NHL Game Summary - Pittsburgh at NY Rangers
New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Sidney Crosby picked up his first two goals of the postseason and Pittsburgh emerged with a narrow 4-3 decision over the New York Rangers in Game 2 of this Eastern Conference quarterfinal on Saturday.
Chris Kunitz chipped in a goal and two assists with Brandon Sutter adding a score and a helper for the Penguins, who dropped a 2-1 decision in Thursday's series opener.
Marc-Andre Fleury ended up with 23 saves.
"It would have been tough for us to go down two games," Fleury said. "We played a full 60-minute game and hung in there. It is a nice feeling to get the win."
Derek Stepan, Derick Brassard and Rick Nash tallied for the Rangers, who fell after coming up empty on six of seven power-play opportunities.
Henrik Lundqvist stopped just 18 shots.
Game 3 is set for the Steel City on Monday night.
"I think it is on us. It's totally not good enough in a playoff game," Nash said. "We gotta make it our goal to get inside and make them make great saves."
Sutter had a clear rush on the right wing during New York's first advantage of the second period but rang his shot off the near post. He eventually connected at the tail end of the Pens' first power play at the midway point of regulation to knot the game at 1-1.
Crosby cleaned up a Patric Hornqvist rebound and the visitors led 2-1 at 14:07, and the club captain put the Penguins up 3-1 with 1:14 left before the second intermission by redirecting a Kunitz feed in the slot.
Fleury withstood a constant barrage on the Rangers' initial power play in the third period, making four saves until a Mats Zuccarello shot eluded him and Brassard slammed the puck home at the right post at 3:16.
Kunitz delivered an insurance goal for Pittsburgh while up a man, following a Sutter rebound and scoring on the backhand inside the right post at the 9:41 mark of the final period.
Lundqvist was summoned to the bench for an extra skater with more than 2 1/2 minutes to play, but a tripping penalty to Chris Kreider seconds later negated the edge.
Pens defenseman Ben Lovejoy barely missed a chance to seal it at the empty net inside of 40 seconds left, and after two subsequent faceoffs inside the attacking zone, the hosts eventually capitalized on a Nash rebound with 5.1 showing.
Max Lapierre's last-second try to the vacant cage made it over the goal line, but just after time expired.
A deliberately paced opening period opened up when the Rangers were given a power play on an Ian Cole high stick just shy of the 12-minute juncture. Though the hosts failed to convert, they took a 1-0 lead a short time later as J.T. Miller fed Stepan, who beat Fleury from the right wing at 17:05.