Penguins pull away from Rangers for 7-2 win
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins got goals from seven players Tuesday and beat the New York Rangers 7-2 at PPG Paints Arena to gain a share of the Eastern Conference lead.
Pittsburgh (21-7-5) has at least one point in a season-high ten games in a row (8-0-2) and is tied with the Rangers (23-10-1) with 47 points, although the Penguins have two games in hand.
New York had won three in a row and six of seven. It had allowed six goals combined in those seven games, with two shutouts, but ran into a Pittsburgh club that can be explosive.
A 1-1 tie after one period, with goals by Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and New York's Matt Puempel, blossomed into a 3-1 Penguins lead after the second, with Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel scoring.
Michael Grabner scored from the left edge of the slot to bring the Rangers to within 3-2 1:52 into the third, but Justin Schultz got the puck through a crowded crease at 4:11 for a 4-2 Pittsburgh lead.
Bryan Rust and Patric Hornqvist, who broke an eight-game goal drought, scored on tip-ins, with Hornqvist logging the Penguins third power-play goal, for a 6-2 lead. Nick Bonino scored with 10.9 seconds left for the final score.
Malkin had two assists, Crosby one, to go with their goals. Malkin moved into the team lead with 37 points.
Pittsburgh was coming off two quiet games offensively, overtime losses with one goal total. But the Penguins reverted to the form that carried them to 39 goals during a seven-game winning streak prior to the two overtime games. Their seven goals came on 47 shots, with New York goaltender Antti Raanta stopping 40 of them. Raanta was 3-1 with two shutouts in his previous four starts.
Pittsburgh goalie Matt Murray made 25 saves to improve to 11-0-2 at home.
The Penguins got a four-minute power play in the first when New York's Kevin Klein high-sticked Carl Hagelin. Pittsburgh needed more than 3-1/2 minutes of that to cash in.
Crosby scored his league-leading 22nd goal on a deft deflection on a shot/pass from Ian Cole at the right point. From the slot, Crosby directed the puck high over the blocker of Rangers goaltender Antti Raanta at 5:55.
The Rangers tied it 1-1 at 16:59 of the first when Puempel's uncontested shot from the left dot skipped off of goaltender Matt Murray's glove and over his shoulder.
Malkin restored Pittsburgh's lead, 2-1, at 7:32 on a one-timer from the top of the right circle off of a pass from Chris Kunitz.
Kessel upped that to 3-1 at 8:53, another power-play goal, with a shot that went in off of Raanta's body and then his skate.
NOTES: Rangers RW Rick Nash missed the first of what coach Alain Vigneault said would be two and probably three games because of a groin injury. ... New York gave G Antti Raanta the start after he dressed as G Henrik Lundqvist's backup the previous three games. ... Pittsburgh G Matt Murray started for the sixth time in seven games. ... D Chad Ruhwedel made his Penguins debut, replacing D Steve Oleksy in the lineup. Ruhwedel previously played 33 NHL games, all with Buffalo. ... D Trevor Daley (upper-body injury) skated on his own in full gear before Pittsburgh's morning skate. ... The Penguins also scratched RW Tom Kuhnhackl (lower-body injury). ... The Rangers also scratched D Adam Clendening.