Malkin lifts Penguins past Rangers in overtime

NEW YORK -- Evgeni Malkin finished off a four-point game by scoring off a turnover 58 seconds into overtime to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 5-4 win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
Malkin also had three assists.

Sidney Crosby got the game into overtime by scoring a 6-on-5 goal at 19:04 of the third period. Phil Kessel, Carl Hagelin and Patric Hornqvist also scored for the Penguins, who had a 2-0 lead after the first period but had to score game-tying goals late in both the second and third periods.
The Penguins (4-2-1) won their second straight game and their fourth in their past five. The Rangers (1-5-1) had their losing streak extended to four games (0-3-1).
"We kind of had some ups and downs in the game," Crosby said. "Started off good, lose the lead, give it up there late and then climb our way back. Those games don't happen every night but it's a good test when they happen and we responded the right way."
WATCH: [All Penguins vs. Rangers highlights]
Crosby scored the tying goal by banking in a shot off Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist from behind the goal line. He had to wait until Rangers defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk touched the puck before he could play it because it came to him on a hand pass from Hornqvist.
Had Shattenkirk waited for the Penguins to touch the puck instead of trying to play it himself, the whistle would have blown.

"I knew," Crosby said. "I don't think [Shattenkirk] saw it because the way he was positioned. [Hornqvist] had his back to him, so I don't think he saw that he gloved it. I needed to wait until he touched it. Fortunately, he didn't hit it too far away."
Left wing Michael Grabner gave the Rangers a 4-3 lead by scoring off a give-and-go on a 2-on-1 rush with center David Desharnais at 8:00 of the third period.
The Rangers also had the lead and momentum in the second period after getting goals from Desharnais, J.T. Miller and Pavel Buchnevich in a span of 2:30. They then had a two-man advantage for 1:58, but not only did they fail to score, forward Chris Kreider's offensive zone cross checking penalty negated the final 14 seconds of the two-man advantage.
Hornqvist scored on the ensuing power play at 18:01 of the second.
"It's really frustrating, disappointing, hard to accept," Lundqvist said. "I thought we battled back really well in this game, played a strong game. We played against a really good team and we made it tough for them at times. A lot of good things. To sit here and not come up with the two points with the way we played down the stretch, it hurts."

Goal of the game

Crosby's goal was a combination of intelligence, skill and luck. He smartly waited until Shattenkirk touched the puck to avoid the whistle for a hand pass from Hornqvist. He figured there would be players going to the net so he shot it in front. The puck bounced off Lundqvist and went in.

Save of the game

With the game tied at 3-3 in the third period, Penguins goalie Matt Murray got his pad on Rick Nash's backhand shot while falling down in the slot. The puck popped up, hit off the right post and came back out. Rangers center Mika Zibanejad got a piece of it off the rebound, but Murray stopped that too and covered it up at 5:42.

Highlight of the game

Malkin's winner came after Kessel knocked down Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh's pass by the left post. Kessel found Malkin at the right post for a one-timer. "I should be able to make a read there and keep it on the boards instead of trying to go through them," McDonagh said. "A really, really bad hockey play by me."

They said it

"Right now, it's a little challenging as far as putting the whole game together for us, but this group is very accountable and is working extremely hard and I am very confident that if we keep doing a lot of the things we're doing right now we're going to be on the right track." -- Rangers coach Alain Vigneault
"What I love about our group is that we stick to it, we just stay with it. It was an ugly win, but it was a win." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan

Need to know

Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta had an assist to match his point total from last season (seven) in just seven games. He had seven points in 55 games last season. … Malkin's goal was his 11th in overtime and tied Mario Lemieux for the most in Penguins history. … Penguins defenseman Ian Cole, who had an assist, played while wearing a full face shield. He missed the previous three games with a facial injury. … The Penguins placed defenseman Matt Hunwick (concussion) on injured reserve and sent defenseman Chris Summers to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.

What's next

Penguins: At the Florida Panthers on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; ATTSN-PT, FS-F, TVA Sports, NHL.TV)
Rangers: Host the New York Islanders on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, MSG-Plus 2, NHL.TV)