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National Hockey League
Pittsburgh 5, NY Rangers 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, March 25, 2019
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Referees: Pierre Lambert, Chris Rooney
Linesmen: Brad Kovachik, Brian Murphy
Attendance: 17401

Matt Cullen scored the tiebreaking goal in the second period, rookie Teddy Blueger scored twice, and the Pittsburgh Penguins scored five unanswered goals in a 5-2 victory over the host New York Rangers on Monday night.

Pittsburgh (42-24-11, 95 points) won its third consecutive game and moved into a tie for second place in the Metropolitan Division with the New York Islanders. The Penguins and Islanders are one point behind the Washington Capitals for the division lead.

Cullen scored his first goal in 28 games by ripping a high wrist shot off the crossbar from the right circle to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead at 7:17 of the middle period.

Blueger added a short-handed goal nearly five minutes later by backhanding Bryan Rust's pass from behind the net past goaltender Alexandar Georgiev. Blueger added insurance 7:38 into the third by tapping a rebound under Georgiev. The goal stood after the Rangers challenged.

Nick Bjugstad scored late in the first period and defenseman Justin Schultz tallied early in the second on the power play as Pittsburgh improved to 14-4-4 in its past 22 games.

Matt Murray made 33 saves and improved to 6-0-0 lifetime against the Rangers in the regular season. He also improved to 8-2-2 in his past 12 starts.

Sidney Crosby had an assist, and Phil Kessel and Marcus Pettersson added two assists apiece for the Penguins, who played without Evgeni Malkin (upper-body injury) for the fifth straight game and also scratched defenseman Kris Letang (upper-body injury).

Brendan Lemieux and Vinni Lettieri tallied for the Rangers, who lost for the sixth time in seven games. New York (29-33-13, 71 points) was denied in its bid for its first consecutive wins since winning three straight Jan. 15-19.

Georgiev allowed five goals on 36 shots.

The Rangers went ahead at 8:25 of the first period when Pavel Buchnevich whipped a cross-ice pass to Lemieux, who one-timed the puck from the right circle over Murray.

Lettieri made it with 4:45 left when he fired a slap shot from the left circle over Murray's stick for his first goal of the season. Just 26 seconds later, Bjugstad swept a rebound off Georgiev's pads into the net.

The Penguins tied the game 61 seconds into the second when Schultz blasted Crosby's pass from behind the net past Georgiev.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Pittsburgh   NY Rangers
Teddy Blueger 2 Points Brendan Lemieux 1
Teddy Blueger 2 Goals Brendan Lemieux 1
Phil Kessel 2 Assists Pavel Buchnevich 1
Justin Schultz 1 Power Play Goals Vinni Lettieri 1
Teddy Blueger 1 Short Handed Goals N/A
Matt Murray .943 Save Percentage Alexandar Georgiev .861
Matt Murray 33 Saves Alexandar Georgiev 31
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Pittsburgh 36 5 1-3 2-3 6 27
NY Rangers 35 2 1-3 2-3 6 24
Upcoming Games
  • NY Rangers will play their next game on the road against Boston. The Rangers have a W/L % of .300 after a win and .444 after a loss.
  • Pittsburgh will play their next game at home against Nashville. The Penguins have a W/L % of .561 after a win and .528 after a loss.