PITTSBURGH — There were two rookie defensemen in the lineup, and the Rangers hardly seemed worse for it.
Both Dylan McIlrath and Brady Skjei saw important minutes in the Blueshirts’ 4-2 win over the Penguins in Game 2 of this first-round series on Saturday afternoon at CONSOL Energy Center, now tied one game apiece as it goes back to the New York for Game 3 on Tuesday night.
McIlrath made his postseason debut and got 9:07 of ice time, playing sparingly over the final two periods, as righty veteran Dan Girardi sat out with an undisclosed injury.
“I just wanted to make sure when I was out there [that] I wasn’t getting hemmed in,” McIlrath said. “Luckily, we had a lot of offensive-zone chances early. So I’ll take the positives out of it.”
McIlrath, 23, did play 34 games for the Raners during the regular season, and his 6-foot-5, 230-pound frame could prove useful in grinding down the Penguins. Yet the speed was surely faster than what he was used to.
“They’re coming at you a lot quicker,” McIlrath said. “Now that they have three, four lines that are healthy and going, it’s definitely a lot tougher challenge.”
Skjei played in his second straight game as captain Ryan McDonagh remained out with his right-hand injury. He got 19:02, and was on often on the ice in the third period as the Rangers held a 4-2 lead.
“I thought Dylan played all right,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “I thought both he and Brady are being thrown [onto] the big stage. There’s a lot on the line. I thought they responded well. Both young men gave us some important minutes, hopefully as they continue to play, they’ll get better also.”
Center Derek Stepan had to leave the game after being plowed into the boards by Penguins defenseman Ben Lovejoy midway through the third period. He said he went through the concussion protocol, and was cleared to return to the bench soon thereafter.
As for the unpenalized hit, Stepan said: “I’m not going to comment on it. It’s out of my control.
“Obviously I feel like I’m in a pretty vulnerable position, but I can’t control anything like that.”
The Rangers are likely to make a few call-ups on Sunday, as AHL Hartford officially was eliminated from the playoffs.
Most likely among them would be veteran defenseman Raphael Diaz.
Vigneault has spoken about ideally wanting eight defenseman with his team, and with the status of Girardi unknown going forward — and with McDonagh only a slight hope to be ready late in the series — the right-handed Diaz could prove valuable.
The healthy scratches remained forwards Oscar Lindberg and Marek Hrivik.