PITTSBURGH — Sometimes — most of the time, really — Game 1 is just one game of a best-of-seven with minimal enduring consequence.
But not this Game 1 of Rangers-Penguins, on Wednesday night. And not this Period 1 of Round 1.
Because in this period, the Rangers not only failed to take advantage of the fact the Penguins were forced to start third-string goaltender Jeff Zatkoff in the wake of head injuries to Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray, but also the Blueshirts lost Henrik Lundqvist to a right-eye injury.
And, poof, just like that, the singular advantage the Blueshirts brought into this series had evaporated into the night that ended in a 5-2 defeat in their worst Game 1 performance of any playoff series since facing Buffalo in the second round in 2007.