Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Referees: Mitch Dunning, Chris Lee
Linesmen: Devin Berg, Andrew Smith
Attendance: 18006
Chris Kreider scored the go-ahead goal at 11:45 of the third Thursday to give the New York Rangers a 4-2 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins.
In a seesaw game, Kreider fought off Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin near the slot, then swept the puck past the right skate of goaltender Tristan Jarry to make it 3-2.
Kreider added an empty netter with 49.2 seconds left.
It was the second of three games this week between the clubs. Pittsburgh (34-24-10, 78 points) won at home Sunday 3-2 in overtime, and they play again Saturday in New York.
Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist and Tyler Motte scored for the Rangers (39-19-10, 88), who are 4-0-1 in their past five games.
New York goaltender Igor Shesterkin made 30 saves.
Rickard Rakell had a goal and an assist, Jake Guentzel scored, and Sidney Crosby added two assists for the Penguins (34-24-10), who lost their second straight.
Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry made 31 saves.
Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry left at 5:12 of the first after he took an elbow to the face from Motte as the two collided.
Zibanejad scored his team-leading 35th at 2:51 of the first. Artemi Panarin banked a pass off the right-wing boards to set up Zibanejad for a breakaway. Zibanejad went backhand to forehand and shot the puck over Jarry's glove.
Pittsburgh top-line right winger Bryan Rust went to the bench briefly after blocking a shot, and Rakell took Rust's spot with Crosby and Guentzel. Crosby intercepted a pass behind the New York net and fed Rakell with a backhand pass. Rakell lofted a one-timer over Shesterkin to tie it at 14:40 of the second.
The assist gave Crosby 82 points, assuring him of averaging a point per game for the 18th time, one season behind NHL leader Wayne Gretzky.
Motte restored the Rangers' lead 2:13 later. He pilfered the puck from Penguins defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph and shot it under Jarrys's pads.
Guentzel tied it 2-2 with his 30th at 9:09 of the third. He was alone in the slot when he took a feed from Crosby for a shot under Shesterkin's pads.
--Field Level Media
| Pittsburgh | NY Rangers | |
| Rickard Rakell 2 | Points | Chris Kreider 2 |
| Rickard Rakell 1 | Goals | Chris Kreider 2 |
| Sidney Crosby 2 | Assists | Vincent Trocheck 2 |
| N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
| N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
| Tristan Jarry .912 | Save Percentage | Igor Shesterkin .938 |
| Tristan Jarry 31 | Saves | Igor Shesterkin 30 |
| Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
| Pittsburgh | 32 | 2 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 4 | 28 |
| NY Rangers | 35 | 4 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 25 |
- NY Rangers will play their next game at home against Pittsburgh. The Rangers have a W/L % of .579 after a win and .567 after a loss.
- Pittsburgh will play their next game on the road against NY Rangers. The Penguins have a W/L % of .571 after a win and .424 after a loss.