The Pittsburgh Penguins recovered nicely from their 6-2 blow out loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday afternoon. Hosting the Eastern Conference's best team, the Pens clamped down on the defensive end and were bolstered by a shut out from Marc-Andre Fleury. The Pens netminder stopped all 27 Ranger shots that came his way, and two second period goals were all Pittsburgh needed to get back on the winning track.
Evgeni Malkin broke a scoreless tie just a minute into the second period, firing a beautiful backhander on the breakaway to beat All-Star goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Kris Letang gave Malkin a pretty feed off the boards to initiate the breakaway for the NHL's leading points scorer. Steve Sullivan made it 2-0 on a power play slap shot that went right through traffic and into the back of the net.
Fleury then stood tall in final twenty minutes to keep the Rangers off the board. He tied a franchise record with his 22nd career shutout, pulling him even with Tom Barrasso. The Pens and Fleury now have three days off before hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon.
For more on the Penguins, check out PensBurgh. For more on the Rangers, there's Blueshirt Banter.