The first period of Sunday’s matinee between the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers certainly wasn’t lacking in highlights, but the most eventful stretch came right in the middle of the frame.
In the span of less than two minutes, Pittsburgh and New York combined for three goals. The Rangers already had a 1-0 lead going into that stretch when Phil Kessel executed a great feed to Carl Hagelin for the Penguins’ first marker. Dominic Moore quickly regained the lead for New York, but just over a minute later Kessel fired a rocket of a shot off the rush to beat goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
You can see all three of those markers here:
With a goal and an assist already today, Kessel has six points in five contests this year. It also gives him 27 points in 27 career postseason games.
In terms of offensive production during the regular season, Kessel didn’t live up to the high expectations thrust upon him when the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired him from Toronto. However if he keeps making plays like these in the playoffs then whatever he did in the regular season will seem secondary.
The score remained tied for the rest of the first period, but the Penguins broke out in the second frame with goals from Bryan Rust, Matt Cullen, and Conor Sheary.