NEW YORK – Sidney Crosby scored his first goal of the 2014 playoffs, and Marc-Andre Fleury earned his second shutout of the New York Rangers in two nights as the Pittsburgh Penguins regained home-ice advantage with a 2-0 victory Monday night in Game 3.
Crosby snapped a 13-game goal drought in the playoffs to give the Penguins the lead in the second period, and Jussi Jokinen added a breakaway goal. Fleury stopped 35 shots to back up his 22-save effort Sunday in a 3-0 win in Pittsburgh. He has eight career postseason shutouts and 51 wins.
The Penguins, who lost the opener in overtime, lead the Eastern Conference semifinal series 2-1. Game 4 is Wednesday in New York.
Henrik Lundqvist made 13 saves for the weary Rangers, who played for the fifth time in seven days. They have consecutive losses in these playoffs for the first time.
The tide turned in Pittsburgh’s favor in the second period for the third consecutive game. Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said earlier Monday that he “hated” the second period in Games 1 and 2, and he couldn’t have liked this one, either.
New York had 2 minutes, 15 seconds remaining on a 4-minute power play that began in the first period but couldn’t cash in. To make matters worse for the Rangers, Crosby took a long stretch pass from defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, outraced Marc Staal and beat Lundqvist between the pads from the left circle just 19 seconds after James Neal left the penalty box. It was Crosby’s 41st career playoff goal.
Although Crosby didn’t score in Game 2, he played a dominant game.
The Penguins struck for their second goal, again, right after killing a penalty. Jokinen jumped out of the box and got to a loose puck in the neutral zone after Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello failed to connect on a backward pass in the Pittsburgh end.
Jokinen came in alone on Lundqvist and scored his fifth of the playoffs with 4:40 left in the second – 8 seconds after his penalty ended.
The Rangers were suddenly down 2-0 and had the weight of their anemic power play enveloping them even more. They finished 0-for-5 and have failed on 34 consecutive advantages overall – including one in the final minutes.
Lundqvist was sharp early for the second consecutive night and turned aside Chris Kunitz on a breakaway, during New York’s first power play.
Crosby among finalists for the Lindsay
TORONTO – Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks and Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers are finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award.
The award is presented annually to the Most Valuable Player in the NHL, as voted by members of the NHL Players’ Association.
The three centers also are the finalists for the Hart Trophy, the NHL award given to the player considered most valuable to his team.
Crosby scored 36 goals and led the league in assists (68) and points (104) to capture his second career Art Ross Trophy and lead the Penguins to their second consecutive division title. Crosby won the award in 2007 and 2013, and was a finalist in 2010.
Getzlaf scored a career-high 31 goals and ranked second in the league with 87 points to lead the Ducks to the top record in the Western Conference for the first time in franchise history. He had a 14-game point streak from Nov. 15-Dec. 15 (six goals, 11 assists). No Ducks player has won the honor.
Giroux matched a career high with 28 goals and finished third in the NHL scoring race with 86 points to help the Flyers bounce back from a 3-9-0 start this season. He’s looking to become the first Flyer to receive the award since Eric Lindros in 1995.
