Chris Kreider scored the go-ahead goal at 11:45 of the third Thursday to give the New York Rangers a 4-2 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins.
In a seesaw game, Kreider fought off Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin near the slot, then swept the puck past the right skate of goaltender Tristan Jarry to make it 3-2.
Kreider added an empty netter with 49.2 seconds left.
It was the second of three games this week between the clubs. Pittsburgh (34-24-10, 78 points) won at home Sunday 3-2 in overtime, and they play again Saturday in New York.
Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist and Tyler Motte scored for the Rangers (39-19-10, 88), who are 4-0-1 in their past four.
New York goaltender Igor Shesterkin made 30 saves.
Rickard Rakell had a goal and an assist, Jake Guentzel scored, and Sidney Crosby added two assists for the Penguins (34-24-10), who lost their second straight.
Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry made 31 saves.
Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry left at 5:12 of the first after he took an elbow to the face from Motte as the two collided.
Zibanejad scored his team-leading 35th at 2:51 of the first. Artemi Panarin banked a pass off the right-wing boards to set up Zibanejad for a breakaway. Zibanejad went backhand to forehand and shot the puck over Jarry’s glove.
Pittsburgh top-line right winger Bryan Rust went to the bench briefly after blocking a shot, and Rakell took Rust’s spot with Crosby and Guentzel. Crosby intercepted a pass behind the New York net and fed Rakell with a backhand pass. Rakell lofted a one-timer over Shesterkin to tie it at 14:40 of the second.
The assist gave Crosby 82 points, assuring him of averaging a point per game for the 18th time, one season behind NHL leader Wayne Gretzky.
Motte restored the Rangers’ lead 2:13 later. He pilfered the puck from Penguins defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph and shot it under Jarrys’s pads.
Guentzel tied it 2-2 with his 30th at 9:09 of the third. He was alone in the slot when he took a feed from Crosby for a shot under Shesterkin’s pads.
–Field Level Media
