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Four-goal third powers Rangers past Pens

Mar 21, 2011 - 3:44 AM Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Marian Gaborik and Ryan Callahan scored power-play goals just 11 seconds apart in the third period to erase a one-goal deficit and propel the New York Rangers to a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Consol Energy Center.

Derek Stepan and Brandon Dubinsky also scored third-period goals for the Rangers, who have won four straight games and solidified their position in the Eastern Conference playoff race by moving six points ahead of ninth-place Carolina.

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 38 shots in the victory, New York's third in as many visits to the Steel City this season. Callahan and Dubinsky each finished with a goal and two assists for the Rangers, who sit seventh in the East race.

Jordan Staal and Chris Kunitz scored for Pittsburgh, which had a two-game win streak snapped. Marc Andre-Fleury made 22 saves in defeat. The Penguins remain fourth in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of idle Tampa Bay.

"I thought we did a lot of great things 5-on-5, but our special teams has to be better," Staal said.

Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke was given a game misconduct and a five-minute major for elbowing at 4:36 of the third with the game tied at 1-1, but it was the Penguins who went in front when Kunitz scored a shorthanded goal at the 6:26 mark.

"It would have been easy to get down on ourselves, but to our credit it showed a lot of character coming back," Callahan said following Pittsburgh's go-ahead goal.

Matt Niskanen then took a high-sticking double-minor for the Penguins at 7:54 to give the Rangers a 5-on-3 power play and they took full advantage.

With time winding down on the two-man advantage, the Rangers tied it when Gaborik buried the rebound of a Dubinsky shot from the high slot for his 22nd goal. New York raced back into the Pittsburgh zone after the ensuing faceoff and Callahan scored from a bad angle on a shot from the low right circle for a 3-2 lead with 10:21 remaining.

The Penguins were given a power play with 3:25 left when Ryan McDonagh went off for roughing and nearly converted late in the advantage, but Lundqvist stopped James Neal's shot from the left circle.

New York raced the other way and McDonagh came out of the penalty box with a breakaway. Fleury made two stops on McDonagh, but Stepan dumped the second rebound into an empty cage with 1:15 remaining for his 19th goal and a 4-2 lead.

Dubinsky scored into the empty net in the final minute to account for the final margin.

Artem Anisimov gave New York a 1-0 lead at 11:20 of the first period with his 18th goal, scoring from the top of the crease after a perfect feed from Callahan in the right corner. Staal tied it for Pittsburgh 4 1/2 minutes later on a breakaway.

Lundqvist was brilliant in a scoreless second period with 19 saves, while Fleury needed to turn aside just seven New York shots.

Game Notes

The Rangers won the season series, 4-1-1...New York improved to 22-14-1 on the road this season...The Rangers were 1-for-3 on the power play and killed off each of Pittsburgh's three chances with the extra skater.