Penguins top Rangers, pull within point of first place in Metropolitan

NEW YORK -- The Pittsburgh Penguins moved to within one point of first place in the Metropolitan Division by defeating the New York Rangers 5-2 at Madison Square Garden on Monday.

The Penguins (42-24-11), who have won three in a row, all on the road, are tied in points with the New York Islanders behind the first-place Washington Capitals. They have five games remaining, and the Capitals and Islanders each have six.
WATCH: [All Penguins vs. Rangers highlights]
"All of us, and our players included, we're all well aware of the standings and where we're at," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "Our first goal, first and foremost, is to make the playoffs. We're looking at each game as an opportunity. We've got five left now and we've got five opportunities to try to put ourselves in the best possible position."

Teddy Blueger scored two goals, and Nick Bjugstad, Justin Schultz and Matt Cullen each had one for the Penguins. Pittsburgh fell behind 2-0 before scoring five straight goals, including three in the second period.
Matt Murray made 33 saves. He is 6-0-0 against the Rangers in the regular season, including 5-0-0 in New York.
"We're still getting there, we still have things to get better at," Bjugstad said. "We had a rocky start here tonight, but we held our composure. We have [five games] left, it's important to have some momentum and some confidence going into the playoffs."
Brendan Lemieux and Vinni Lettieri scored in the first period for the Rangers (29-33-13), who have been eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention. Alexandar Georgiev made 31 saves.
"We got a little sloppy, our puck management, the way we were playing," New York defenseman Brady Skjei said. "The first period we played really solid, we were all over them and then just kind of got away from that in the second, third."
Lemieux gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 8:25 of the first period, scoring off the rush from the right circle. Lettieri extended the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 15:15.
The Penguins responded 26 seconds later with a goal from Bjugstad off a rebound to make it 2-1.
"We started to pour it on after that," Bjugstad said.
Schultz scored a power-play goal on a one-timer off a pass from Sidney Crosby at 1:01 of the second period to tie the game at 2-2.
Cullen gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead at 7:17 of the second, scoring from the bottom of the right circle.
Blueger made it 4-2 with a shorthanded goal at 13:12 of the second. He scored again at 7:38 of the third period to make it 5-2.
The Rangers were assessed a minor penalty for delay of game after they unsuccessfully challenged Blueger's second goal for offside.
"We know we have the firepower in here to get back in those kind of games," Blueger said. "It's not the first time we've been down so we didn't get down on ourselves. We just kept pushing, kept pushing each other and got back into it."

They said it

"We have to still continue to climb and try to get better and see where it takes us. By no means are we satisfied with where we're at. We're going to try to win every game, but I really like how our team is trending. I think we're playing hard. I think we're playing together. I think we're becoming a team." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan

"We just weren't able to sustain all the good things we did in the first period. To get up 2-0 and give one right back, to not build any momentum off that 2-0 lead, I thought was part of the issue. Even after the first period we felt good about the score and the way we were playing, and then for them to tie it so quickly really seemed to deflate us and we just never got back on track." -- Rangers coach David Quinn

Need to know

Penguins defenseman Kris Letang missed the game with an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day, Sullivan said. … Sullivan said that Penguins center Evgeni Malkin has been skating on his own in Pittsburgh. Malkin has missed five straight games with an upper-body injury. … Prior to the game, Quinn said Rangers forward Jesper Fast will not play again this season because of an upper-body injury. Fast has missed three straight games. … The Penguins have scored 12 shorthanded goals this season, putting them third in the NHL behind the Calgary Flames (18) and Arizona Coyotes (16).

What's next

Penguins: Host the Nashville Predators on Friday (7 p.m. ET; NHL Network, TVAS, ATTSN-PT, FS-TN, NHL.TV)
Rangers:At the Boston Bruins on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN)