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

Chris Kreider's power-play goal at 11:10 of the third period was the difference for the New York Rangers in a 3-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden on Monday.

Artemi Panarin had a goal and two assists, and Igor Shesterkin made 25 saves for the Rangers (3-4-2), who have points in three straight games (2-0-1).
The win capped a turbulent 48 hours that included an altercation between Tony DeAngelo and Alexandar Georgiev after a 5-4 overtime loss to the Penguins on Saturday and the announcement from general manager Jeff Gorton that DeAngelo would not play for them again.

DeAngelo was waived by the Rangers on Sunday and cleared Monday, when Gorton said the defenseman was assigned to the taxi squad but that he would not be with the team as they explored ways to move him.
"I can't tell you how proud I am of our group," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "It has been a very difficult 24, 36 hours. … The blocked shots. The penalty kill was huge. A huge power-play goal. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you play as one."
The Rangers were 6-for-6 on the penalty kill, improving to 10-for-10 in the past two games.
They won for the first time in four games against the Penguins this season. They previously lost in regulation and in a shootout in Pittsburgh, and in overtime at the Garden on Saturday.
"It's unfortunate what's happened in the past 48 hours, but we knew we had to come together as a team," Rangers defenseman Adam Fox said. "At the end of the day we have a job here and we had to play a solid game and win a game. The guys did a good job of pulling together."
Jason Zucker scored, and Casey DeSmith made 21 saves for Pittsburgh (5-4-1).
The Penguins had seven shots on goal on their six power plays. They are 0-for-19 with the man-advantage in their past four games.
"It looks like we're looking for a better play that's not there," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "We have to do a better job of just putting pucks at the net and creating our offense that way."
That's how the Rangers scored their power-play goal, with Kreider at the net for a deflection of Fox's point shot to make it 2-1.
It was Kreider's 161st goal with the Rangers, the second most by a United States-born player in team history behind Hall of Fame defenseman Brian Leetch (240).

Panarin scored an empty-net goal at 19:59 for the 3-1 final.
"We've got five of our last six points and we're hanging around," Quinn said. "We continue to do that, continue to improve and get guys' game back on track, we're going to be in the middle of it."
Zucker gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 9:05 of the first period.
Sidney Crosby tried to extend the lead with a backhanded lacrosse-style goal from behind the net at 1:10 of the second period, but his attempt hit off left post.
"I saw him picking up the puck," Shesterkin said. "With a player of Crosby's caliber, you always have to be ready."
Crosby also hit the crossbar with a backhand shot at 13:29 of the second.
The Rangers tied the game 1-1 on Kevin Rooney's 6-on-5 goal on a delayed penalty at 17:42 of the second period.
They kept the game tied by killing a tripping penalty on Ryan Lindgren at 19:03 of the second period, and preserved their 2-1 lead by killing a holding penalty on Julien Gauthier at 14:25 of the third.
"It's definitely a work in progress," Zucker said of the Penguins power play. "We're not happy with it. We're not happy with our special teams. We have to keep fixing it, but I believe in the guys in this room, that we're going to work on it and work hard on it, hold each other accountable from guy to guy, from coaches to players and players to coaches."
NOTES:Rangers defenseman Brendan Smith didn't return after he sustained an upper-body injury in a collision with Brandon Tanev at 17:15 of the first period. Quinn did not have an update. … Panarin played in his 400th NHL game and has 427 points (153 goals, 274 assists). Five undrafted players in NHL history have scored more points in their first 400 games than Panarin; Wayne Gretzky (935), Peter Stastny (607), Bobby Orr (508), Joe Mullen (453) and Adam Oates (433). … Ryan Strome played in his 500th NHL game. … Defenseman Anthony Bitetto and forward Jonny Brodzinski each made his Rangers debut. Bitetto had four hits and blocked two shots in 14:51, and Brodzinski had one shot in 7:33. … Crosby won 16 of his 23 face-offs (69.6 percent), and the Penguins won 34-of-48 (70.8 percent).