(AP) — Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust each scored a power-play goal as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Tuesday night to stop their seven-game winning streak.
It was the first meeting between the division rivals since their first-round playoff series last season. New York rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to eliminate Pittsburgh, winning Game 7 at home in overtime.
Sidney Crosby scored his 18th goal and had an assist for the surging Penguins, who have won eight of nine. Pittsburgh is 15-3-2 in its last 20 games overall.
Tristan Jarry made 26 saves and extended his winning streak to seven. He also has a career-best 13-game point streak, tied for the fourth-longest in team history.
Chris Kreider scored twice for the Rangers, who lost for the third time in 11 games. Igor Shesterkin stopped 21 shots but lost on the road in regulation for the first time this season.
Kreider scored off the rush 22 seconds in when he sent a puck toward the net from the side wall that deflected past Jarry. Pittsburgh native Vincent Trocheck extended a five-game point streak with his first of two assists on the night.
New York took control for a while, but couldn’t finish. The Rangers were awarded three power plays and hit three posts in the next period and a half, while the Penguins couldn’t manage a shot for more than 10 minutes.
Malkin tied the game with a power-play goal at 14:24 of the second. He beat Shesterkin with a blocker-side wrist shot from the top of the left circle, as Pittsburgh scored a power-play goal for the ninth straight game. Malkin has a nine-game point streak and he tied Sergei Fedorov for the second-most points in NHL history among Russian-born players.
Rust scored a second power-play goal in the final 15 seconds of the period. He tipped Pierre-Olivier Joseph’s shot behind Shesterkin to put Pittsburgh in front.
Crosby gave the Penguins a 3-1 lead when he tucked a backhand between Shesterkin’s legs 8:40 into the third. Kreider scored his second of the game 1:23 later to get the Rangers back within one.
