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Malkin, Penguins try to take two-game series lead

Apr 27, 2008 - 1:02 PM Ny Rangers at Pittsburgh 2:00 pm EDT Eastern Conference Semifinals Penguins lead, 1-0

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) - The Pittsburgh Penguins already proved that their potent offense can strike quickly. On Sunday, they'll look to take control of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

All-Star Evgeni Malkin will hope to lead the Penguins to a two-games-to-none advantage when they host the rival New York Rangers in Game Two of their best-of-seven series.

Second-seeded Pittsburgh overcame an early three-goal deficit and Malkin scored the game-winner with 1:41 left en route to Friday's 5-4 victory over fifth-seeded New York.

Jarkko Ruutu, Pascal Dupuis, Marian Hossa and Petr Sykora also tallied for the Penguins, who erased a three-goal deficit in the postseason for just the second time in their history and first since Game One of the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks.

"We really showed the character of this hockey team," Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien said. "We never quit, even after we were down three goals. That was a great accomplishment for that young group to be able to bounce back against a team like the Rangers, who are really committed defensively."

The victory gave the Penguins their first five-game winning streak in the playoffs since 1996, when they won the final four contests of the conference quarterfinals against the Washington Capitals and the opener of the semifinals vs. the Rangers.

Martin Straka, Chris Drury, Sean Avery and Scott Gomez scored for the Rangers, who fell to 93-2 all time when holding a three-goal lead in a playoff game.

"That one hurts," New York captain Jaromir Jagr said. "I thought we had it. The second one is going to be even tougher, but we have to do it somehow."

"We just have to forget this," Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist added. "I don't want to think about it. I just want to move on."

The Rangers, who won five of their eight regular season meetings with the Penguins this season, will now rely on their playoff experience to get back in this best-of-seven series. Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Gomez collectively have seven Stanley Cup rings.