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Penguins Take Commanding 3-0 Lead Over Rangers

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New York Rangers 5-3 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals series. Marc-Andre Fleury was huge in net as he stopped 36-of-39 shots and Hart Trophy finalist Evgeni Malkin loomed large with 2 powerplay goals and an assist. The Penguins’ special teams were the difference, however, as they went 2-for-2 on the powerplay and killed off all 5 New York powerplays, including two 5-on-3 chances for the Rangers. The Penguins remain unbeaten in the playoffs, becoming just the 11th team in the NHL’s long history to win the first 7-games in a playoff. The last team to do so was the 1994 New York Rangers, who ultimately went on to win the Stanley Cup that year.

In the 1st period, the Penguins jumped out to a quick lead at 1:02 on a beautiful passing play by the Penguins top line. Sidney Crosby stripped the puck off from Jaromir Jagr in the neutral zone and passed it up to Pascal Dupuis. Crosby then rushed the net and redirected a hard shot by Dupuis onto the net. Henrik Lundqvist made a beautiful pad save on Crosby, but failed to control the rebound which came off of his pads and onto the stick of Marian Hossa. Hossa wasted no time as he buried it in the Rangers’ net to make it 1-0. The Rangers bounced back at 14:32 as Martin Straka took advantage of a mad scramble in front of the net and threw the puck over a sprawling Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury had his hands full with Jaromir Jagr and two of his own teammates all in the crease and pushing on the net. The play was ultimately reviewed to confirm that the goal went into the net before it was dislodged. Jaromir Jagr and Paul Mara picked up the assists on the play. But less than 2-minutes later while playing on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Petr Sykora, Georges Laraque found the corner of the net over Lundqvist’s shoulder to make it 2-1. Malkin and Sykora got the asissts on the goal. The Penguins then found themselves on a 4-minute powerplay after a high-sticking call on Ryan Callahan for catching Hal Gill in the nose. The Penguins wasted little time as Evgeni Malkin blasted his 4th of the post-season into the net to make it 3-1. Sergei Gonchar and Marian Hossa set up the Malkin goal. At the end of the 1st period, the Penguins found themselves up 3-1, despite being outshot 15-9. The Penguins were 1-for-1 on the powerplay in the period.

In the 2nd period, the Rangers poured it on as they outshot the Penguins 14-4. Early in the period, the Penguins found themselves in penalty trouble as Sykora, Dupuis and Orpik all took back-to-back overlapping penalties that resulted in two 5-on-3 chances for the Rangers. But the Penguins were phenomenal on the penalty kill as they have been all series, and shutout the Rangers on the man advantage. As the period wore on, Jaromir Jagr and Martin Straka picked up their game to a frenetic pace to get themselves back in the game, and it worked. At 12:07, the Rangers finally managed to beat Marc-Andre Fleury as Ryan Callahan got his 2nd goal of the post-season from Scott Gomez and Sean Avery. Then at 13:11, Jaromir Jagr came around from behind the net and picked the high corner over Fleury’s right shoulder to tie the game 3-3. Scott Gomez and Martin Straka picked up the assists on the play. At this point in the game, the momentum had clearly shifted to the New York Rangers who were out-hustling the Penguins on every shift. Penguins’ coach Michel Therrien took a very wise timeout at this point in the game to slow the pace down and to chirp at his players. At 15:56 of the period, Ryan Hollweg took a bad boarding penalty on Petr Syokora that ultimately put the momentum back at the Penguins end of the ice. On the ensuing powerplay, Evgeni Malkin scored his 2nd of the night with another one of his signature blasts from the high circle area. Sergei Gonchar and Sidney Crosby picked up the assists on the play, as the Penguins restored a 1-goal lead.

Image details: Pittsburgh Penguins v New York Rangers – Game Three served by picapp.com

In the final period, the Penguins were outshot 10-4 but managed to score the only goal of the frame to make it 5-3. At 2:30, Kris Letang let a shot go from the point that was redirected between the legs of Henrik Lundqvist by Ryan Malone, who was left standing all alone 10-feet in front of net. Pter Sykora picked up the other assist on the play.The Penguins successfully killed off 2-penalties in the period, and were afforded no powerplay of their own, as they went on to win the game 5-3.

• VIDEO:  Game Highlights
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Rosters
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Summary
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Boxscore
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Play-by-Play

For the Penguins, Evgeni Malkin picked up 3-points (2G, 1A), Marian Hossa (1G, 1A), Sidney Crosby (2A), Sergei Gonchar (2A), and Petr Sykora (2A) all notched 2-points. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 26-of-39 shots for a 0.923 save percentage.

The Penguins return to Madison Square Garden on Thursday night where they will be given the opportunity to sweep the series and keep their undefeated post-season record alive to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Penguins can thank their brilliant goaltending, solid defensive play, and pheneomenal special teams for their success so far this post-season. The Penguins have also found offensive contriubutions from all four lines. It is undeniable that this team has the momentum and the skill to go a long ways in this post season, as long as they continue to play their game.

Penguins Shutout Rangers in Game 2

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon 2-0 to give them a 2-0 lead in the best of 7 series.  Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside all 26 shots thrown at him by the Rangers offense to post his 2nd career playoff shutout.  With his first career shutout coming in game 1 during the first round against the Ottawa Senators, Fleury and his Penguins teammates have yet to lose a game this playoff season.  The Penguins have now won their first 6 playoff games, a first in Penguins franchise history. 

In the 1st period, the Penguins poured on the offense and put up 8-shots before the Rangers were able to record their 1st attempt on net.  Ultimately, the Penguins outshot the Rangers 14-10 in the period, the most open of the 3-frames.  The Penguins went 0-for-2 on the powerplay, but managed to put up 8-shots during the man advantage.  More importantly, the Penguins penalty kill was pehenomenal as it held the Rangers to just 4-shots in 3-attempts.  Despite it all, both goaltenders were flawless in the 1st period as it ended 0-0. 

In the 2nd period, the play tightened up as both teams put 9-shots on net.  The Penguins converted on their only powerplay of the period after Chris Drury took a hooking call at 12:22.  The Penguins were pressing hard on the powerplay with Ryan Malone and Marian Hossa both missing on excellent chances in front of Lundqvist.  Then at 13:55, with Jordan Staal posted in front of Lundqvist, Evgeni Malkin took the puck into the corner and made a hard cross-crease pass.  Jordan Staal stopped the puck on his backhand, moved it quickly to his forehand and lifted it over Lundqvist’s right pad as he was moving right to left.  The goal was Staal’s 2nd of the post-season and was assisted by Evgeni Malkin and  Ryan Whitney.  The Penguins successfully killed off the only penalty they had, a hooking call to Marian Hossa. 

In the 3rd period, the Penguins outshot the Rangers 9-7 and fought off a couple of late penalties to hold on for the win.  At 13:54, Petr Sykora was called on a high stick, but the Penguins managed to kill it off.  During the kill, the Rangers did manage to poke the puck through Fleury’s pads and into the net, but the play had already been blown dead by the referee who had lost sight of the puck.  Then at 17:38, Hal Gill took a cross-checking call and went to the box.  Because of the timing of the call and the desparate need for the tying goal, the Rangers were able to pull Henrik Lundqvist to gain the 6-on-4 advantage.  The Penguins defense and Marc-Andre Fleury were up to the task however, as they turned aside every attempt to keep the lead.  Then with just 17-seconds left on the clock, Adam Hall threw the puck up the wall on a clearing attempt and the puck deflected off the glass and down the ice into the empty net to make it 2-0.  At the final buzzer, a scrum broke out as Sean Avery confronted Marc-Andre Fleury for lifting his stick into Avery’s groin area.  Fleury’s actions were in response to two stick whacks that Avery placed on Fleury behind the play.  Hal Gill immediately came to the aid of Fleury and drove Avery up against the boards as other players came streaming in. 

• VIDEO:  Game Highlights
• VIDEO:  Post Game Press Conference w/Michel Therrien
• VIDEO:  Post Game Player Interviews
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• AUDIO:  Mike Lange Highlights
• AUDIO:  Rink Rat Report  
• AUDIO:  Post Game Hotline
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Rosters
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Summary
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Boxscore
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Play-by-Play

The Penguins travel to the New York Garden for games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Thursday.  The Penguins have yet to beat the Rangers at the Garden this season.  The last time the New York Rangers came back from a 2-0 playoff series defecit was in the first round 1996 matchup against the Montreal Canadiens.

Image details: New York Rangers v Pittsburgh Penquins – Game Two served by picapp.com

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