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Rangers beat Penguins to avoid being swept

BY STEVE ZIPAY | steve.zipay@newsday.com

May 2, 2008

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For all the talk about playing desperate, about playing one shift at a time, about playing as if they had nothing to lose, the Rangers still had to make a courageous stand against the potent Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden last night to avoid being swept.

Down 3-0 and on the brink of elimination in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Jaromir Jagr, Henrik Lundqvist and Brandon Dubinsky stepped up to lift a depleted Rangers team to a 3-0 victory that forced a Game 5 in Pittsburgh Sunday and extended their this-close-to-done season.

The 36-year-old Jagr, who leads all playoff scorers with 15 points, did it with a second-period goal and an empty-netter; Lundqvist, who had allowed 11 goals in the first three games, made 29 saves, including a glove save to deflect a Malkin penalty shot to preserve the 1-0 lead, and rookie center Dubinsky did it with second effort, by getting back on his feet after a crosscheck in front and spinning to slide the puck past Marc-Andre Fleury on the far side for an insurance marker 44 seconds into the third period.

"They played Game 4, we played Game 7," said Jagr, who heard thunderous "Ja-gr, Ja-gr" chants in what might have been his last game as a Ranger at the Garden. "The next game is Game 7 again for us. Hopefully, they're going to be a little bit nervous."

That's debatable. But for the first time in the playoffs, the Penguins didn't score on the power play, lost a game and their cool. Tempers flared in the third period, first after Dan Girardi decked Marian Hossa at center ice and Sidney Crosby and Malkin took a run at the Rangers defenseman, with both Penguins drawing penalties, and in the final seconds when Malkin started running amok and Paul Mara roughed him up.

The tone was set by Jagr, who finished a rush by beating Fleury five-hole for his fourth goal of the postseason at 12:45 of the second period after taking a mid-ice pass from Dubinsky, and then being clipped in the head by Brooks Orpik an instant after he released the shot. He was face down on the ice for about 30 seconds. "He is a driven man right now," Rangers coach Tom Renney said.

While Jagr gave the Rangers their first lead since Game 1 and led the offense, Lundqvist - who allowed five goals on 17 shots in Game 3 - excelled, especially in the second period, thwarting Malkin from in close with his right skate, denying Ryan Malone on a shorthanded breakaway, and with 2:07 left, holding his ground while Malkin waltzed toward him on the penalty shot after Malkin was pushed from behind by Girardi.

"It was good timing and we needed it," said Lundqvist, who recorded his second postseason shutout of his three-year NHL career. "We had some luck, but you earn the luck. It's not a new series, but hopefully we have them thinking."

That's what Hossa was thinking. "We have to learn from our mistakes and be strong in our building," the Penguins sniper said. "We don't want to come back here."

Without Sean Avery (spleen) and Blair Betts (fractured orbital bone) and with battered Chris Drury (ribs) at less than full strength, it was the first game that the Rangers' special teams dominated. They entered the game 1-for-14 on the power play but scored twice in seven chances and stifled the Penguins on their four man-advantages.

"On top of everything else, everyone feels a sense of urgency and it was a little bit disheartening what happened last game. We wanted to make a statement and get a little bit of revenge here," said Dubinsky, whose fourth goal and fourth assist tied him for the lead among rookies with eight points. "They just had our number. We'd been sitting back a little and let them have their way."

So it is on to Pittsburgh, where the Rangers lost the first two games and also lost three of four during the regular season.

"I would like to have a different motivation than fear," Jagr said. "It's not pretty."

Right now, it's all the Rangers have.

Notes & quotes: Betts will have surgery this weekend to repair the orbital bone, which was fractured when struck by a puck in Game 3 . . . D Jason Strudwick made his first appearance of the postseason, replacing Christian Backman.

Rangers vs. Penguins

Penguins lead series 3-1

Game 1: Penguins 5, Rangers 4

Game 2: Penguins 2, Rangers 0

Game 3: Penguins 5, Rangers 3

Game 4: Rangers 3, Penguins 0

Sunday: at Pittsburgh, 2 p.m.

TV: Ch. 4

*Monday: at Rangers, 7 p.m.

TV: MSG

*Wednesday: at Pittsburgh, TBD

TV: MSG

*if necessary

All games on WEPN (1050), WLNG (92.1) and WLIR (107.1)