The Pittsburgh Penguins had 1,123 penalty minutes in the regular season — the most in the N.H.L. — and were short-handed 277 times, the fifth-highest total. In Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Rangers on Thursday, the Penguins sent a cavalcade to the penalty box, taking four first-period penalties, which led to Ryan McDonagh’s decisive power-play goal in a 2-1 Rangers victory.
But this is the postseason, which means man-advantage goals are hard to come by, and although Pittsburgh has given the Rangers plenty of opportunities by committing 12 penalties in the first two games of the series, it has minimized the damage.