The outside noise surrounding the Rangers has been jackhammering on the walls of the locker room for weeks.
On perhaps the loudest day of the season, however, the Blueshirts were able to focus on the game at hand.
In this case, a 4-2 win over the Penguins Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers were intent on dialing in to the game at hand Friday morning despite early news that captain Jacob Trouba was to be held out of the game for purposes of “roster management.”
Trouba was ultimately traded to Anaheim later in the day, in exchange for defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and a conditional fourth-rounder in 2025, before the puck was even dropped.
It was, of course, not unexpected given both the offseason saga with Trouba and president and general manager Chris Drury’s league-wide message eliciting trade partners — citing Trouba and Chris Kreider — that was made public at the end of last month.
That presumably did not make it any easier for the Rangers to keep their attention solely on the Penguins.
It was imperative for the Rangers to do so.
The cushion the Rangers built on a 5-0-1 getaway has vanished amid the 1-6 stretch the team carried into Friday night’s contest, which resulted in an eight-point gap between them and the third-place Hurricanes in the Metropolitan Division standings at the start of the game.
With Carolina set to face the Islanders on Saturday, the Rangers were able to cut it to a six-point difference.
Igor Shesterkin may have just become the highest-paid goaltender in NHL history with an eight-year, $92 million deal, but Artemi Panarin remains the highest-paid player on the Rangers for a reason.
Panarin scored two of the Rangers’ three goals in the win, giving the star Russian wing his team-leading 30th and 31st points on the season.
The Penguins may have managed to even the score at two-all less than 6 ½ minutes into the third period, on a goal from Philip Tomasino, but the Rangers continued to play with pace and urgency.
Reilly Smith later cleaned up a rebound off a Rangers odd-man rush opportunity before Vincent Trocheck chipped in another to secure the victory and snap the Penguins’ four-game win streak.
The Rangers were sharp and alert Friday night, a natural byproduct from knowing all eyes in the NHL were on them.
After a scoreless first period, however, the Penguins struck first on a goal from Blake Lizotte at the 6:19 mark of the middle frame.
Moving the puck up through the neutral zone quickly, the Rangers seamlessly entered the Penguins’ zone before Alexis Lafreniere dished to Panarin in the high slot to even the score at one-all.
Panarin broke out his signature leg kick celebration and all.
Then, with seconds left in the second, Panarin picked up speed entering the O-Zone as three Penguins skated around him. Panarin whipped the puck right under the left pad of Pittsburgh goalie Alex Nedeljkovic to give the Rangers a one-goal lead going into the final frame.
