Bruins vs Red Wings

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins had a sluggish start again on Monday, and the New York Rangers took advantage for a 2-1 win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Consol Energy Center.

Unlike in Game 1 of their best-of-7 series, the Penguins did not respond well from a porous first period to pull within one goal in the second and earn a puncher's chance to steal a win with ample time to spare. Unlike in Game 2, they did not respond from another lackluster first to control the majority of the final 40 minutes to earn an eye-opening win.

In Game 3, Pittsburgh started slow again. By the time it got going, it was too late.

"Tonight, I think, what we talked about before, sometimes at home, you get the energy and you try to do things and you try to force," Penguins coach Mike Johnston said. "I thought we forced a lot of plays in the first period. And really, we can't do that. We have to make sure we have better shot selection, get more pucks to the net. That's what's going to create the loose puck intensity."

The Penguins weren't drastically outplayed in the first period, because neither team played particularly well. The Rangers scored the period's lone goal when Keith Yandle sent Carl Hagelin on a breakaway, and Pittsburgh was caught during a botched line change.

PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins' top two centers are well regarded, but their third should not be overlooked.

Brandon Sutter plays in the shadows cast by Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. He is compared to former Penguins third-line center Jordan Staal, who won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2009 before being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes three years later for Sutter, defenseman Brian Dumoulin, and the eighth overall pick in the 2012 NHL Draft.

When compared to Crosby and Malkin, Sutter isn't as skilled. Some believe that holds true when measuring him against the standard Staal set on the Penguins' third line as well. But Sutter has been quietly productive, sometimes deadly, and oftentimes clutch through his first three seasons in Pittsburgh.

"I think you just go play, and hopefully good things happen," Sutter said. "You don't think too much about what exactly is going on. You just go play and try to do your part and if you get a goal that's great, but by no means do you measure your game on your goals and assists.

"You just go out and as long as you're playing well and doing things right, then hopefully you get rewarded."

For additional insight into the Eastern Conference First Round series between the Pittsburgh Penguins andNew York Rangers, NHL.com has enlisted the help of Dave Farrish to break down the action. Farrish will be checking in throughout the series.

Farrish was an assistant coach for the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs from 2005-14. He won the Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007. He also coached 1,027 games in the minor leagues, including the American Hockey League. In addition, Farrish, a former defenseman, played 430 games over seven seasons in the NHL.

Former NHL assistant coach Dave Farrish noticed shortly after the opening faceoff Saturday night at Madison Square Garden how much different the Pittsburgh Penguins' attack is when an effective Chris Kunitz is playing alongside Sidney Crosby instead of Daniel Winnik.

"They have good chemistry and they know where each other are," Farrish said. "Kunitz's speed and also with [Patric] Hornqvist's aggressiveness make them a really good match [with Crosby] and I thought they opened the game up. They were so aggressive and really persistent on the puck, and they created a lot of good scoring opportunities just through that."

Crosby scored twice and Kunitz had three points on a goal and two assists to help the Penguins defeat theNew York Rangers 4-3 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round series.

The best-of-7 series is tied 1-1 with Game 3 set for Monday at Consol Energy Center (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA, ROOT, MSG).

NEW YORK -- In typical Sidney Crosby fashion, he downplayed his game-changing two-goal effort Saturday. The thing is, this was hardly a typical performance for the Pittsburgh Penguins' captain, at least when you judge it against his recent past in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

He had scored one goal in his previous 19 playoff games; he had two in a span of 4:39 late in the second period Saturday.

"It's nice to score," Crosby said after helping the Penguins even the best-of-7 series at 1-1. "I mean, you want to contribute and there are so many details in the playoffs, but when you're able to score it definitely feels good."

NEW YORK -- There will come a point when the New York Rangers will need to make the Pittsburgh Penguins pay the price for taking careless penalties in their Eastern Conference First Round series.

The Rangers' power play had plenty of opportunities to deliver a knockout blow against the Penguins in Game 2 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday but instead failed miserably in a 4-3 loss. The best-of-7 series, now tied 1-1, shifts to Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh for Game 3 on Monday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports, MSG, ROOT).

Goaltending plays an integral part in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. NHL.com decided to break down the highest profile matchup in the Eastern Conference First Round: Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers and Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Much like many goaltending coaches will do before a playoff series, NHL.com correspondent Kevin Woodley, the managing editor of InGoal Magazine, charted every goal scored against each goalie in this matchup this season with the help of a program from Double Blue Sport Analytics. The graphics showing where goals went in and shots were taken from on the ice are nice, but the real value is tracking and analyzing the types of plays that led to them, and whether they reveal strengths, weaknesses and tendencies that can be targeted.

For additional insight into the Eastern Conference First Round series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers, NHL.com has enlisted the help of Dave Farrish to break down the action. Farrish will be checking in throughout the series.

Farrish was an assistant coach for the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs. He won the Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007. He also coached 1,027 games in the minor leagues, including the American Hockey League. In addition, Farrish, a former defenseman, played 430 games over seven seasons in the NHL.

The Pittsburgh Penguins need a jolt of offense if they're going to get even with the New York Rangers in their best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round series on Saturday.

Former NHL assistant coach Dave Farrish thinks the Penguins will have a better chance of getting it by putting Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the same line to start Game 2 at Madison Square Garden (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA).

NEW YORK -- The Pittsburgh Penguins know if they're going to have any chance of defeating the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers in their Eastern Conference First Round series, they're going to have to refrain from taking unnecessary penalties.

The Penguins looked eager to hand Game 1 of this best-of-7 series to the Rangers on a silver platter in the first period, when they took four minor penalties and played shorthanded for 6:43. As a result, an already injury-depleted defense corps was forced to constantly contain one of the NHL's fastest units, captain Sidney Crosby saw 3:42 of ice time, and the Penguins fell behind 2-0 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

"I can't remember a single [penalty] off the top of my head, but they're able to generate a lot of momentum out of those," Pittsburgh defenseman Ben Lovejoy said. "We have half our team sitting on the bench for far too long and can't get into a rhythm, and the other half is out there killing, playing very difficult minutes. It tires you out, and that gets a team out of their rhythm; we can't do that."

NEW YORK -- New York Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi was injured with 9:29 remaining in the third period Thursday at Madison Square Garden after he was struck on the right side of his face by a deflected shot from Pittsburgh Penguins forward Chris Kunitz.

Girardi did not return to the game. Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said Girardi was being seen by the team dentist, but he did not have any further update.

The Rangers protected their one-goal lead while playing with five defensemen in the final 9:29 of the third to defeat the Penguins 2-1 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round. The Rangers have a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series, which continues on Saturday with Game 2 at Madison Square Garden (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA).

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Being the team with the best record in the NHL entering the Stanley Cup Playoffs is new for the New York Rangers. It's not for coach Alain Vigneault, who doesn't think the Rangers have any reason to feel differently than they did in the regular season.

"I believe that we've been hunted since Day One," Vigneault said. "Any time you've got the Stanley Cup champions or the Stanley Cup finalists, any team playing against them, and I used to do the same thing, you're telling your team, 'We've gotta use them as a benchmark.' I'm sure that's what the other 28 teams were doing when they were playing against us."

Vigneault speaks from experience. Twice he took the Vancouver Canucks into the playoffs after they won the Presidents' Trophy; the second time he did it the season after they reached the Stanley Cup Final.

The Rangers reached the Stanley Cup Final last season after finishing second in the Metropolitan Division with 96 points. This season, New York won the Presidents' Trophy for the first time since 1993-94, when it last won the Cup, and set Rangers records for wins (53) and points (113).

What did 53 wins and 113 points get the Rangers? The opportunity to face Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins in a best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round series that starts Thursday at Madison Square Garden (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports, ROOT, MSG).