Opportunity knocks again for Rangers

PITTSBURGH -- Wearing new pads and gloves, Henrik Lundqvist frustrated the Penguins Friday night, stopping 37 of 38 shots in a 3-1 victory, the goaltender's sixth straight win and the ninth in 10 games for the Rangers. But the Swedish netminder, who is 18-7-4, said it isn't necessarily the equipment that makes the man.

"I've been working on my stance and I pay more attention to my gloves," Lundqvist said. "I'm a reaction guy, not a block guy. But it all starts with my battle level. This year, I compete the way I want to compete."

In the first 10 or 12 minutes of the game, it appeared that the rested Penguins, who hadn't played in five days, were going to run the Rangers out of the CONSOL Energy Center. The Rangers, in the second game in two nights, looked as if they were skating in snowdrifts.

At 5:43, Ben Lovejoy scored his first goal of the season. Craig Adams drew defenders to the left boards, Lovejoy was alone in the slot and he beat Lundqvist through the five- hole. That was a good sign for the sellout crowd and the Penguins, who were 14-4-3 when scoring first. But coach John Tortorella called a timeout and the tide started to turn.

"I just wanted to let them know we're not mailing this in, because that's the look we had," Tortorella said, admitting that his players were tired.

Said Lundqvist, "[The Penguins] came out flying. We played more physical, that's what we corrected and the game changed."

The Penguins led 11-1 in shots, with the first Rangers shot coming at 11:08 of the period. That was Derek Stepan's backhand, which was turned aside by Marc-Andre Fleury.

But the Rangers managed to tie the score at 18:17. Brad Richards won a faceoff from the left circle and got the puck back to Ryan McDonagh, who barged down the boards and wristed a bad-angle shot in front. It hit Brandon Dubinsky and bounced to Richards at the top of the crease, and he slammed it home.

"We played ugly as hell, tired as hell,'' Richards said, "but we did everything we could, blocking shots and clearing the puck to hang in."

The Rangers, who lead the NHL in points with 56 (26-9-4), took the lead in the second with their sixth shorthanded goal of the season. With the score tied at 1, Marc Staal was whistled for a high-stick at 1:42, but Ryan Callahan broke down the right side on a three-on-one and deked a defenseman, allowing him to slide a pass to Dubinsky for a tap-in at the left post.

Dubinsky has scored four of his five goals in the last eight games. "He's coming. You can see his confidence," Tortorella said. "I think he's really helped Brad . . . He's beginning to be a bull."

Finally, misplays by Fleury and defenseman Zbynek Michalek proved costly as Stepan scored into a half-empty net at 1:20 of the third period. Fleury wandered into the right faceoff circle to corral a clearing pass but fanned on the puck. Marian Gaborik pounced and his backhander hit the post. Michalek retrieved the puck but gifted it to Stepan in front.