Penguins hand Rangers another 1-0 defeat

The New York Rangers' Ryan Callahan, right, flies into the goal next to Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in the third period of their NHL clash in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday. PHOTO: AP

Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 36 shots in another strong start on Tuesday and the Pittsburgh Penguins won their third in a row by handing the New York Rangers their second successive 1-0 loss.

It marked the first time in the 82 seasons of the Original Six franchise that the Rangers absorbed back-to-back 1-0 defeats, Elias Sports Bureau data show.

Evgeni Malkin scored the only goal on a power play early in the second period to ruin a good night by Henrik Lundqvist, who made a succession of excellent saves while stopping 21 shots. The biggest stop came on Jordan Staal's penalty shot less than a minute after Malkin scored.

The Rangers, who lost 1-0 in a shootout at Boston on Saturday, have scored 13 goals in their first eight games.

That is their lowest total since netting nine in 1950. New York has gone 181 minutes, nine seconds without scoring an even-strength goal.

Thrashers 5, Maple Leafs 4, SO

At Toronto, Ilya Kovalchuk scored the winner in a shootout to give Atlanta a victory over Toronto after the Thrashers gave up the tying to goal to the hometown Maple Leafs in the closing seconds of regulation.

Actress Michelle Trachtenberg attends the NHL game between the Nashville Predators and the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The Kings won 6-0. PHOTO: AP

Kovalchuk, Tobias Enstrom, with his first NHL goal, Eric Perrin and Todd White scored in regulation for the Thrashers (2-7), who are 2-1 since general manager Don Waddell took over as coach after firing Bob Hartley.

Mats Sundin, Hal Gill, Nik Antropov and Alex Ponikarovsky scored for Toronto (3-4-3).

Antropov and Marian Hossa traded goals early in the shootout, and Kovalchuk ended it by flipping the puck over Vesa Toskala.

Kings 6, Predators 0

At Los Angeles, Jason LaBarbera made 17 saves to notch his second career shutout, Michael Cammalleri scored twice for an NHL-leading 10 goals, and Los Angeles handed Nashville its sixth consecutive loss.

The Predators were shut out for the second game in a row. They have been outscored 28-9 during the losing streak, their longest since they dropped six straight March 10-21, 2002. They have scored only one goal in three games.

Ladislav Nagy, signed as a free agent over the summer, had his first goal for the Kings, at 9:23 of the third, after assisting on two earlier scores. Cammalleri opened the scoring 6:09 into the game. Lubomir Visnovksy made it 2-0 later in the period.

In other games it was:

Blue Jackets 7, Blackhawks 4

Blues 4, Ducks 2

Avalanche 4, Oilers 2