Penguins win 11th straight home game

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

The lineup shuffling continues for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

So does the winning.

Sidney Crosby scored his 23rd goal of the season and added two assists and the Penguins ripped the New York Rangers 5-2 on Friday night for their 11th straight home victory.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 saves for Pittsburgh and Jussi Jokinen ended a lengthy scoring drought with two goals. Chris Kunitz also scored twice for the Penguins, who won for the 10th time in their last 12 meetings with New York.

Pittsburgh remains on cruise control atop the Eastern Conference despite a roster riddled with injuries. Star center Evgeni Malkin is still out with a leg injury. The same goes for defensemen Kris Letang and Paul Martin.

Yet the Penguins keep rolling. Jokinen, moved to wing alongside Brian Gibbons and Brandon Sutter, scored for the first time in 34 days while Crosby and Kunitz continued to provide a lethal one-two punch, particularly on an ever-evolving power play.

Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma picked up his 231st career victory, leaving him one shy of Eddie Johnson’s franchise record for coaching wins.

Henrik Lundqvist made 23 saves for the Rangers. Mats Zuccarello and Ryan McDonagh scored third-period goals for New York, but the Rangers continued to have problems with Pittsburgh, which can tie the mark for longest home winning streak in team history on Sunday against Winnipeg.