Crosby’s winner leads Pens past Rangers, 4-3

March 29, 2009 at 12:06a.m.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — It took Sidney Crosby almost 50 minutes and his team-high seventh shot to extend the longest active scoring streak in the NHL.

It was worth the wait for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Crosby scored the go-ahead goal with 10:04 remaining, his 15th straight game with a point, to help the Penguins to a 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday, their fifth win in six games.

“He’s a go-to guy,” said Pittsburgh’s Max Talbot, who had a goal and an assist. “He always wants those big goals, and he got it again tonight. It’s definitely two huge points for us.”

Ruslan Fedotenko had a goal and two assists for the Penguins, who closed out a 10-1-2 March by improving to a 5-1-1 on their franchise-record eight-game homestand. Pittsburgh climbed three points ahead of the seventh-place Rangers in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Matt Cooke also scored for Pittsburgh, which improved to 14-2-3 under interim coach Dan Bylsma.

“I think as a team we’ve been playing well, and we just need to continue playing well in the last six games and into the playoffs,” said Fedotenko, who had only three points in his previous 15 games. “That’s the most important thing, to get on kind of a hot streak going into the playoffs.”

Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky and Nik Antropov scored for New York, which is 1-2-1 in its past four.

Crosby took a pass from Fedotenko while in the neutral zone and went up the ice with speed, splitting New York defensemen Wade Redden and Derek Morris and beating Henrik Lundqvist with a wrist shot to give Pittsburgh its third lead of the day.

“Feds just won his battle along the wall, and I was just able to pick up some speed through the neutral zone,” said Crosby, who has at least a point in all 11 games since returning from a groin injury. “The pass was right on my stick, and I was able to split the D and get a pretty good shot away.”

The Penguins took an early 2-0 lead with goals 2:23 apart midway through the first period. Talbot scored his 11th 8:57 in shortly after a power play for Pittsburgh expired. Cooke then got his 10th on a second rebound during a scrum in front of the net, slapping it over Lundqvist who was sprawled out on the ice.

The Rangers scored twice in final 1:32 of the period to tie it.

Callahan got his 20th by scoring moments after a faceoff win by Scott Gomez and set up by Sean Avery.

Dubinsky then tied it with 4.4 seconds left with a wraparound goal, his 10th.

Fedotenko gave Pittsburgh the lead again 4:14 into the second when he finished a two-on-one with Jordan Staal. The play was started when Pittsburgh defenseman Rob Scuderi “saved” a shot by Gomez that had gotten behind goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.