Behind third-string goaltender Jeff Zatkoff and Patric Hornqvist's hat trick and one assist, the Pittsburgh Penguins continued their scorching-hot play from the regular season to defeat the New York Rangers 5-2 at CONSOL Energy Center in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference's first round on Wednesday night. Dating back to the regular season, the Penguins have won 16 of their past 18 games.
It was bad enough that the Rangers dropped their postseason opener, but they also lost star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist to an eye injury after one period of play. Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault told Tom Gulitti that he will be "day to day."
It overshadowed the blow Pittsburgh received before Game 1 began. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury had to sit out of Wednesday night's game because of lingering concussion symptoms.
Instead of having a goalie who recorded 35 wins with a career-best 2.29 save percentage, the Penguins were forced to go with Zatkoff, who went 4-7-1 in 14 appearances this season and never started a playoff game before Wednesday.
Zatkoff finished the regular season as the team's third ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Joe Pantorno
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