Kreider found Zibanejad with an on-stick pass right in front of the goal, and Zibanejad beat Casey DeSmith at 2:53 of overtime for his 100th career goal and 22nd of the season.
Zibanejad evened the score at 3-3 with 3:17 left in regulation, scoring a power-play goal on assists from Neal Pionk and Kreider. Zibanejad made up for winning just three of 11 faceoffs.
The Penguins had just gone up by one a little over a minute before when Carl Hagelin put them back ahead off an assist from Olli Maatta.
Earlier in the third period, Kreider and Jesper Fast both scored to tie the game up at 2 for the Rangers, who won their second straight after losing three in a row.
Bryan Rust and Riley Sheahan both scored within a 55-second stretch early in the second period to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead. Rust scored his 11th on an assist from Derick Brassard at the 1:53 mark, followed by Sheahan's 10th on assists from Kris Letang and Carter Rowney.
Alexandar Georgiev finished with 37 saves for the Rangers while DeSmith stopped 29 shots for the Penguins.
New York took advantage of 21 giveaways by Pittsburgh and shut down the Penguins' Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, who combined for four shots on goals but scored zero points.
New York travels to St Louis on Saturday before returning to Madison Square Garden to host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
The Penguins, who lost for the second time in three games, stay on the road for two more games, Thursday at Montreal and Tuesday at the New York Islanders.
--Field Level Media
Pittsburgh | NY Rangers | |
Carl Hagelin 1 | Points | Chris Kreider 4 |
Carl Hagelin 1 | Goals | Mika Zibanejad 2 |
Derick Brassard 1 | Assists | Chris Kreider 3 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Mika Zibanejad 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Casey DeSmith .879 | Save Percentage | Alexandar Georgiev .925 |
Casey DeSmith 29 | Saves | Alexandar Georgiev 37 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Pittsburgh | 40 | 3 | 0-3 | 1-3 | 6 | 28 |
NY Rangers | 33 | 4 | 2-3 | 3-3 | 6 | 28 |