NHL : Crosby leads Penguins
Sidney Crosby scored the only goal of the shootout, and the Pittsburgh Penguins used three special-teams goals in the third period to rally to a 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night at New York.
Crosby, the last of six shooters, squeezed a shot between Henrik Lundqvist’s pads.
Pittsburgh erased a two-goal deficit with back-to-back short-handed goals by NHL leader Jordan Staal and Colby Armstrong, and forced overtime with defenseman Sergei Gonchar’s goal with 6 minutes left in regulation.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 32 saves in his second straight strong start following a benching. He then turned aside Michael Nylander, Jaromir Jagr and Petr Prucha in the shootout. Nylander and Jagr had both scored in regulation for the Rangers, 2-3-2 in their past seven as they try to stay in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Jagr nearly scored in the shootout, but fell to 0 for 4 this season when Fleury stopped him with his pads. The Rangers captain was roundly criticized for declining to take part in the tiebreaker against New Jersey on Feb. 22 when New York lost.
Blair Betts scored a power-play goal to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead, but Lundqvist – who made 30 saves – couldn’t protect it.
Avalanche 6, Blackhawks 1: At Chicago, Brad Richardson had a goal and an assist in Colorado’s victory over the Blackhawks.
Blues 3, Islanders 2 (OT): At Uniondale, N.Y., Lee Stempniak’s power-play goal 25 seconds into overtime gave St. Louis a come-from-behind victory over New York.
Panthers 2, Stars 1 (OT): At Sunrise, Fla., Olli Jokinen scored a power-play goal in overtime as Florida defeated Dallas.
Lightning 5, Capitals 4 (SO): At Washington, Nick Tarnasky scored the lone shootout goal in the 10th round, goalie Johan Holmqvist was perfect in 10 chances during the tiebreaker and Tampa Bay beat the Capitals.
Flyers 4, Bruins 3 (OT): At Boston, Scottie Upshall scored with 9.9 seconds left in overtime to lift Philadelphia to a win over the Bruins, who got 51 saves from Tim Thomas.
Wild 5, Oilers 0: At Edmonton, Alberta, third-string goalie Josh Harding stopped 30 shots, Pavol Demitra and Marian Gaborik had two goals and an assist apiece, and Minnesota beat the Oilers.
Canucks 4, Coyotes 3: At Vancouver, British Columbia, captain Markus Naslund scored with 4:14 left in the third period to lift the Canucks to a win over Phoenix.
Kings 4, Ducks 3 (OT): At Los Angeles, Jamie Lundmark tied the game with 8:49 left in the third period and Michael Cammalleri got the winner on a power play at 3:17 of overtime, giving the Kings a victory over Anaheim.