PITTSBURGH — Kris Letang scored a power-play goal 1:38 into overtime Sunday to give the Penguins an emotional 3-2 win over the New York Rangers at PPG Paints Arena.
The Penguins have now won seven of their last nine games and two in a row.
For the second time in the last three games, the Penguins blew a third-period lead against a team with which they are jostling for playoff positioning. On Sunday, they were up 2-1 heading into the third but were unable to sit on the lead.
The Penguins had the better of the scoring chances in the first two periods against the high-risk Rangers. Rangers backup goalie Jaroslav Halak made several quality stops to keep it close. Then the visitors pushed hard in the final frame.
Tristan Jarry smothered a shot from a streaking Vincent Trocheck and later turned aside a spinning try from Jimmy Vesey. But Chris Kreider beat Jarry blocker-side to score a controversial tying goal with 10:51 left in the third period.
Trocheck rocked Evgeni Malkin with a legal hit in the neutral zone. Malkin returned the favor, dumping the Upper St. Clair native in Rangers territory. As Malkin was in the process of turning the puck over, Trocheck hit him from behind.
Malkin dropped to the ice, clutching his head. No penalty. The crowd roared. The Penguins complained. Then Kreider scored on the ensuing 3-on-2 rush.
That was one of several moments Sunday in which tempers flared between the division rivals who went the distance in the first round last postseason.
Jacob Trouba struck again, drawing the ire of the Penguins with a high, hard hit on Alex Nylander in the second. He popped Nylander in the shoulder a split second after Nylander tipped the puck into New York territory. Trouba was not penalized. Malkin, however, went to the box with a retaliatory penalty.
In overtime, the Penguins got their power play when Malkin leveled Artemi Panarin, then Panarin tripped up Malkin, his Russian countryman, in frustration.
The Penguins and Rangers play two more times this week, both in New York.
Rickard Rakell’s power-play goal gave the Penguins an early lead. The Rangers took three penalties in the game’s first six minutes. The Penguins made them pay on a 5-on-3, with Rakell rifling in a one-timer from atop the right circle.
New York tied it later in the first with a goal from fourth-liner Barclay Goodrow.
Jason Zucker, the NHL’s hottest goalscorer at the moment, netted another to put the Penguins up 2-1 early in the second. They pounced on an Adam Fox turnover, then Zucker’s shot from the point caromed in off of Mika Zibanejad.
Zucker has scored in four consecutive games. And his nine goals in the last eight games are the most in the league since Feb. 26. That is more goals than he had all of last season, when a core muscle injury rendered him ineffective.
ICE CHIPS
— Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov didn’t play in the third period after he apparently got injured. Rakell briefly went to the dressing room in the third but returned.
— Coach Mike Sullivan stuck with the same lineup that he used in Saturday’s win over Philadelphia. Nylander again skated on the second line. Rakell and Mikael Granlund teamed up on the third. Jeff Carter was the fourth-line center.
—For the third consecutive game, Kulikov played over Pierre-Olivier Joseph.
— Nick Bonino and Ryan Poehling continued to be sidelined by their injuries.
— The Penguins during Sunday’s pregame warmups donned special jerseys that honored Pittsburgh’s first women’s hockey team, the Pittsburgh Pennies.
COMING UP
Penguins players have a scheduled day off Monday. They will be back on the ice Tuesday, when they host the Montreal Canadiens at PPG Paints Arena.
