Guentzel breaks tie in third period for Penguins in win against Rangers

PITTSBURGH --Jake Guentzel scored his 100th NHL goal with 1:31 remaining in the third period, and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday.

Guentzel gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead with a one-timer for his second goal of the season. Kris Letang took a pass from Sidney Crosby and skated around Chris Kreider to the left circle before setting up Guentzel with a pass back to the high slot.
"Obviously, it's a cool honor," Guentzel said. "Fortunate for it to be the game-winner there. It's a big goal for us in this big homestand. Any chance of getting two points, it's definitely big. So just a big win for us all around."
Bryan Rust and Jared McCann scored, Crosby had two assists, and Tristan Jarry made 24 saves for the Penguins (4-2-0), who won each of their four games on a homestand after losing their first two games of the season. The previous three wins came in overtime or a shootout.

"It's nice to just get points," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "When you win in regulation, obviously you're not giving up points to your opponent. So we're in a divisional race here. There's a lot of parity in the division. There's a lot of really good teams, so we're just trying to win each game that's right in front of us."
Colin Blackwell scored in his Rangers debut, and Igor Shesterkin made 16 saves for New York (1-3-1), which lost 4-3 in a shootout to Pittsburgh on Friday. It led in the third period of each of the two losses and led 3-1 late in the second period Friday.
"Just really, you have to find ways to win," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "We've been sitting here talking about some of the good things we did, the chances we had in the third period, but you've got to win hockey games. You've got to find a way to win.
"You have to have an urgency. You have to know who's dangerous. Just really disappointed. To come in here and play some good hockey and come away with one point is really disappointing."
Blackwell, who signed a two-year contract Oct. 9, was recalled from the taxi squad Sunday. He put the Rangers ahead 1-0 by deflecting a shot from Adam Fox at 16:36 of the first period.

Rust scored in a second straight game, tying it 1-1 at 11:24 of the second period. After taking a pass from Crosby, Rust went five-hole with a wrist shot on a breakaway to extend his point streak to five games (two goals, three assists).
"I didn't really need to yell to Sid," Rust said. "Sid's going to make those plays. … I just tried to beat [Shesterkin] quickly."
Ryan Strome gave New York a 2-1 lead at 17:17. Jacob Trouba shot into a scrum in the crease and Strome tapped it in for his first goal of the season.
"We're all competitors," Trouba said. "We aren't feeling sorry for ourselves. We need more wins. That's the bottom line. ... Are we playing horrible hockey? No. But we're making a couple too many mistakes, and they're costing us games."
McCann tied it 2-2 with a wrist shot from the far wall at 2:26 of the third period. He has a goal in two straight games after last scoring Jan. 14, 2020.

"It happens two games in a row where we have a lead and we can't close it out," Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad said. "I think it's a mix of things that we have to do better and learn from. You've got to learn quick. It's 56 games. We can't afford to lose any of these points."
NOTES: Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues and Rangers forward Filip Chytil each left after colliding at 9:11 of the second period. Rodrigues, who immediately went to the locker room, is being evaluated for a lower-body injury, Sullivan said. … Chytil remained down after the hit before getting checked on the bench and eventually leaving for the locker room with an upper-body injury. He will be further evaluated Monday, Quinn said.