The Pittsburgh Penguins, with Mario Lemieux once again leading the way, rebounded from their worst game of the playoffs with one of their best periods en route to a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Lemieux, the NHL’s leading scorer, had called Pittsburgh’s 6-3 loss to New York on Sunday the worst game the Penguins had played in several weeks.
Tuesday night, the Penguins seemed determined to make up for it. They took a 3-0 lead in the first period with Lemieux scoring twice.
The bounces in the first 20 minutes were all with the Penguins, who got a fluke goal when a shot bounced off Lemieux’s helmet.
That three-goal lead was enough for them to withstand a brief flurry by the Rangers in the second period and give them a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Game 4 is Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
While the Penguins turned themselves around as a team, so did goaltender Ken Wregget, who had an off day in Sunday’s loss in Pittsburgh. This time, Wregget was a lot sharper as he made 37 saves with his team outshot 39-32.
He was especially sharp in the second period, even though he gave up two goals. It could have been a lot worse, with the Rangers outshooting the Penguins 16-4 in that period.
The Rangers played without Adam Graves, their leading goal-scorer in the playoffs, who was out with back spasms.
