Penguins look to rebound at Igloo

Thursday’s 3-0 loss in New York was their first of the postseason.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins answered the New York Rangers’ desperation with frustration, and with a predictable result.

Sidney Crosby looked unhappy and exasperated during the Penguins’ first playoff loss in eight games, their 3-0 defeat to the Rangers Thursday night in Game 4 of the second-round series.

Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins’ best player so far with the possible exception of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, was so off his game after missing a penalty shot that he tried kicking out Paul Mara’s skates near the end of the game. Mara called it a “classless act by a superstar.”

For the first time in a series the Penguins still lead 3-1 going into Game 5 Sunday in Pittsburgh, the Rangers got to the Penguins, physically and psychologically. The Penguins spent more time yelling and getting into skirmishes than scoring, worn down by the Rangers’ resiliency and composure.

“Emotions have been high in this series,” the Rangers’ Brendan Shanahan said Friday. “We were just happy that we were able to remain focused and kind of finished the way we wanted.”

It was an uncharacteristic performance by a youthful Penguins team that has mostly played with poise, confidence and controlled emotion this spring, and it is one coach Michel Therrien doesn’t expect to see again soon. Especially not Sunday at home.

“Playing Game 5 with a chance to clinch the series, we feel pretty good about that,” he said.

Therrien, who gave his players off Friday, insisted he didn’t mind seeing his two young stars play with a bit of an edge. He agreed both were frustrated, but he excused that as being the byproduct of youthful aggression.

“Sidney’s an emotional guy and when things aren’t going his way, sometimes he gets frustrated,” Therrien said during a conference call. “You want him to be emotional, that’s part of his game. You know the emotion’s going to be there for the next game. When he’s got that fire in his eye, this is where he can be dangerous.

“That’s why I don’t mind his emotional stuff.”

Therrien dismissed Malkin’s slewfooting of Mara, saying it was nothing compared to now-injured Rangers forward Sean Avery’s stickwork on Fleury at the end of Game 2. At the worst, he said, it would have been a two-minute penalty on Malkin.

“That’s not a major thing,” Therrien said.

Malkin’s frustration, Therrien said, mimics Crosby’s in that he is driven to win and the Penguins were merely displaying their unhappiness at not closing out the series in New York.

“That’s the way he is, he likes to win, he likes to compete, he wants to be a winner, and I believe he might be a little bit frustrated,” Therrien said. “But on the other hand, those things happen. It is the emotion of the playoffs.”