Brad Richards and Mats Zuccarello scored in a shootout as the New York Rangers beat Pittsburgh 4-3 on Friday night to hand the Penguins a rare loss in the tiebreaker.
Benoit Pouliot scored twice in regulation for the Rangers, who bounced back from a home loss to Edmonton and won for the fifth time in six games. Dan Girardi had the other New York goal.
The Penguins had won all four of their previous shootouts this season and 14 of their past 15 overall.
Photo: AFP
Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves for the Rangers, running his winning streak to five games.
James Neal tied it for Pittsburgh with 2 minutes, 56 seconds left in regulation. Olli Maatta and Evgeni Malkin also scored for the Penguins, who lead second-place New York by 16 points in the Metropolitan Division.
The Penguins lost for only the second time in their past 18 home games, ending a five-game home winning streak against the Rangers that dated to 2012.
COYOTES 2, BLACKHAWKS 0
In Glendale, Arizona, Mike Smith stopped 30 shots and Phoenix became the first team to shut out Chicago this season.
Coming off a disappointing loss to Dallas, the Coyotes charged at the Blackhawks following a pregame ceremony honoring the 1980 US Olympic ice hockey team.
Keith Yandle scored 69 seconds in and had an assist on Radim Vrbata’s goal late in the second period. Smith made it stand up with some tough saves late in the third period, closing out his second shutout of the season.
Antoine Vermette extended his career-high point streak to nine games on Yandle’s goal in front of a raucous, sold-out crowd.
The Blackhawks allowed two power-play goals and head into the Olympic break off their first shutout since Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals against Boston last June.
In other play, it was:
‧ Hurricanes 5, Panthers 1
‧ Devils 2, Oilers 1, OT
‧ Sharks 3, Blue Jackets 2
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