Rangers try to climb out of 0-2 hole against Pens
Posted: Tue Apr 29 10:43 AM
(Sports Network) - The New York Rangers will try to avoid an 0-3 series deficit tonight, when they welcome the second-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins to Madison Square Garden for Game 3 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Penguins utilized their home-ice advantage in Games 1 and 2, winning both tests to take the two-game lead in the series. After rallying from three goals down to win the opener by a 5-4 count, Pittsburgh blanked the fifth-seeded Rangers, 2-0, in the second game at Mellon Arena.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves to notch his second career playoff shutout and extend the Pens' lead.
Fleury has been phenomenal in this year's postseason, going 6-0 with a 1.50 goals against average and .944 save percentage. The 23-year-old backstop is 14-1-1 in his last 16 games dating back to the regular season.
Jordan Staal and Adam Hall scored for the Penguins, who are 6-0 to begin a postseason for the first time in franchise history. The Pens swept Ottawa in four games to win their opening-round series.
Pittsburgh's longest winning streak in one playoff year came in 1992 when the Pens won their final 11 games to post their second straight Stanley Cup championship.
Henrik Lundqvist was the hard-luck loser for the Rangers, allowing one goal on 31 shots in defeat.
New York last won a series when trailing 2-0 in the 1996 conference quarterfinals, when it won the final four tests against Montreal to take the set in six games.
The Penguins last fell in a series when leading two games to none in 2000. That year Philadelphia took the final four tests to win the conference semifinals in six games.
While the Pens swept the Senators, New York also had an easy first-round series as it eliminated New Jersey, another division rival, in five games. The Rangers are in the conference semifinals for the second straight year, as they defeated Atlanta in the opening round a year ago before falling to Buffalo.
The Blueshirts haven't made it past the second round since losing to Philadelphia in the 1997 conference finals.
Pittsburgh is 3-0 all-time against the Rangers in the postseason, with the Pens' last victory coming in five games during the 1996 conference semifinals.
New York went 5-3 against the Penguins this year and the Blueshirts allowed Pittsburgh to score more than three goals against them just once during the regular season.
The Rangers had a solid 25-13-3 record at the Garden this season, while Pittsburgh was 21-17-3 as the road team.
The series will remain in Manhattan for Game 4, which is scheduled for Thursday at MSG.