Rangers 2, Penguins 1
PITTSBURGH -- The New York Rangers built a two-goal lead, then held on for a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night at Consol Energy Center to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Left winger Carl Hagelin scored on a breakaway in the first period, and center Chris Kreider scored in the second period for a 2-0 New York lead.
Right winger Patric Hornqvist broke up a potential shutout for Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist with a third-period goal.
Game 4 is Wednesday night at Consol Energy Center.
Pittsburgh was sloppy with the puck in its own end early in the game, and a less-than-ideal line change assisted New York on the game's first goal.
In their end, the Rangers consistently pushed the Penguins to the perimeter or behind the net. By the time the Penguins got their first shot of the game -- a long-range launch by defenseman Ben Lovejoy that Lundqvist easily stopped at 15:10 of the first period with one second left on a power play -- the Rangers held a 1-0 lead.
With the Penguins handcuffed during a line change, Rangers defenseman Keith Yandle saw an opening and set up Hagelin, who drove down the slot. Hagelin's shot from just above the left hash marks slid under the pads of Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury at 8:43 of the first period.
New York outshot the Penguins 7-3 in the first period. Pittsburgh has just 13 first-period shots in the series.
The Rangers pushed their lead to 2-0 at 11:07 of the second period, shortly after a power play expired.
Pittsburgh and its fans were upset when a short-handed rush that included Penguins center Max Lapierre was thwarted when New York defenseman Dan Boyle got his stick blade under Lapierre's left arm but was not called for a penalty. When play came back the other way, defenseman Marc Staal sent a pass from the left point off of the end boards and directly out to Kreider, who had an easy tap-in at the right post.
Hornqvist pulled the Penguins within 2-1 at 13:12 of the third period in a scramble of players near the crease. After Lundqvist stopped a shot by defenseman Ian Cole, Hornqvist chipped the puck in.
Lundqvist made 23 saves in the win, while Fleury stopped 24 shots.
NOTES: Penguins RW/LW Beau Bennett, a first-round draft pick in 2010 who struggled to stay healthy and produce, sat in favor of rookie C/LW Scott Wilson. Bennett skated in the morning, but the club said he has an upper-body injury ... Pittsburgh D Christian Ehrhoff, who has a suspected concussion, did not participate in the team's morning skate and missed the game. ... The Penguins also remained without D Derrick Pouliot (upper body), although he did participate in the game-day skate. Pittsburgh also scratched rookie D Scott Harrington and veteran RW Craig Adams. ... Rangers D Keith Yandle skipped the game-day skate because he was not feeling well, according to coach Alain Vigneault, but Yandle was in the lineup. ... New York D Kevin Klein (broken arm) remains out. ... In addition to Klein, the Rangers scratched C James Sheppard and D Chris Summers.