Smith scores go-ahead goal, Panarin nets 2 as Rangers beat Penguins
NEW YORK — Reilly Smith scored the go-ahead goal and Artemi Panarin scored twice as the New York Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 on Friday night.
Smith put New York ahead with his fourth goal this season at 9:53 of the third period in a game played hours after the Rangers traded their captain Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks.
New York responded by winning on home ice as goaltender Igor Shesterkin snapped a personal five-game losing streak with 20 saves.
Vincent Trocheck also scored for the Rangers and had two assists. Alexis Lafreniere had two assists.
Blake Lizotte and Philip Tomasino scored for Pittsburgh, which had its four-game winning streak stopped.
After Lizotte opened the scoring with his fifth goal at 6:19 of the second, Panarin tied it at 7:28.
Panarin followed with his second goal of the game and team-leading 15th of the season with two seconds left in the second period, snapping a low shot past Penguins netminder Alex Nedeljkovic. Nedeljkovic made 28 saves for the Penguins.
Tomasino scored his third goal in five games with the Penguins at 8:29 of the third to tie the game at 2.
New York had lost six of its last seven games since starting the season 12-4-1.
Takeaways
Penguins: Sidney Crosby became the 72nd player to reach 1,300 regular-season games played. The 37-year-old captain is 10th in NHL history with 1,622 points, including 600 goals.
Rangers: Improved to 7-5-1 at Madison Square Garden this season.
Key moment
Rangers defenseman Zac Jones broke up a Penguins two-on-one break with just over seven minutes remaining in the third period to preserve New York's one-goal lead.
Key stats
Panarin, who assisted on Trocheck's goal, leads the Rangers with 32 points. He has points in 19 of New York's 25 games.
Up next
The Rangers host the Kraken on Sunday, and the Penguins host the Maple Leafs on Saturday.