• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Penguins aim to clinch division title

Mar 31, 2008 - 1:20 PM Pittsburgh (46-26-7) at NY Rangers (40-27-11) 7:00 pm EDT

NEW YORK (Ticker) - The Pittsburgh Penguins look to clinch their first division title in 10 years Monday when they complete a home-and-home series against the New York Rangers.

Pittsburgh owns a six-point cushion over the New Jersey (43-28-7) in the Atlantic Division with three games to play. One win or one regulation loss by the Devils in their final four games will give the Penguins their first division title since 1997-98 when they captured the Northeast Division crown.

The Penguins, who have won three straight and eight of their last 10 games, also are chasing the Eastern Conference's top seed. They are one point ahead of Montreal (44-25-10), which also has three games left.

Evgeni Malkin scored his 46th goal of the season and Sidney Crosby had two assists, lifting the Penguins to a 3-1 victory over the Rangers on Sunday.

It marked just the second time since the trade deadline that the Penguins had Marian Hossa, Malkin and Crosby on the ice together. Hossa scored his 29th goal of the season Sunday.

"A year ago we were having a hard time playing these types of games," Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien said of the victory. "Now we are more mature. You can't ask for a better way to prepare yourselves for the playoffs than to play those types of games. It's nice to see how we reacted."

Sunday's loss dropped the Rangers into a three-way tie for the sixth spot in the East, just three points ahead of the Washington Capitals (40-31-8) for ninth.

New York, however, has a game in hand over all three of its closest competitors.

"We have to come out (Monday) better prepared to work, stay out of the penalty box and our power play has to continue to get pucks to the net and at least make a difference in terms of momentum," Rangers coach Tom Renney said.