Phil Kessel's second-period wrister beat Henrik Lundqvist and accounted for his 700th career NHL point and the decisive tally in the Pittsburgh Penguins' 5-2 victory against the New York Rangers on Sunday night at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

Kessel's goal, his 20th of the season, came off a pass from Conor Sheary with 5:30 remaining in the middle period. It was the Penguins' second goal in a span of 1:15 after Dominik Simon's first tally of the season at 13:15 of the second tied the game at 2.

Patric Hornqvist, Sidney Crosby and Carl Hagelin each added a goal for the Penguins, who rattled off their fourth straight victory and improved to 5-1-0 since the calendar flipped.

Michael Grabner and Brendan Smith both scored goals for New York as the Rangers dropped their third straight contest and fell to 2-4-0 in 2018.

With starting goalie Matt Murray out indefinitely for personal reasons, Penguins backup Tristan Jerry recorded 26 saves. Lundqvist stopped 42 of 46 shots for the visitors.

Hornqvist opened the scoring 3:14 into the first period, extending his goal streak against the Rangers to three games. Hagelin got the primary assist on the goal, marking the 200th point of his NHL career.

But the Rangers scored twice in the final 15:17 of the period to go up 2-1 after 20 minutes. Grabner's 19th goal at the 15:17 mark tied the game at 1 and Smith's first goal of the campaign at 19:06 put New York ahead.

The Penguins scored twice in the second to swing the momentum. Crosby's tally, his 17th, pushed the lead to 4-2 at 12:33 of the third and Hagelin's empty-netter -- his third goal this season -- with 1:59 left in the contest sealed the result.

New York returns home to host Philadelphia on Tuesday. Pittsburgh opens a three-game road trip Wednesday in Anaheim.

--Field Level Media