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Penguins win 7th straight as Crosby extends points streak
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By The Associated Press
November 29, 2010
New York, NY — Sidney Crosby extended his point streak to 13 games and the Pittsburgh Penguins won their seventh consecutive game by beating the New York Rangers 3-1 on Monday night.
The Penguins, 9-0-1 in their past 10, haven't lost since falling to the Rangers at home in a shootout on Nov. 15. Their previous loss in regulation was Nov. 11 against Boston. It is the Penguins' longest winning streak since another seven-game run from Oct. 8-23, 2009.
Pascal Dupuis scored in the first period, and goals by Kris Letang and Chris Conne in the second stretched Pittsburgh's lead to 3-0. Marc-Andre Fleur finished with 25 saves to earn his ninth win of the season. Fleury has played in every game of the Penguins' streak except for their previous victory on Saturday, when Brent Johnson beat Calgary on the strength of Crosby's hat trick that included the captain's 200th NHL goal.
Crosby, the leader in votes for the upcoming All-Star game, assisted on Letang's fifth of the season. Crosby has 12 goals and 14 assists during his point streak. He is the league's scoring leader with 41 points, two more than Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos.
Crosby hit the post with a shot in the closing minutes.
Marian Gaborik returned from a one-game absence, despite still feeling the effects of the flu, and scored in the second period to cut the Rangers' deficit to 3-1 with his fifth goal. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 24 shots while making his fourth consecutive start following a two-game rest.
The Rangers earned a rare victory over the Penguins in the only other meeting this season, despite not having a single power play. But Pittsburgh re-established its dominance over New York in the rematch, improving to 18-5-8 since the start of the 2006-07 season.
Despite confetti that fell onto the ice late in the game, there was little for Rangers fans at Madison Square Garden to celebrate.
New York had won four of five overall before Monday, including back-to-back wins over Florida and Nashville on its just-completed road trip. The Rangers fell to 5-7-1 at home.
The Penguins started doing damage 5:10 in, less than a minute after Pittsburgh forward Chris Kunitz recorded the first shot for either team.
New York's Ruslan Fedotenko dropped the puck at his skates in his zone, but it got away to Maxime Talbo, who skated in front of the net and beat Lundqvist from in close to make it 1-0. The Rangers held an 8-6 shots advantage through one period, but their control didn't last.
Pittsburgh broke out fast in the second and spent most of the period in the Rangers' end with the puck on their sticks.
The Penguins jumped out to a 13-3 shots edge in the period and broke open the game when Letang and Conner connected 1:15 apart to build the lead to 3-0 late in the frame.
Letang took a beautiful backhand pass from Crosby that went from the right circle to the left for a one-timer that got past Lundqvist at 12:01. Conner received the puck from Tyler Kennedy in the slot and zipped a shot by Rangers defenseman Steve Eminger and in at 13:16.
Gaborik got the Rangers on the board with an unscreened snap shot that found its way past Fleury with 3:41 left in the second.
NOTES: Crosby has 20 goals and 31 assists in 26 games against the Rangers. ... Lundqvist has won just two of his past 10 decisions vs. Pittsburgh. ... The Penguins won last season's series 5-0-1, including a 3-0 mark in New York. ... Crosby was the NHL's third star for last week when he posted four goals and three assists in four games. ... The Rangers were 0-for-3 on the power play, including two in the third period that generated several scoring chances. Pittsburgh went 0-for-1. ... Dupuis had two assists.
• NHL News Archive Index:
2010, 2009
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