• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Rangers, Penguins meet in key Atlantic Division clash

Mar 18, 2008 - 12:14 PM Pittsburgh (41-24-7) at NY Rangers (37-26-9) 7:00 pm EDT

NEW YORK (Ticker) - The New York Rangers will look to snap a modest two-game losing streak on Tuesday when they face the Pittsburgh Penguins in a matchup of Atlantic Division rivals.

The Rangers had a 13-game unbeaten streak (10-0-3) prior to their Florida trip, which resulted in consecutive losses to the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning. New York is currently six points behind second-place Pittsburgh, which trails division leader New Jersey by a single point.

The Rangers are coming off a 3-0 loss on Saturday to the lowly Lightning, who have the least amount of points in the Eastern Conference.

"We give an effort like this, this is what happens," New York center Scott Gomez said. "Everyone should be pretty upset with themselves, but in saying that, we know what type of team we are. We can't dwell on this."

Pittsburgh's offensive surge continued in Sunday's 7-1 home rout of the Philadelphia Flyers. Winners of three straight, the Penguins have outscored the opposition, 18-6. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is 4-1-1 in his last six starts.

All-Star Evgeni Malkin, who recorded two goals and two assists in Sunday's win, has 97 points for the season - leaving him two behind NHL leader Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals.

Gomez and defenseman Michal Rozsival each have three goals and three assists in five games against Pittsburgh this season. Henrik Lundqvist has been in goal in all five games for the Rangers, going 3-2-0 with a 1.80 goals-against average.