Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury had his shutout streak snapped, but the Penguins still ended up victorious, beating the New York Rangers 4-2 on Wednesday to take a 3-1 lead in the second round series.
Fleury, who had held the Rangers scoreless in the previous two wins, only faced 15 shots as Pittsburgh grabbed a commanding best-of-seven advantage to move one win from a second straight Eastern Conference final appearance.
The Penguins lost to the Boston Bruins in last year’s conference final.
Photo: AFP
Against New York, Pittsburgh used stout defense and forced the action.
“We went after them [New York] and didn’t sit back,” Pittsburgh center Sidney Crosby told reporters, after finishing with two assists. “We didn’t allow them to have much time and space.”
Brandon Sutter put the Penguins ahead 2-1 in the second period, while Jussi Jokinen and Chris Kunitz added scores in the third to clinch the win.
Left winger Carl Hagelin and center Mats Zuccarello scored for New York, who lost back-to-back games at home and three straight overall.
The Rangers never led in the game and spent most of the night chasing the play. They gave the puck away 25 times and won only 18 of 49 faceoffs.
“We didn’t pick a good night to manage the puck the way we did tonight,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. “I don’t want to take any credit away from Pittsburgh. They forced the play and they played a real solid game without the puck that obviously forced us into a lot of those turnovers.”
New York continued to struggle on their power-play and did not convert either of their two chances. The Rangers have gone scoreless in their past 36 power-play chances.
The Rangers will be looking to stave off elimination in Game 5, set for today in Pittsburgh.
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