Round 2
VS
PITTSBURGH WINS SERIES 4-1
Game 5:
MAY 4, 2008 -- PITTSBURGH -- Marian Hossa scored his second goal of the game at 7:10 of overtime after Pascal Dupuis' pass bounced off a Ranger skate, eliminating the New York Rangers and sending the Penguins to their first Eastern conference final since 2001.
The Rangers, who fell behind 2-0, came back to tie on two goals just 1:22 apart in the third period from Lauri Korpikoski and Nigel Dawes.
Korpikoski, the Rangers' first round choice (19th overall) in the 2004 draft, was inserted into the lineup on a hunch by Coach Tom Renney. Korpikoski beat Marc-Andre Fleury with a blistering shot from the right faceoff circle at 2:03.
At 3:25, Dawes scored on a backhander from Scott Gomez at 3:25 to complete the New York comeback and force overtime.
The Rangers started the overtime down a man for 2:41, the time remaining from a late third period penalty to Chris Drury, for a high stick on Ryan Malone that drew blood. Ironically, Malone almost started a conflict when his own stick unintentionally clipped Drury earlier in the game, and drew blood, but there was no call on the play.
The Rangers killed the four minute advantage, but Hossa's goal from the slot just minutes later ended New York's season.
Marian Hossa and Evgeni Malkin scored second period goals to give the Pens a 2-0 lead going into the final frame. Malkin finished the game with ten shots on goal.
Pittsburgh outshot New York 40-22. Henrik Lundqvist was excellent in net for the Rangers, stopping 37 shots.
Rangers forward Sean Avery was released from the hospital Sunday morning, five days after suffering a spleen injury against the Penguins in game three. Avery was in intensive care at St. Vincent's Medical Center.
The Penguins will now face the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference final.
PITTSBURGH WINS SERIES 4-1
Game 4:
MAY 1, 2008 -- NEW YORK -- The New York Rangers
avoided elimination with a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at
Madison Square Garden Thursday night.
Jaromir Jagr scored two goals. His fourth of the playoffs opened the
scoring at 12:45 of the second period. Jagr added an empty net goal with
14 seconds remaining in the game.
Henrik Lundqvist stopped Evgeni Malkin on a penalty shot at 17:53 of the
second period.
The Penguins took an inordinate number of penalties, eleven, and the
Rangers capitalized with two power play goals.
"The special teams were the difference, and I think it’s been the
difference every game," said Lundqvist.
The Rangers were again without the services of Sean Avery, who remained
in intensive care Thursday with a lacerated spleen.
Pittsburgh leads 3-1
Game 3:
APRIL 29, 2008 -- NEW YORK -- Marian Hossa, George Laraque and Evgeni Malkin scored first period goals to power the Penguins over the Rangers, 5-3. The win puts the Penguins up, 3-0 in the series and the Rangers must win
"Nobody would think that we would be in this position after three games, but right now we are greedy," said Marian Hossa. "We want to win another one."
Malkin, who was named one of the three nominees for the Hart Trophy, given to the league's MVP, earlier in the day, scored the game winner, his second of the night, on the power play at 17:53 of the second period, putting the Pens up 4-2.
Ryan Malone scored at 2:30 to finish the scoring.
Jaromir Jagr, Martin Straka and Ryan Callahan scored for New York.
The Rangers must win Thursday at home or their season, in which they ponied up tens of millions of dollars for free agents such as Chris Drury and Scott Gomez, will go up in smoke.
The Rangers outshot the Penguins, 39-17. Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pens had 36 saves; Ranger Henrik Lundqvist stopped only 12 of 17.
Pittsburgh leads 3-0
Game 2:
APRIL 27, 2008 -- PITTSBURGH -- Jordan Staal had the game winning goal as the
Penguins took a commanding 2-0 lead in their series against New York
with a 2-0 win on home ice Saturday afternoon at Mellon Arena.
With the game scoreless at 13:55 of the second period, Staal converted
an Evgeni Malkin feed.
Evgeni Malkin beat Ranger Marc Staal, fed it down low to brother Jordan, who lifted the puck over goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
"He's a great passer," Jordan Staal said. "I'm just glad to be the finisher."
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 26 Ranger shots. The
Penguins put 32 on Henrik Lundqvist, who stopped 31.
The Penguins added an empty net goal from Adam Hall which went 2/3 the
length of the ice surface.
The Rangers had two power plays at the end of the third period, but
failed to convert.
Pittsburgh leads 2-0
Game 1:
APRIL 25, 2008 -- PITTSBURGH -- Martin Straka, Chris Drury and Sean
Avery gave the New York Rangers a 3-0 lead in the second period, but a
memorable comeback by the Pittsburgh Penguins at home Friday night gave
the Penguins a 1-0 series lead.
Jarkko Ruutu and Pascal Dupuis scored even strength goals just 14
seconds apart in the second period, and Marian Hossa and Petr Sykora
scored goals just 20 seconds apart at the start of the third period to
give the Penguins a 4-3 lead.
Scott Gomez evened the score at 10:04 of the third, but Sidney Crosby
did what superstars do best when the game is on the line, firing a blast
from the left faceoff circle past Henrik Lundqvist with an assist by
Evgeni Malkin's knee with 1:41 left to win the game.
"A game is never finished for us," Sykora said, referring to the
Penguins' wealth of scorers. "We have the power to score to score a lot
of goals here. It doesn't matter if we're down one, two, three goals."
The Penguins outshot New York, 26-24.
Pittsburgh leads 1-0