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Penguins look to eliminate pesky Rangers

May 4, 2008 - 1:24 PM Ny Rangers at Pittsburgh 2:00 pm EDT Eastern Conference semifinals Penguins lead, 3-1

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby brought the Pittsburgh Penguins to within one win of the Eastern Conference finals. But for the first time this postseason, both of the young superstars looked frustrated.

The All-Star centers will attempt to shake off the frustration Sunday as the Penguins look to eliminate the New York Rangers in Game Five of their conference semifinal series.

Henrik Lundqvist stopped all 29 shots he faced and Jaromir Jagr scored two goals and set up another Thursday as the fifth-seeded Rangers staved off elimination and handed the Penguins their first loss of the postseason with a 3-0 triumph in Game Four.

Throughout the contest, the Rangers agitated both Malkin and Crosby, who have combined for seven goals and 25 points during the playoffs. Both superstars were involved in multiple scuffles in the loss.

"It's tough hockey, none of us expected it to be easy," Crosby said. "That's part of the fun and part of the challenge of playoff hockey.

"We got one more game, and that was our goal," Jagr said. "We have a chance at one more game. It's up to us how we are going to handle the next game. We know we're in a tough situation. ... Maybe it's happening for a reason, to be down 3-0, you never know. That's why we should just play and see what happens."

Rookie Brandon Dubinsky added a goal and an assist Thursday for New York, which still trails three-games-to-one in the best-of-seven series.

"We had to leave it all out there," Dubinsky said. "Obviously, they had a chance to close the series out. You don't want to be done, not win the hockey game and say I had a little bit of gas left in my tank. I think the guys poured their hearts into it and emptied those tanks tonight and found a way to win."

New York still has a tough task ahead of it. Only two teams have overcome a three-games-to-none deficit in the Stanley Cup playoffs - the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, who accomplished the feat against Detroit in the Finals, and the 1975 New York Islanders in the quarterfinals - against the Penguins.