PITTSBURGH -- Let's be honest. This could have been an unmitigated disaster for the Pittsburgh Penguins at a time when they could ill-afford another unmitigated playoff disaster.
With their two top goaltenders unable to play because of injury, they turned to a 28-year-old who had never played in an NHL playoff game before and in fact hadn't even dressed for much of March and was scrambling to find time to get on the ice and get enough shots to stay sharp.
But the disaster never happened to goalie Jeff Zatkoff and it didn't happen to the Pittsburgh Penguins who, as they have throughout the second half of the season, simply faced another bit of adversity with a collective shrug of their shoulders as they whipped the New York Rangers 5-2 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series Wednesday night.