Rangers shut out Penguins as Jonathan Quick makes 32 saves

PITTSBURGH — The Rangers have won a lot of games this season, and a lot of close games, including some that seemed improbable. All season long, they’ve managed to find different ways to win.

On Wednesday, against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins, it was the penalty kill and the goaltender, Jonathan Quick, who were the biggest stars for the Blueshirts.

Quick made 32 saves, including one from point-blank range by Sidney Crosby, with 11 seconds left, and the Rangers' penalty kill went 5-for-5 in a 1-0 victory at PPG Paints Arena.

Alexis Lafreniere’s goal in the first period held up as the game-winner and the Rangers bounced back after Monday’s loss with their 11th win in 13 games (11-1-1).

“It was a really good division game,’’ Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “I thought our guys came out really well and did a good job, especially in the first period just getting right back on it [after losing Monday].

“We got ourselves a lead and continued to push. They had some chances [but] I thought, defensively our guys were really working, and I thought ‘Quickie’ played unbelievable. And we walk away with a big win.’’

For Quick, the shutout was his second of the season and the 60th of his career. He is the all-time leader in that category among American-born goaltenders. And after the Rangers got a power play with 2:43 left but failed to score an insurance goal, he needed to make one last great save on Crosby to finish the job.

Quick came out and made a shoulder save on a hard wrist shot from Crosby, who was all alone in front after a taking a cross-ice pass from Evgeni Malkin.

“I know he’s over there, and he has a little space, so I’m just trying to cut the angle down a little bit, so it’s a little less net to shoot at,’’ Quick said.

Lafrenière opened the scoring at 5:10 of the first period when Mika Zibanejad intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and sent a quick pass to spring him for a breakaway.

Lafrenière calmly pulled the puck to his backhand and roofed a shot over Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry (35 saves) for his eighth goal of the season to open the scoring. For Zibanejad, the assist was his first point in five games.

“I just decided, last-second, to go backhand,’’ Lafrenière said. “I didn’t see much [of an opening] to shoot it, so I tried to make a move and lucky enough, it went in.’’

The Penguins thought they’d tied it just as a penalty to K’Andre Miller was expiring, when Alex Nylander — called up from the minors earlier in the day — fired a shot through traffic that got past Quick and went in with 4:30 left in the period. Quick, who had lost his catching glove before the shot, pleaded his case to the referee, but to no avail.

However, the Rangers challenged the goal, alleging Pittsburgh had been offside when it entered the zone. After a brief review, the goal was disallowed. It was the first challenge situation that had gone the Rangers’ way this season, while opposing teams have challenged goals by the Rangers four times and those goals have been overturned each time.

The Rangers held the edge in shots on goal in the first two periods, 15-9 in the first and 17-8 in the second, but they couldn’t tack anything on to Lafrenière’s goal. In the third period, the Penguins threw everything at the Rangers’ net, outshooting the visitors 15-4. Three Pittsburgh power plays in the period helped the Pens take control of the game.

“You know they're going to make a push, right? “Going into third period and they're down one,’’ Quick said. “We put them on the power play a couple times, they were able to create a little bit of momentum off that. But all in all, like the way we come back protect (our end), block shots, we did a great job in our ‘D’ zone.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.