Penguins Beat Rangers With A 2-0 Series Lead

Jordan Staal scored a power-play goal in the second period giving the Penguins a 2-0 victory over the Rangers and a sweep of the first 2 games of their 2nd round series.

Jordan Staal's goal in the 2nd period broke a scoreless tie and Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made the lead stand up, giving the Penguins a 2-0 victory over the New York Rangers and a home-ice sweep of the first 2 games of their 2nd round series. Fleury helped the Penguins kill off 2 key Rangers power plays in the last few minutes and Adam Hall scored into an empty net with 16.7 seconds left. Staal has played well in the playoffs so far after having a disappointing regular season, getting only 12 goals, none short-handed. He had 29 goals and an NHL rookie-record of 7 short-handed scores.

Staal's power-play goal came with the Rangers' best penalty killer, Chris Drury, off for hooking. Evgeni Malkin gathered the puck in the left circle and fed it down low to Staal who lifted the puck over the goalie, who played a great game, making multiple saves. "He's a great passer," Jordan Staal said of goalie Henrik Lundqvist. "I'm just glad to be the finisher."

"We just have to go back home and still feel confident, we know we can beat this team," Lundqvist said. "We have to go back home and get two wins there and come back here, and it's going to be pressure on them."

With the Penguins clearing the puck in the last few seconds, Fleury hit Rangers forward Sean Avery in the backside with his stick. Avery spun around and hit the goalie with his stick before being pushed away. Officials gained control before things got completely out of hand. A few seconds before Staal scored his 2nd of the playoffs, Pittsburgh's Marian Hossa and Ryan Malone couldn't convert from in close as the Rangers' Martin Straka rushed back to the bench to replace his broken stick, creating a 5 on 3 for Pittsburgh.

Sidney Crosby also missed a good scoring chance. Instead, Crosby occupied the Rangers' attention at both ends of the ice, sometimes in a distracting way. He drew the penalty that led to Malkin's deflected game-winning goal in Game 1 on Friday, causing some of the Rangers to accuse him of diving to set up the power play goal in the final two minutes.

The Rangers have to sweep the 2 games in New York to regain a tie in the series betwee
Atlantic Division rivals. Games 3 and 4 will be at Madison Square Garden where Pittsburgh is 0-3-1 this year. nn