New York, NY (Sports Network) - Sidney Crosby's power play goal with 3.3
seconds left in the third period gave the Penguins a 6-5 victory over the New
York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
The goal capped a four point game for the 19-year-old Crosby, who also had
three assists. Ray Whitney added two goals for Pittsburgh and netminder Marc-
Andre Fleury stopped 37-of-42 shots in the victory.
Jaromir Jagr had a goal and two assists and Michael Nylander finished with a
goal and an assist for the Rangers.
Henrik Lundqvist stopped 16 shots in the loss.
Jagr was whistled off the ice for hooking with 1:03 remaining. Crosby fired a
pass from the right boards and the puck deflected of the skate of the Rangers'
Aaron Ward and past Fleury.
"I could have picked a better position to not line up and block the pass in
front of the goalie," said Ward. "I should have stepped out to the side. You
feel bad for Hank (Lundqvist) As a defenseman you don't wanna be the catalyst
to their goal."
The Penguins won in their road opener. Last season they had 10 victories
outside of Pittsburgh, the second-worst mark in the NHL.
Pittsburgh had no power play goals coming into the game and the Rangers only
had one, but everything was being called on both sides by the officials. The
end result was both teams combining for 18 penalties (nine aside) and seven
power play goals, including four for Pittsburgh, in a see-saw matchup.
The scoreless first period was anything but uneventful. The two teams combined
for 18 shots. There were also five power play opportunities, but neither side
lit the lamp.
Both teams got more aggressive in the second, triggering an offensive
explosion, but it was the Penguins that got on the board first. Pittsburgh
rookie Jordan Staal recorded his first career NHL goal with his team
shorthanded, charging down the ice on a breakaway and poking the puck past
Lundqvist to make it 1-0 at the 3:23 mark.
The Rangers responded quickly. First, Jagr knotted the game less than two
minutes later on a play that started with a missed shot by Ryan Malone at the
other end. New York picked up the puck, charged the opposite direction and
Nylander dished to Jagr, whose wrist shot beat Fleury to tie the game at 4:45.
New York took a 2-1 lead less than two minutes later. Matt Cullen got credit
for his second goal of the season after the momentum of his shot knocked the
puck off Fleury's right skate and trickled between his pads.
Pittsburgh answered when Kristopher Letang also notched his first career NHL
goal on the power play. After some good puck movement by the Penguins, Letang
fired a wrist shot from the top of the right circle, threading the disc
through an open lane and into the net at the 9:15 mark.
The Rangers broke through on their sixth power play opportunity with 4:52 left
in the second. With Sergei Gonchar in the box for interference, the Rangers
worked off the rush. Adam Hall took the shot off a perfect pass from Martin
Straka, sent the puck up high and just underneath the crossbar.
Pittsburgh finally wrapped up the burst of second period goals by tying the
game just 47 seconds later. With the Penguins once again on the power play,
Mark Recchi passed to Crosby, who found Michel Ouellet out in front of the net
for the score.
Pittsburgh went ahead with just 1:01 gone in the third after capitalizing on a
mistake by the Rangers' Jason Ward, who lost the puck after almost scoring
shorthanded. The Penguins took control and Whitney's quick release on a pass
from Crosby found the nearly-empty net to make it 4-3.
"We did pretty well tonight," noted Crosby. "We have to continue to adjust.
Teams are going to start to study our power plays. They had a few power plays
but both sides were clicking."
The Rangers came right back, as Nylander's one timer on the power play tied it
again with 13:51 left in regulation.
Whitney's second goal of the game, only 53 seconds later, gave Pittsburgh the
lead back.
Shanahan's late-tying power-play tally at 11:12 in the third gave him 602
goals, moving him into sole possession of 14th place on the all-time list.
