For the third time in 3 seasons, the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers have squared off in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Penguins took game one at home with a 5-2 victory that had Pittsburgh fans excited. Game two was a different story. Evgeni Malkin, an All-Star forward, returned to the lineup for the Pens after missing over a month with an upper-body injury. The team chemistry was on fire while he was hurt as the Penguins won 14 of the final 16 games of the regular season. His return excited people at first…but it didn’t last.
Kessel's 2nd. Staal's drop kick didn't stop the pass. #NYR #PIT #PITvsNYR pic.twitter.com/WxFfGTjHxK
— Dave Shapiro (@BlueSeatBlogs) April 16, 2016
Above is one of the two goals scored in the game for Pittsburgh. Both came from Phil Kessel.
No team in this league would be worse off for having Malkin in the lineup. #PITvsNYR
— A.L. Parker (@amyparker87) April 16, 2016
Here we have a fan making an ironic statement regarding Malkin’s return to the lineup.
Well. That was…something. Don't think it's time to panic yet. Still lots of hockey left to play. #LetsGoPens #PITvsNYR
— Rebecca (@rmhodg) April 16, 2016
This is another fan that is not too worried about one game. First team to four wins takes the series. Fir Rebecca, the return of Malkin has not doomed the team yet.
I thought the #Pens had their chances, more than enough to win, #Rangers goalie was unbelievable…the difference. #PITvsNYR
— Gary Paulo (@garypaulo) April 16, 2016
#Lundvqist was insane today. Wow. #PITvsNYR
— Garth Brown (@g62brown) April 16, 2016
The previous two tweets are talking about the great play of Ranger Goaltender Hendrik Lundqvist who came up huge after leaving Game 1 early with an eye injury.
Long series ahead for #PITvsNYR #StanleyCup
— Matt Maisel (@Matt_Maisel) April 16, 2016
Matt sums it up here in a short but very telling tweet. More excitement is expected from this series!