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NHL scores 2016: Rangers topple dominant Penguins with secondary scoring, goaltending

The Penguins' home winning streak stops at six.

By Mary Clarke
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

It's been 33 days since Kevin Hayes last scored for the New York Rangers. Add 10 days onto that, and you'll get the last time Dominic Moore lit the lamp in a blue sweater.

Together, the pair combined for two-thirds of the Rangers' goals against the Penguins in a dominant 3-0 shutdown performance against one of the league's hottest teams.

It wasn't all Hayes and Moore's doing -- Henrik Lundqvist deserves a lot of credit here for a 34-save shutout performance that helped the Rangers to a fourth consecutive win. Still, on a night where New York mustered just 22 shots, their efforts are a big reason why the Rangers walked out of the home building of arguably the league's best team right now with one in the win column.

And to do it on key goals from their third- and fourth-line centers is all the more impressive considering the team they were facing.

To Pittsburgh's credit, they didn't play poorly. In fact, they dominated the majority of the game, leading the Rangers in shot attempts all game long with a corsi-for percentage of 64, via hockeystats.ca.

As big as Hayes' and Moore's goals were, the performance of Lundqvist cannot be understated here. Arguably the biggest catalyst for the Rangers recent surge, Lundqvist has shut the door throughout New York's streak, saving 103 of 108 shots over the last week.

A perfect cocktail of secondary scoring and stellar goaltending helped the Rangers keep pace with the Penguins for just Pittsburgh's second loss in eight games. Keeping that mix going will be key for New York if they want to stay ahead of the rising stock of Pittsburgh as the playoff race draws closer.

Scores

Detroit Red Wings 3, Ottawa Senators 1
New York Rangers 3, Pittsburgh Penguins 0
Vancouver Canucks 2, Arizona Coyotes 1

3 things we learned

1. The Penguins weren't the only ones to get shut down by the Rangers

Sidney Crosby also suffered at the hands of the dominant Rangers on Wednesday. For the first time since the end of October and just the fourth time this season, Crosby was held to no shots on goal in the Penguins' loss. The captain had the chance to become the first player since Mario Lemieux to have a 10-game home goal-scoring streak, but the staunch defense and otherworldly goaltending of Lundqvist had other plans for Crosby. Instead, the streak is broken, but Crosby will likely remain as hot as ever in spite of the loss, with the potential to climb back into the top five in the league in scoring as early as Friday.

2. Dion Phaneuf's debut with the Senators could have gone better

Though Phaneuf was not to blame for Ottawa's 3-1 loss to the Red Wings, the new Senators defenseman could have definitely had a better night.

Moments into his first few minutes in a Senators sweater, Phaneuf took a tumble to the ice while backchecking through the neutral zone unimpeded.

Then, Phaneuf got turned around on the Red Wings' second goal of the evening, as he allowed Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg to blow right past him for a goal that helped put the game away for the home team.

Certainly not the welcome party Phaneuf was looking for.

3. The Coyotes were on the wrong side of puck luck

It happens. Every team has those bad bounces go against them in critical moments of a game. This time, the Arizona Coyotes were on the receiving end of some bad puck mojo in what turned out to be the game winner for the Canucks. Jannik Hansen's initial shot from the far boards hit off not one, but two Coyotes on its way into the net for the 2-1 score. Hockey is a game of chaos, what can you do?

Impact Moment

The Penguins had their fair share of bad puck luck, as well, hitting multiple posts in their 3-0 shutout loss to the Rangers. This one from Conor Sheary might hurt the most, however.

Stat of the Night