Crosby’s goals ignite Pens

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Sidney Crosby is shooting the puck. Even more importantly for the Pittsburgh Penguins, it’s going in. Funny how success seems to follow when that happens.

The Penguins evened their series against the New York Rangers with a momentum-shifting 4-3 victory Saturday night.

Crosby scored twice, including a diving deflection off a centering pass from Chris Kuntiz that gave the Penguins the lead and the hope their late-season fade is now a thing of the past.

Heading into tonight’s Game 3, Pittsburgh has momentum and — perhaps just as importantly — a much-needed infusion of swagger.

“You’re going into New York, you obviously want to go there and get one win and we did that,” forward Brandon Sutter said. “So, we got the split we wanted.

“But obviously, there’s a lot of work left to be done and we definitely need to have some confidence and belief that it’s a team we can beat.”

Having Crosby do what he does better than just about anyone else certainly helps.

“We need him to be a threat offensively, and he’s been that through two games,” Sutter said. “He’s had the puck a lot. When he has the puck down low and he’s spinning in the corners, that’s when he’s so dominant and he was big last night.”

It will take more than Crosby, however, for Pittsburgh to upset the Presidents’ Trophy winners. Evgeni Malkin has just four shots through two games and hasn’t recorded a goal in six weeks.

The 2012 MVP said he’s maybe “85-90” percent due to an undisclosed injury but isn’t looking for an excuse.

“I feel pretty good, but I can play better,” Malkin said. “I need more confidence. Shoot the puck more, play with the puck, work hard and the goals and points will come.”

In the regular season, the Rangers had the NHL’s best road record, going 28-11-2. In fact, they had a better road mark than they did at Madison Square Garden; seven teams had as many points or more than did New York at home.

Now, they’ll need at least one win in Pittsburgh in this first-round series. They split two games at Pittsburgh, losing 3-2 in a strange shootout in which they had a goal disallowed, then winning 5-2.

“It’s important in the playoffs to make sure you can play in a home building and in a road building,” Derek Stepan said. “We have to make sure we get ourselves refocused and get ourselves ready for Game 3.”

The Rangers have not won a home Game 2 since beating Vancouver in the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals.