in Trouba's absence.

"He was really good, even as the extra attacker," Laviolette said of Miller. "He’s playing big minutes right now, and even Schneids, too. They're playing big minutes – big responsibilities against top players – and they're doing a terrific job."

Miller's lone hiccup came when a second-period clear attempt went right to Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin for an easy scoring chance, but Quick bailed out his defenseman with a lunging glove save.

It was one of 34 stops for the 38-year-old backup, who stood tall in the face of fairly consistent Pens' pressure. They spent much of the final 20 minutes pinning the Rangers in their own zone, but Quick held firm with 15 saves in the third period.

He's now 15-5-2 with a .916 save percentage this season, with Saturday representing career win No. 390. That moved Quick passed Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek for 16th in NHL history.

"He was fantastic," Laviolette said. "The four (goals) were not his fault. I thought he was unbelievable tonight the way he played the game. We’ve got to tighten things up. ... But he was on point, for sure."

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Postgame takeaways: Artemi Panarin propels Rangers with 5-point game