Game 4 Recap: Rangers win, 3-0

Okay.

I guess it's only fair.

The Penguins can't win EVERY game.

They weren't going to sweep their way through 4 series for the franchise's third Stanley Cup.

The Rangers crystalized that reality last night in game 4, beating the Penguins 3-0, behind 2 goals (one in an empty net) and 3 points from Jaromir Jagr as well as a shutout from previously-absent Vezina trophy finalist Henrik Lundqvist, staving off elimination while reducing the Penguins lead to 3-1 in the series.

Game 5 is in Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon at 2 PM.

It's different having to write about a loss, that's for sure. But what decided game 4 was fairly simple, in my estimation.

It wasn't Jagr's play. Certainly, he certainly had another inspired game, getting the Rangers on the scoreboard first and getting up after a thundering check from Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik a second after he got New York on the board.

It wasn't even Lundqvist's goaltending. He, too, had an excellent game, stopping the Penguins on several opportunities throughout the game, following a miserable game 3.

However, in my belief, what decided game 4 was the Penguins' inability to capitalize on their scoring chances. Sure, Lundqvist deserves some credit. As I mentioned, he played well. But the Penguins didn't bear down enough when they had to offensively. The scoring chances missed were glorious, and there were many:

1) Malkin's penalty shot, which was miserable (I don't mind him going slow or looking high glove, especially late in a period and against a goaltender who's very good along the ice, but at least throw a nice shoulder deke in before you try to lift the waterbottle);

2) Malone's breakaway;

3) Staal's shot towards an open cage behind Lundqvist going against the grain and wide;

4) Sykora hitting the crossbar;

5) Both 2-on-1's that Malkin and Malone had, one where Malkin made a nice backhand/forehand move but didn't get the puck up, and another where Malone had a hard time corraling Malkin's flip pass that tipped off the Rangers' defenseman's stick

6) Hossa's multiple wide-open shots, from the slot and from outside, which he either missed or shot right into Lundqvist (if he only capitalized on 20% of his scoring chances, he'd have 20 goals by now)

7) Gonchar screaming in from the point with nothing but 35 feet of open ice in front of him and not being able to nail it with his slapshot.

It may have just been one of those nights. The pucks weren't bouncing the birds' way. It also was the first playoff game in which the Penguins didn't score a power play goal.

Pittsburgh also was a little sloppy and less disciplined than it usually is. The Penguins will have to tidy that up in game 5 if they want to close out the series.

Despite the loss, the Penguins still have to feel good about their chances. They haven't lost 2 games in a row in two months and are going back to their own barn for game 5, where they've only lost 2 times in regulation in 2008. Historically, the Penguins have won 10 of 14 game 5's at home. The Igloo will surely be racuous before a national audience on Sunday.

The reality is that the Rangers still have a long, LONG way to go. Aside from the 3-0 deficit they have to try and overcome, they've never beaten the Penguins in a playoff series. Whatever little hope they have from game 4's victory will almost assuredly be false promise.

The Penguins need to come out strong and snuff the Rangers out in game 5 because, from this point, if the Rangers continue to win, 2 things will happen with each passing game: The Rangers will have more and more momentum, and the Penguins will have more and more pressure. That's not a situation the Penguins want going into game 6 or, at worst, game 7.

It probably was good for the Penguins to have a dose of losing before they started to feel too invisible. They just have to make sure to keep that dose to a minimum.