A third period marred by Pittsburgh penalties resulted in the Penguins dropping their Tuesday night matchup at Madison Square Garden. The Pens amazingly killed off two 5-on-3 advantages, but limited their chances to tie it up after the Rangers scored four goals on Marc-Andre Fleury in the second period.
In the third, Pittsburgh cut the lead to one on a Pascal Dupuis shot during a delayed penalty call. The play was set up by Sidney Crosby, who took the puck off the boards and away from Ryan Callahan. Crosby took the puck to center, drew the penalty call on Callahan and lost the puck. With the pressure put on by Crosby, Rangers' defenseman Dan Girardi could not handle the puck in front, putting it right on the stick of Dupuis who went up high to beat Henrik Lundqvist. It was Dupuis's seventh goal of the season.
The Penguins seemed to wear down the Rangers midway through the third period, after they got caught on a couple extended shifts. But any momentum Pittsburgh had was quickly erased when the Rangers went on a 5-on-3 advantage for nearly a minute and a half. Just as the advantage was ending, Brooks Orpik upended Ryan Callahan, who was trying to post up in front. Orpik was whistled, giving the Rangers 30 more seconds of a two man advantage. The Pens killed off both 5-on-3 situations, while resting Crosby and Malkin for a four minute stretch.
A Chris Kunitz boarding penalty with three minutes remaining limited the Pens comeback opportunities. In the final minute, with Kunitz exiting the box and Marc-Andre Fleury exiting the ice, the Pens really put the pressure on Lundqvist but the close calls would not find the back of the net.
The Penguins have one day off before they travel down I-95 to face a struggling rival, the Washington Capitals on Thursday night at Verizon Center.
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