Pens beat Devils to pull within point of Rangers

PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby hadn't scored at home in four months. Then one brilliant sequence ended the drought.

The Pittsburgh star intercepted a pass, pirouetted around a pair of New Jersey defensemen, broke in all alone on Martin Brodeur and flipped a wrist shot into the back of the net early in the third period in the Penguins' 5-2 victory last night. "It's not unlike Sidney Crosby to do that," coach Dan Bylsma said.

Crosby's last goal at Consol Energy Center came in his electric season debut on Nov. 21. He played only eight games before heading to injured reserve when concussion-like symptoms resurfaced, then missed more than three months.

Though he'd been steady since his return March 15 -- picking up nine assists in his first five games -- he didn't score his third goal of the season until Saturday in an 8-4 loss to Ottawa.

The Penguins knew they needed to rebound quickly to keep pace with the Rangers in the battle for the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference crowns. When Ilya Kovalchuk's goal 3:37 into the third period cut Pittsburgh's lead to 3-2, Crosby went to work.

Flashing the speed and creativity that made him arguably the best player in the world before he suffered a debilitating concussion in January 2011, Crosby's fourth goal of the season deflated the Devils. "That hurts a little bit when you do make it 3-2, you get some life, and they get one back," New Jersey's Zach Parise said. "That was frustrating."

Evgeni Malkin scored into an empty net for his 46th goal and added an assist to push his points total to 97, tops in the NHL. With seven games left, Pittsburgh has 100 points to the Rangers' 101.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game," Crosby said. "We did some good things. I still think we got better, which is a good thing. To bounce back that way after giving up eight goals and not playing the way we wanted to was important."

The Devils are 1-3-1 in their last five games. "You want to get into the playoffs as soon as possible and you want to get in feeling good about yourself and not just dogging it in," Brodeur said. "We're doing a lot of good things. We've had a rough patch, but we've played some really good hockey teams lately."