Lundqvist, Rangers shut out Crosby, Penguins

PITTSBURGH -- The New York Rangers and Henrik Lundqvist did what has seemed impossible recently and shut down Sidney Crosby.
Lundqvist made 34 saves in his third shutout of the season to help the Rangers defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 at Consol Energy Center on Wednesday.

The shutout was Lundqvist's 58th of his NHL career and his 366th win, passing Martin Brodeur for the most by a goalie in his first 11 seasons.
"I just like the way we competed," Lundqvist said. "This game is so much about how hard you want to work and how hard you want to compete. All over the ice, you have battles. In front of the net, and if you notice, we were getting to loose rebounds. We were right there to clean things up."
It was New York's first shutout at Pittsburgh since Feb. 27, 1971, when Ed Giacomin won 4-0.
"They're a good team," Lundqvist said. "We knew coming into this building that we were playing a really hot team and their top players were playing really well, so I definitely saw it as a great challenge for us."
New York (31-18-5) continued its defensive dominance against Pittsburgh (27-19-7) since last playing in the Eastern Conference First Round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Rangers, who are 7-1-3 against the Penguins in the regular season since April 3, 2013, allowed one goal in each of their four wins in a series that lasted five games.

Crosby had more than two shots in a game once in that series and Wednesday did not have a shot for the fourth time this season and the first since Oct. 31.
Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said he attempted to match forward Derick Brassard against Crosby as much as possible and was able to do so 60-70 percent of the time. Vigneault said he also was impressed with his defensemen, who played without captain Ryan McDonagh (upper body) for a second game.
"There's no doubt tonight I wanted to play [Brassard's] line as much as possible against Crosby's line," Vigneault said. "Anytime you miss, whether it be on defense or up front, you miss some of your top people, it's an opportunity for some other guys to step up and I think we have some other guys that have stepped up."
After a second four-point game is less than a week against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday, Crosby's NHL career-long seven-game goal-scoring streak, career-long nine-game home goal-scoring streak, and 11-game point streak each ended. Crosby last failed to score at home against the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 19, marking the longest streak in the NHL since Mario Lemieux scored in 11 consecutive home games during the 1995-96 season, a Penguins record.
"We had some good chances tonight. They capitalized on theirs and we didn't," Crosby said. "That was the difference, but I think what's gone on in the past doesn't really matter. … We had some good chances that hit the post, a few got blocked, [Lundqvist] made some good saves on a couple other ones. We had some good looks."
Shortly after failing to generate much on their first power play, the Rangers took a 1-0 lead on Kevin Hayes' eighth goal of the season.

Tanner Glass took a shot off goalie Marc-Andre Fleury's pads that bounced to Hayes just outside the crease. Fleury, boxed in by Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist in front and Rangers forward Daniel Paille to his left, scrambled in the paint while Hayes dragged the puck around Hornqvist and put a wrist shot into an open net 8:34 into the first period.
"You have to play with confidence and I haven't really been on the score sheet too much lately," Hayes said. "But I think my overall game has been above average and I'm just trying to play with confidence. ... Hopefully it's a jump-start. But like I said, I'm happy with where my game is, and beyond the goal tonight, I'm happy with how I'm playing defensively and how I'm playing offensively."
Dominic Moore made it 2-0 on a 2-on-1 with Chris Kreider 4:21 into the third period, and Jesper Fast scored into an empty net with 1:31 remaining.

Pittsburgh controlled much of the first period, allowing five New York shots until the Rangers had two in the final minute, but couldn't take advantage. The Penguins' best scoring chance of the period came with 3:31 remaining, when Crosby drove in on Lundqvist from the right circle but shot wide.
Penguins forward Conor Sheary had a better chance 2:28 into the second period, when he split two defenders and deked to his backhand before shooting over Lundqvist's glove off the crossbar.
The Penguins outshot the Rangers 34-22.
Pittsburgh defenseman Trevor Daley did not play a shift after 13:36 of the first period. Midway through the first, Daley tripped after getting tangled with Fast and crashed back-first into the Rangers net. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan did not update Daley's status.
Pittsburgh forward Phil Kessel had six shots and had a few quality scoring chances but wasn't able to finish on those opportunities and failed to score for the 15th time in 17 games.
"Obviously, when Phil scores, we're a better team," Sullivan said. "We can't just rely on just one line or just one guy to generate our offense night in and night out. We've got to find ways to get more contributions throughout our lineup."