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Rangers end Penguins winning streak in 4-3 win

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The New York Rangers escaped Pittsburgh with a win over the Penguins thanks to a late goal from Pavel Buchnevich.

The Pittsburgh Penguins threw everything and then some at the New York Rangers in the dying moments of the third period.

But their efforts, valiant as they were for a Penguins team trying their darndest to push their winning streak to five games, came and went in vain in a 4-3 defeat on Wednesday night.

The Rangers simply stuck around in the game and pounced on their opportunities presented to them.

Pittsburgh appeared to get a favorable break on the night after it was announced Henrik Lundqvist would miss the game because of the flu. That left the Rangers to send out Ondrej Pavelec, the owner of just a single win this season and a save percentage well below .900.

But Pavelec stopped 41-of 43 en route to his second win of the season.

It appeared to be going well early for Pittsburgh, who took a 1-0 lead past not too long after the midway point in the first period, with Conor Sheary ending an eight-game goal-less run with his ninth of the season.

Rangers rookie forward Boo Nieves (one of the best nicknames in the league) scored his first NHL goal to tie the game 1-1.

Phil Kessel would restore the advantage for the Penguins in the second frame, scoring his fifth goal in his past six games to make it 2-1.

The Rangers would lead before the second period ended. Jesper Fast and Mats Zuccarello scored just under five minutes apart to take a 3-2 advantage into the final period.

The Pens tied it up 3-3 through Patric Hornqvist, who wired a wrist shot on a breakaway past Pavelec.

But Pavel Buchnevich would seal it for the Rangers just after the midway point of the period.

Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry lost his first start since taking over for Matt Murray, who suffered a lower-body injury last week.

Jarry had strung together two solid outings, allowing just one goal over both contests prior to Tuesday.


Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck