Rangers recover in 3rd period for win against Penguins 

PITTSBURGH -- Adam Fox scored the go-ahead goal at 11:26 of the third period, and J.T. Miller scored twice for the New York Rangers in a 5-3 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday.

Fox scored with a wrist shot from between the circles to give the Rangers a 4-3 lead, and Miller added an empty-net goal for the 5-3 final with seven seconds remaining.

Fox and Jimmy Vesey each had a goal and an assist, and Reilly Smith had two assists for the Rangers (28-25-4), who have won four of six. Igor Shesterkin made 36 saves after being pulled Saturday, when he allowed five goals on 16 shots in the first period of an 8-2 loss at the Buffalo Sabres.

“We’ve got to play better,” New York coach Peter Laviolette said. “We’ve got to continue to work on our game and play better. I thought the guys in the third period did what we needed to do, but just from a 60-minute standpoint, we’ve got to play better.”

Ryan Shea scored his first two goals of the season early in the third, and Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist for the Penguins (23-27-9), who have lost three straight, including 8-3 at home to the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Joel Blomqvist made 11 saves.

“Listen, we understand where we’re at,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “We know that every game is important, every two points are important. We’re just going to stay in the moment and keep fighting. We’re going to fight until the very end. ... It’s not doom and gloom.”

Malkin put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 at 12:53 of the first period, spinning off Urho Vaakanainen in the slot to tap in a pass from Cody Glass.

Will Cuylle tied it 1-1 on a power play at 19:12, carrying a pass from K'Andre Miller to the left face-off circle for a wrist shot.

“Pretty wild game,” Cuylle said. “A lot of ups and downs, but at the end of the day, we came out with the two points. So, that’s big for us.”

J.T. Miller gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 17:00 of the second period with a snap shot from the right circle on a 2-on-1.

New York was outshot 31-9 in the first two periods, including 17-0 to begin the second before a wrist shot from Braden Schneider at 15:09.

“You can’t control what’s going to happen in the game, how many shots you’re going to face,” Blomqvist said. “So, you just need to be able to [react] to what’s happening.”

Shea scored on a wrist shot through traffic from the high slot just 57 seconds into the third period to tie it 2-2. He then put the Penguins in front 3-2 at 3:31 with a point shot that went in off K’Andre Miller.

“It’s definitely a different mindset as (compared to) yesterday's game,” Shea said. “We did a lot of things good, and if we play like that, we're going to beat a lot of teams. They’ve got a good goalie. Their D blocked a lot of shots. We didn't get the bounces today, but if we play like that, we're going to get them.”

Vesey tied it 3-3 on a wrist shot from the right circle at 4:21.

“We need to win games right now, first and foremost, which we did tonight,” Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren said. “That’s not a recipe for winning games. ... We’ve got to play a heck of a lot better, for sure.”

NOTES: Fox extended his point streak to six games (two goals, five assists). ... Malkin’s goal was his 44th against the Rangers in the regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs, his most against any team. ... Penguins captain Sidney Crosby had an assist to push his point streak to seven games (five goals, four assists). ... Rangers forward Chris Kreider was a late scratch with an upper-body injury. He is day to day. ... Pittsburgh defenseman Matt Grzelcyk sustained an upper-body injury at 14:24 of the first period when he was hit into the boards by New York forward Matt Rempe. No update was provided.