If it sounds fickle, that’s the way it’s been for the goaltenders in this series between two of the NHL’s top-scoring teams.

Game 1 was tight checking. Two was a Lightning blowout. Three was a shootout and the last one Lundqvist stole for the Rangers with a 38-save performance in a 5-1 win that evened the series at 2-all.

Lundqvist was special in Game 4 after giving up 12 goals in losing the previous two games.

Now the focus is on Bishop heading in Game 5 on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden. The big goaltender, who has a 10-2 career mark against the Rangers, has given up 10 goals in the past two games.

”I just don’t think you get here to this point in the season and even into the playoffs without having a goaltender, a guy that bails you out when you need to be bailed out,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said Saturday. ”Ben Bishop has bailed us out some games. Have we bailed him out?

”Sure we have sometimes. But for the most part, Bishop has been rock solid for us. Especially for a kid that’s not played in an NHL playoff game before, there is a brighter light on him, and all he’s done is passed every test that gets sent his way. ”

Like Rangers coach Alain Vigneault, Cooper had no intention of switching goaltenders, calling the suggestion ”preposterous.”

Bishop didn’t play poorly in Game 4. The five goals came on a breakaway by Rick Nash, a rebound by Chris Kreider, a Keith Yandle shot that went off a Lightning defender, and two power-play goals, including Nash’s second on a rebound.

While not happy about giving up 10 goals in two games, Bishop reacted much like Lundqvist after his struggles. He planned to learn.

”You never want to give up 10 goals in two games, but we did,” he said. ”We’ll go back and look at it, and adjust.”

Despite the Rangers’ margin of victory, the Lightning had the better of play at times, particularly in the second period. The game could easily have been another shootout had Tampa Bay buried its chances.

”Every game is a new game,” Rangers forward Martin St. Louis said. ”The stuff that might work in Game 3 might not work in Game 4, and it comes down to making good reads sometimes and look sharper at other times in games. Depending on how you’re reading the rush or reading the play, do you pull back or do you jump in a lot?

”You really have to be aware of everything that’s going on the ice and making the best move you can.”

Not only did Lundqvist rebound in Game 4, the Rangers also got big games from Nash and St. Louis. A 42-goal scorer in the regular season, Nash got his first two goals of the series on Friday and St. Louis scored his first of the playoffs this season after failing to convert several outstanding chances.

”It’s a struggle when you’re not scoring,” Nash said Saturday. ”I think it tests you mentally, it tests you emotionally. But at the end of the day it’s not about you, it’s about the team and anything you can do to help the team win. If the team’s winning, you’re obviously happy and smiling.”

The Rangers’ also have produced on the power play, getting two extra-man goals in each of the past three games. They are 6-for-13 during that span.

”I think we’ve just got to play better,” Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn said. ”There are a lot of aspects of the game that go into playing defense. Obviously, our penalty kill, we’ve got to make sure we shut them down and defensively we’ve got to pick things up.”

NOTES: Six of the Rangers’ last 12 playoff series have been tied 2-all, dating to the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against Ottawa in 2012. New York is 4-1 in those series. …New York has allowed two goals or fewer goals in 12 of 16 playoff games this year. …Lightning captain Steven Stamkos has scored in three straight games and five of his last six.

—

AP Sports Writer Fred Goodall in Tampa, Florida, contributed to this report.

The post Lightning’s Ben Bishop on spot after giving up 10 goals appeared first on IdealCapper.

Lundqvist stopped 38 shots to rebound from two subpar performances and help the Rangers shut down the Lightning 5-1 on Friday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.

”People are going to wakeup in the morning, and look at the box score and say, `Oh wow’ Tampa got waxed,”’ Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. ”But if you’re in the building you probably don’t see it that way.”

Rick Nash had two goals and an assist, and former Lightning captain Martin St. Louis ended a playoff scoring drought with a third-period goal for New York. The Rangers evened the best-of-7 series 2-2 heading back to New York for Game 5 on Sunday night.

”We’ll have to respond,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. ”We have to be better next game. It’s 2-2. It’s a best two out of three now. We’ll have to win one on the road.”

Lundqvist allowed 12 goals in losing Games 2 and 3, but redeemed himself by handling nearly everything the speedy and skilled Lightning threw at him.

”Again and again made important saves,” Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman said of Lundqvist. ”That’s him.”

Stamkos scored for the third straight game, briefly making it 1-1 before New York’s Chris Kreider and Keith Yandle struck within a 2-minute span for a 3-1 Rangers lead.

With the Lightning’s Nikita Nesterov in the penalty box for high-sticking St. Louis, the star of Tampa Bay’s 2004 Stanley Cup championship team delivered his first goal this postseason to make it 4-1 with just under 15 minutes remaining. Nash added another power-play goal at 11:33 of the third period.

The Lightning outshot the Rangers 39-24 but couldn’t rattle Lundqvist, who rejected Stamkos from point-blank range and moments later stopped Alex Killorn on a breakaway during one sequence with Tampa Bay trying to get back in the game in the second period.

Lundqvist stopped 18 of 19 shots in the period, and had 13 more saves in the third.

”The first two periods we had a ton of chances,” Killorn said. ”Seemed like they were getting a couple of bounces. That’s just the way it is.”

Earlier Friday, Lundqvist reiterated after the morning skate that he still had confidence in himself and that one of the keys to rebounding as a team would be not trying to do anything special Friday night, but rather just ”do our jobs.”

”The last 48 hours or so, it’s been pretty tough trying not to over analyze or complicate things,” Lundqvist said. ”Soul searching.”

”I feel like the entire team stepped up tonight. It feels so good when you’re feeling like you’re doing it together and not just one or two guys.”

In seven games against the Rangers, three of them in the regular season, the Lightning have scored at least five goals on Lundqvist four times. They had six on the road in Game 2, and six more during Wednesday night’s overtime victory that left New York searching for answers to playing better defense in front of him.

Nash led the Rangers with 42 goals during the regular season, but only had two in 15 playoff games before Friday night. The 1-0 lead held up until the Lightning broke through during a frenzied stretch of the second period in which Tampa Bay outshot New York 11-1 and failed to convert two power-play opportunities before Stamkos tied it with his sixth goal of the playoffs, a slap shot from the right circle that skipped up over Lundqvist.

It didn’t take the Rangers long to respond.

Kreider scored at 15:16 of the second when Kevin Klein’s shot caromed off Bishop directly to the New York center in front of the net. Yandle’s goal less than 2 minutes later hit defenseman Victor Hedman’s foot and squirted through to put New York up 3-1.

Yandle finished one goal and two assists. Klein and Kevin Hayes each had two assists for the Rangers.

NOTES: Lightning D Matt Carle didn’t play after leaving in the first period of Game 3 with an undisclosed injury. … Nash organized a team trip to see the movie ”Entourage” Thursday night. … Killorn has three goals and three assists in the past three games. … Tampa Bay’s Steve Yzerman and New York’s Glen Sather joined Anaheim’s Bob Murray as finalists for the NHL general manager of the year award. The winner will be announced June 24 in in Las Vegas. Murray won last year.

The post Lightning stymied by Lundqvist in 5-1 loss to Rangers appeared first on IdealCapper.

Boston’s leading goal scorer during the regular season scored his first of the postseason with 4:20 left in the first overtime and the Bruins beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Thursday night in the first playoff game in 40 years between the Original Six teams.

“It’s always frustrating” not to score, Marchand said, “but there’s so many other areas of the game. It’s always nice to get the first one and you hope you just keep going.”

The win was Boston’s third straight in overtime, and New York’s third straight loss in extra time.

“I thought it was pretty even going into the overtime,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said. “But we got spanked in the overtime.”

Both teams advanced with Game 7 victories Monday night. The Rangers beat the Washington Capitals 5-0 behind Henrik Lundqvist’s second consecutive shutout. The Bruins overcame a three-goal deficit with 11 minutes left in regulation and beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 on Patrice Bergeron’s goal in overtime.

“I really thought our guys turned the page on that historical game,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said.

Marchand scored on a pass from Bergeron. Marchand had carried the puck up the right side, passed it to Bergeron and kept going toward the net. Bergeron passed across the slot and Marchand tipped it past Lundqvist from the left side of the crease.

“I told Marchand when we were pretty close to each other on the wall to go backdoor,” Bergeron said. “It was good to see him score because I thought he had some pretty good looks tonight.”

Boston outshot New York 16-5 in overtime.

“I kind of knew he was coming in the middle, but I was just too locked in on the puck,” Lundqvist said. “Sooner or later when you face a lot of chances like that, you’re going to make a mistake.”

The Bruins carried the play throughout overtime. They applied constant pressure, but couldn’t score during a power play when Derek Dorsett was penalized for interference at 2:20 of overtime.

Boston nearly won in regulation, but Johnny Boychuk’s shot from the right point clanged off the left post with one-tenth of a second remaining. Then he hit the left post at the other end of the ice at 6:34 of overtime.

Zdeno Chara gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 12:23 of the second before Ryan McDonagh tied it with 1.3 seconds left in the period. Derek Stepan put the Rangers ahead 2-1 just 14 seconds into the third period, and Torey Krug tied it on a power play with his first NHL goal in four career games.

“For his first goal, he couldn’t have asked for better timing,” Julien said.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals is Sunday night in Boston.

On Thursday, the Bruins played without three injured veteran defensemen: Andrew Ference, Dennis Seidenberg and Wade Redden. Three rookies started on defense: Dougie Hamilton, Matt Bartkowski and Krug, who was called up from Providence of the AHL after Seidenberg was hurt early in the first period Monday night.

The Bruins ended Lundqvist’s shutout streak at 152 minutes, 23 seconds when he gave up a Chara’s soft goal. Lundqvist appeared to have a good view of the 50-foot slap shot from just in front of the middle of the blue line and got a piece of the puck, but it trickled by him.

That lead nearly held up through the second period. But when Boychuk passed it from in front of his net to Tyler Seguin in the right circle, Rick Nash hit Sequin’s stick and the puck went to McDonagh at the left point.

McDonagh’s rising slap shot soared over the right arm of goalie Tuukka Rask. Stepan then made it 2-1 on a 30-foot shot from the slot through Rask’s legs, two goals in 15.3 seconds.

Krug tied the game with teammate David Krejci in front of the net trying to screen Lundqvist. The shot from just inside the top of the left circle went under Lundqvist’s left arm.

Then Marchand beat Lundqvist to win in the extra session.

“It was a tough overtime period for us. They came hard,” Lundqvist said. “My record is terrible in overtime, but I’ve just got to stick with it, play my game and hopefully it’ll turn around.”

Game notes

Stepan’s goal was the sixth against the Bruins in the first two minutes of a period in their eight playoff games. … The teams last met in the playoffs in 1973 when the Rangers won the first-round series in five games. The previous year, they faced each other in the Stanley Cup finals, and the Bruins won in six. … Both teams’ leading goal scorers in the regular season had no goals in eight playoff games heading in. New York’s Nash stretched that unwanted string to nine, but Marchand’s goal won the game. . … Boston’s Jaromir Jagr, a former Ranger, is the only player on either team who had been born the last time the teams met in the playoffs on April 10, 1973.

The post Brad Marchand, Bruins edge Rangers in OT to take series opener appeared first on IdealCapper.

That’s the main reason the Rangers are heading to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Led by Lundqvist’s 35 saves in a second consecutive shutout, and goals from some unlikely sources, the Rangers beat the Capitals 5-0 in an anticlimactic Game 7 Monday night, eliminating Washington for the second year in a row.

By winning a Game 7 on the road for the first time in its history, New York completed its comeback after trailing in the series 2-0 and 3-2 — the latest in Washington’s long history of playoff collapses.

“He was really good, but the team was also good, too. I have to give the team some credit. They played hard in front of him,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said, before making sure everyone knew this: “Henrik is our backbone.”

The last NHL goalie with shutouts in Games 6 and 7 of a series was Detroit’s Dominik Hasek in 2002 against Colorado, according to STATS LLC.

Lundqvist, Ovechkin said, did an “unbelievable job; he makes incredible saves.”

Sixth-seeded New York faces the No. 4 Boston Bruins in the second round.

Arron Asham put New York ahead Monday in the first period, before Taylor Pyatt and Michael Del Zotto made it 3-0 early in the second on goals 2:10 apart. Ryan Callahan added a goal 13 seconds into the third period, and when Mats Zuccarello scored with about 13½ minutes remaining, thousands of red-clad fans streamed to the exits.

Soon after, when Lundqvist fell forward to smother a puck, chants of “Hen-reeek! Hen-reeek!” from the no-longer-outnumbered Rangers supporters rose in the arena.

Asked why his team couldn’t score in the final two games, Capitals forward Troy Brouwer replied: “Henrik Lundqvist. Plain and simple.”

From the moment Mike Ribeiro’s overtime goal gave Washington a Game 5 victory, Lundqvist was simply superb.

The Swede stopped all 62 shots he faced in Games 6 and 7, showing exactly why he won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie last season and is a finalist this season.

“In a game like this, obviously you’re looking for a great start. I thought we set the tone in the first. You just need a couple of good bounces and we got them tonight. A couple of big goals for us,” Lundqvist said. “When we scored the fourth one, I thought, ‘OK, we got this.’ As long as it’s three, you never know with (the Capitals). They have so much skill, they can turn it around quickly.”

But Washington’s offense, led by two-time MVP Ovechkin, managed to score 12 goals the entire series — and zero over the final six periods.

Indeed, Ovechkin was held without a point in Games 3-7. The Russian wing led the NHL with 32 goals but he heads into the offseason after the longest playoff point drought of his career. He had a goal in Game 1, an assist in Game 2, and that was it.

Ovechkin delivered some big hits early in Game 7, but he was credited with only one shot by the end of the second period, which closed with some boos from the red-clad spectators in the stands.

New York’s top scorer in the regular season, Rick Nash, didn’t have a goal against Washington, but the Rangers found other players to pick up the slack.

While Callahan did have 16 goals this season, the other four Rangers who put pucks past Braden Holtby combined for a total of only 14.

The Rangers-Capitals finale began only a little more than 24 hours after the shoving- and wrestling-filled end of Game 6, which New York won 1-0 on Derick Brassard’s second-period goal and Lundqvist’s seventh career postseason shutout. That, of course, was played at Madison Square Garden, continuing the pattern of the home team winning each of the first six games of the series.

That ended emphatically Monday, in a Game 7 similarly anticlimactic to Washington’s 6-2 loss to Pittsburgh in 2009.

Since the start of the 2008 playoffs — when Washington’s core of Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green made their postseason debuts — the Capitals have appeared in nine series, and this was the seventh to last the full seven games.

They’re now 2-5 in those, and Ovechkin and Co. have never been beyond the second round. Going further back, to 1985, the Capitals have lost nine series in which the club led either 2-0 or 3-1.

Ovechkin, in speaking with a Russian reporter, said he thinks the league wanted a Game 7 in the series, citing a dearth of penalties against the Rangers, though he stopped short of accusing the NHL of match-fixing.

“The refereeing … You understand it yourself,” Ovechkin told reporter Slava Malamud, who translated his interview from Russian to English. “How can there be no penalties at all (on one team) during the playoffs?

“I am not saying there was a phone call from (the league), but someone just wanted Game 7. For the ratings. You know, the lockout, escrow, the league needs to make profit. … I don’t know whether the refs were predisposed against us or the league. But to not give obvious penalties (in the Capitals’ favor), while for us any little thing was immediately penalized…”

Still, there was not much Washington could do with the way Lundqvist performed, helping New York reverse a little bit of playoff misery of its own: Until Monday, the Rangers were 0-5 in Game 7s on the road.

On one spirited shift not quite midway through the opening period, Ovechkin delivered hard hits to John Moore, Steve Eminger and Ryan McDonagh, slamming the latter into the boards to draw loud cheers of “Ovi! Ovi!”

Moments later, 19-year-old Tom Wilson had a close, open look thanks to a steal behind the net by Matt Hendricks, but Lundqvist made the reflex save.

The Capitals had more and better early chances, generally keeping the puck at their offensive end, but it was the Rangers who went ahead 1-0 at the 13:19 mark of the first period — thanks to a quick rush when Washington didn’t get back on defense fast enough.

Green, who led NHL defensemen with 12 goals this season and scored the OT winner in Game 2, skated in for a 1-on-1 chance that Lundqvist kicked away. Tumbling to the ice, Green managed to swat the puck back toward the crease.

Again, Wilson was in the right spot. This time, though, the puck bounced over his stick, and the Rangers raced the other way for a 4-on-2. Chris Kreider, scratched for Games 2-5, sent the puck to Asham, whose shot from the top of the right circle zipped into a tough-to-find spot above Holtby’s shoulder and the crossbar.

It was fourth-line winger Asham’s second goal of the series, matching his output for the entire regular season — and doubling Ovechkin’s postseason total against New York.

Soon after, Ovechkin’s nice pass along the boards freed Jay Beagle for an attempt that Lundqvist batted away. Marcus Johansson was in position for a rebound but couldn’t get it in the net, either.

When Del Zotto’s wrister from the top of the left circle appeared to glance off Brouwer’s skate before sliding through Holtby’s legs, there were still nearly 35 minutes of regulation left, and yet the game felt finished.

The crowd, so boisterous earlier, went silent for stretches as Washington’s fans contemplated another early playoff exit.

Game notes

The Rangers will open on the road against the Bruins, who beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 in overtime in Game 7 Monday. … Ovechkin’s longest span without a point this regular season was three games, something he went through twice: Feb. 14-21 and March 9-12. The Rangers were the opponent in the middle game of both of those droughts.

The post Henrik Lundqvist gets 2nd straight shutout as Rangers ice Caps in 7 appeared first on IdealCapper.

With a thorough 4-1 victory Sunday, the Broadway Blueshirts took care of both.

Ryan Callahan scored a goal in the opening minute and another in the third period, and Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves as the Rangers eliminated the Devils from the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Callahan provided the lead 34 seconds in, Derek Stepan added a goal in the first period, and Taylor Pyatt snapped a long drought in the second for the eighth-place Rangers, who are inching closer to a playoff berth.

“It’s always nice to beat them,” said Brad Richards, who had two assists. “It was a big win for us. They’re out now, but that’s not why we were playing. We were playing because we need to stay alive. Now we’re down to nine teams, so the odds are better.”

Of the teams behind the Rangers, only Winnipeg can catch them. New York is even in points with seventh-place Ottawa, but the Senators have four games remaining — one more than the Rangers. Winnipeg is three points behind with three games left.

New York has won three straight and is 8-2-1 in its last 11. The Rangers aren’t looking too far ahead. After a trip to Florida and Carolina, they will wrap up their season at home Saturday against the Devils.

“We’re playing our best hockey we’ve played all year,” Callahan said. “Now is the time to do that. We’ve been playing playoff-style hockey the last couple of games. These are must-wins for us. It gives us a dress rehearsal for the playoffs.”

Callahan made it 4-0 at 5:13 of the third with a power-play goal, flipping a shot over sprawled-out goalie Martin Brodeur, who tried to poke away the puck. Brodeur heard derisive chants of “Mar-ty, Mar-ty” throughout and finished with 18 saves.

“It’s difficult to take,” Brodeur said of the elimination. “We’ve competed real hard all year.”

Lundqvist was solid in his 12th straight start, allowing only Andrei Loktionov’s goal with 6:30 remaining. The Rangers had more space between games recently. The extra rest has helped Lundqvist stay sharp.

He told coach John Tortorella he won’t ever ask out of the lineup.

“It’s like the playoffs have been going on for a couple of weeks,” Lundqvist said. “It’s fun to be out there. I don’t want to sit on the bench.”

The Devils won’t get a chance to defend their conference title. New Jersey had won two straight — including 6-2 on Saturday against Florida — following a 10-game skid (0-6-4).

“We pride ourselves on being there every year,” forward Stephen Gionta said. “Unfortunately, we’re not. It definitely hurts. The organization prides itself on winning and being in the playoffs every year. Anything less is a disappointment.”

Madison Square Garden fans serenaded the Devils with chants of “Season’s over” as time ticked down in the third.

“It hasn’t sunk in,” said Devils coach Pete DeBoer, who was ejected in the closing seconds for unsportsmanlike conduct. “You don’t want to think about it until it’s actually a reality. No other word but disappointment.”

The Devils had already been called for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, one that cost them a power-play goal, before DeBoer was ushered out.

“A little frustration on my part,” he said. “Two of our players were given unsportsmanlike conducts in an elimination game. The sensitivity of some of the officials is beyond me.”

With a 3-0 lead heading into the third period, the Rangers had all but sealed New Jersey’s fate. New York is 85-0-6 when leading after two periods, dating to Feb. 4, 2010.

The Rangers came out quickly, seemingly motivated to put the Devils away early. New Jersey knocked out New York in last year’s conference finals.

New York connected right away, scoring while Brodeur was looking the opposite way from where the puck was. Carl Hagelin worked to get free from defenders behind the net, and flung the puck in front to Callahan, who was near the left post.

While Brodeur had his head turned away from him, trying to find the puck he thought was behind the net, Callahan nudged it forward off of Brodeur’s skate and into the net for his 13th goal.

“They were waiting for us. We played yesterday,” Brodeur said. “They were able to score the first goal, and that made a big difference in the momentum.”

Game notes

Pyatt played in his 800th NHL game. … Rangers C Brian Boyle missed his third straight game because of a right leg injury. … Volchenkov returned after serving a four-game suspension for elbowing.

The post Ryan Callahan scores twice as Rangers eliminate rival Devils appeared first on IdealCapper.

“I wanted it so bad,” Fleury said. “I tried to not jinx it. I was touching wood, but yeah I was looking forward to getting it finally.”

The reeling Rangers offered little resistance.

Fleury stopped 23 shots for his 23rd shutout — one more than Tom Barrasso — and the Penguins beat New York 3-0 for their eighth straight victory.

Beau Bennett, Pascal Dupuis and Tyler Kennedy scored, and Dustin Jeffrey added two assists as the Penguins continued to dominate the series.

Pittsburgh has won seven consecutive meetings with New York, which lost for the fourth time in its last five games. Henrik Lundqvist made 24 saves for the Rangers, but New York failed to score for the third time this season. The Rangers, the best team in the Eastern Conference last spring, trail Pittsburgh by 14 points with six weeks left in the regular season and currently find themselves on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.

“It’s gut check time pretty much,” New York defenseman Dan Girardi said. “We’ve got to figure out what’s going on here and play with some serious desperation. We’re falling in the standings here.”

The Penguins continued to head in the opposite direction. Pittsburgh is in firm control of the Atlantic Division and in a race with Boston and Montreal for the conference’s best record thanks in part to a suddenly responsible defense.

The league’s most potent attack has a tendency to get a little loose with the puck from time to time, flubbing away turnovers that frequently put Fleury and backup Tomas Vokoun into tight spots. Those problems have disappeared in the last week. Pittsburgh has given up only four goals in its last four games and Fleury insists it’s not just by accident.

“For a while there we gave up a lot of goals but I think everybody kind of tightened up and we’re more conscious of our defensive zone, guys blocking shots and coming back in the zone to help out,” he said. “It’s been great for us.”

Fleury has been pretty good in his own right. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NHL draft is 10-1 in his last 11 decisions and has back-to-back shutouts against the Rangers.

Then again, the Rangers hardly put up much of a fight. New York didn’t record a shot for the game’s first 10 minutes and save for a brief burst at the start of the second period spent most of the game on its heels while losing its third straight. The Rangers have scored just two goals during the skid.

“I thought today we were in mud, we really struggled, but we righted the ship,” New York coach John Tortorella said. “I thought we played a good second period. I thought we were in a good spot going into the third period.”

Not for long. Kennedy drew a tripping penalty from New York’s Anton Stralman then cashed in a minute later when he rocketed a one-timer from the left circle past Lundqvist.

Less than 60 seconds later it was 3-0 as Dupuis scored his 14th of the season. The Penguins clamped down over the final 12 minutes, the only drama surrounding Fleury’s pursuit of the shutout mark. New York only really came close to scoring once, when a Carl Hagelin wrist shot knuckled off Fleury’s midsection, fell to the ice and laid tantalizingly close to the goal line. Fleury managed to put his glove on it before it could trickle into the net.

“I think you need a little bit of good bounces here and there to get a shutout and definitely tonight that was a good one there,” Fleury said.

The Rangers spoke openly before the game about the need to get off to a strong start to offset disappointing losses Buffalo and Winnipeg. It didn’t happen.

Bennett gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead barely 90 seconds in, taking a nifty tap pass off the boards from Jeffrey and blistering a slap shot from right circle over Lundqvist’s shoulder. Only brilliant play from the New York goalie prevented things from getting any worse for the Rangers, who needed more than 10 minutes to get off a shot and spent most of the first 20 minutes in a general malaise.

“We wanted to have a big first period and get some energy and … we ended up watching them play in our own end,” Girardi said.

It happened all too often on a day the Penguins showcased how wide the gap between two teams with Stanley Cup expectations is at the moment.

“That’s why (the Penguins are) where they’re at right now,” Tortorella said. “They seize those opportunities and they make a couple of big plays and we haven’t gotten to our identity consistent enough.”

Game notes

Penguins C Evgeni Malkin did not skate on Saturday and he remains out with an undisclosed upper-body injury. Coach Dan Bylsma says there is no timetable on Malkin’s return. The reigning NHL MVP has missed the last four games and eight of Pittsburgh’s last 11 … Pittsburgh hosts the Boston Bruins on Sunday. The Rangers are off until Monday when they host Carolina. … The Rangers scratched D Stu Bickel and Matt Gilroy while the Penguins scratched D Deryk Engelland and Roberto Bortuzzo along with Malkin.

The post Advertisement Marc-Andre Fleury sets Penguins shutout record in win appeared first on IdealCapper.

The injury didn’t hurt the Rangers in the short term as New York held on for a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night, but it could become troublesome if Callahan is sidelined for any length of time in this already shortened NHL season.

Callahan scored the eventual game-winning goal during a second-period power play and then got hurt in the third during a post-whistle scrum with Philadelphia’s Max Talbot, who dragged Callahan to the ice by his arm.

There was no immediate medical update regarding Callahan after the game.

The Rangers managed to kill two late Philadelphia power plays despite Callahan’s absence. New York turned aside five of six Flyers advantages, including a 5-on-3 edge in the second period.

“Cally does everything so well — the little plays, especially blocking shots,” said defenseman Michael Del Zotto, who had a goal and an assist. “The guys did a good job of gathering ourselves after he went off with that injury.”

The Rangers have largely relied on their top line of Rick Nash, Brad Richards, and Marian Gaborik to provide most of the offense. They sought outside help, and thought veteran Jason Arnott would join the mix, but a failed physical wrecked those plans.

Where secondary scoring will come from now remains to be seen.

Two goals were enough this time, largely because Henrik Lundqvist was sharp in making 26 saves. New York (3-3) has won two in a row for the first time.

Philadelphia (2-5) has dropped two in a row.

Kimmo Timonen ended Lundqvist’s shutout bid 7:09 into the third with a power-play goal after the Rangers were caught with too many men on the ice. Philadelphia’s power play failed twice in the second half of the period when the Flyers pressed for the tying goal.

“We have to be more hungry,” said Flyers forward Danny Briere, who tied a career high with 10 shots. “The 5-on-3 got us. It’s something we’ll have to look at.

“Their goalie is so good. You need a great shot to beat him.”

Ilya Bryzgalov, back in the net after his first game off, was solid in making 26 saves for Philadelphia.

New York got back at the Flyers after losing 2-1 last week in Philadelphia. Last season, the Rangers won all six games over the Flyers.

The Rangers, who have won three of four overall, have one game left on a three-game homestand that ends Thursday against Pittsburgh. New York rallied to beat Toronto 5-2 on Saturday with four goals in the third period.

“We’re trying to keep our game consistent,” Del Zotto said. “I thought last game we did a great job trying to gain our identity back. We followed up with, maybe it wasn’t the prettiest at times, but we found a way to win.”

It wasn’t easy. With the Rangers short-handed following a penalty for too many men on the ice, Timonen brought the Flyers within 2-1. He was left alone in the high slot when New York had all four players involved in a scrum in the right corner.

The power play for both sides told the story in the second period. Philadelphia was turned away by the Rangers during a 5-on-3 advantage that lasted for 1:17, and then allowed a power-play goal to New York 3:32 after the teams got back to full strength.

Philadelphia had a chance to at least get even after Richards was called for holding, and Derek Stepan took a delay-of-game penalty 43 seconds later.

Flyers coach Peter Laviolette used his lone timeout, but his club got very few pucks to the net despite controlling play throughout. Philadelphia had an added benefit when Jeff Halpern lost his stick in front, but still couldn’t create anything.

“We certainly had our chances,” Flyers forward Mike Knuble said. “It’s the little things. We started to wear them down but couldn’t cash in.

“They are great shot-blocking team. We were passing up some good opportunities. The 5-on-3 was a turning point.”

The Madison Square Garden crowd let out a roar when Stepan left the penalty box, and then had more reason to cheer when Callahan doubled New York’s lead.

The Rangers had scored only twice in 22 power-play chances over their first five games, and failed again on their lone opportunity in the first period. But Del Zotto got involved again to help New York net its second goal.

Nash took a shot from the high slot that Del Zotto tipped in front of Bryzgalov. Callahan got the rebound, calmly settled the puck down as he shifted to his right, and then slid a shot into the open right side at 11:31 for his second goal of the season and 200th NHL point.

The Rangers struck quickly after their top line couldn’t get the puck out of its zone during the game’s first shift.

New York worked the puck around in the Philadelphia end, and Del Zotto let go a shot from the left point that slid across the ice through a maze of legs and skates and found its way past Bryzgalov, who appeared not to see the puck as Brian Boyle and Benn Ferriero screened him.

Game notes

The teams will meet three more times, including twice in New York. … The Flyers are 2-for-27 on the power play in their five losses this season and 3-for-10 in their two wins. They have allowed only one power-play goal in their victories.

The post Ryan Callahan, Henrik Lundqvist lead Rangers over Flyers appeared first on IdealCapper.