Gildenberreich » that stuff, coach Claude Julien said. .

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - With their captain under fire and their season on the brink of collapse, the Pittsburgh Penguins responded with a crackling show of force. Of course, having the New York Rangers look like a team only too happy to get back home with a split helped. Kris Letang broke a scoreless tie in the second period, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 22 saves for his franchise-record seventh playoff shutout to lift the Penguins to a 3-0 victory on Sunday night, tying the second-round series one game apiece. Letangs 15th career postseason goal matched Larry Murphys record for Penguins defensemen. Jussi Jokinen scored during a third-period power play, and Evgeni Malkin added an empty-net goal for the Penguins, who pushed around the suddenly weary Rangers. Fleury earned his 50th career playoff victory. "I thought to a man our players were extremely good all night," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. "It was a huge win for us." Game 3 is Monday night in New York. Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves for New York, but the Rangers mustered little offense while playing their fourth game in six days. Not that coach Alain Vigneault wanted to blame fatigue for a listless performance. "Did my goaltender look tired? He was on top of his game," Vigneault said. "If hes not tired, nobody else should be." The Rangers have lost eight straight Game 2s and have dropped 13 consecutive games when leading in a series. They had their chances to jump ahead early, only to be let down again by an anemic power play. Three times in the first 10 minutes a Penguins player skated to the penalty box, and three times the Rangers spent two minutes milling about as though they were killing time before getting back to even strength. The Rangers finished 0 for 4 with the man advantage and havent scored the last 29 times theyve had an extra skater on the ice. "It could have given us some momentum, and we didnt finish," Vigneault said. "Ive got to find the right trigger points here to make it work. Well spend the night trying to figure it out." Only Lundqvist seemed interested in sending the Rangers back to New York with a commanding 2-0 lead. He was typically brilliant, particularly when Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby was on the ice. The NHLs leading scorer and Hart Trophy finalist is in the midst of a lengthy postseason scoring funk. He began the night without a goal in 12 straight playoff games, a span that included 327 shifts and 275 minutes of ice time. Bylsma insisted early Sunday that he anticipated seeing Crosby at his "best" with the season possibly at stake. Though Crosby failed to score, it was the only thing he didnt do. For the first time in weeks, he looked like himself. Relentless at both ends of the ice, the jump in his game that was missing at times during a listless performance in Game 1 returned. "To see Sid play like that tonight was really inspiring for everybody in our dressing room," Letang said. "He was really dangerous." Crosby finished with a game-high six shots. During one stretch at the end of the first period he produced a pair of scoring opportunities, including a nifty deke around two defenders, before he ripped a wrist shot that just missed the net. Each time Crosby appeared poised to end the drought, Lundqvist found a way to get a piece of the puck. He made a sprawling leg save on a tip-in attempt by Crosby, though Lundqvist wasnt so fortunate the next time the Penguins came at him. Chris Kunitz began a breakout by feeding Malkin at the New York blue line. Malkin slipped the puck over to Letang, who flipped it toward the net. Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi dived headfirst to block the attempted pass to Kunitz, but the puck deflected off Girardis stick and past a surprised Lundqvist to give Pittsburgh the lead. "They just spent a lot of time in our own end," Lundqvist said. "That was the biggest difference." Fleury had little problem letting the one-goal advantage stand up. The Rangers rarely challenged him over the final 30 minutes, and Jokinen and Malkin removed any remaining drama by scoring twice in the last 5 minutes. Jokinen banged in a rebound off a shot by James Neal for his fourth goal of the playoffs with 3:30 remaining. Malkin beat two Rangers to tap in an empty-net goal with 54 seconds left as the Penguins exhaled. "Now the series is tied 1-1, and two games in their building," Jokinen said. "Im sure theyre going to be better. We need to keep playing the way were playing." NOTES: Lundqvist made his 75th career playoff appearance. He will tie Mike Richters club record for games played if he starts, as expected, on Monday night. ... Pittsburgh D Brooks Orpik missed his fourth straight game with an undisclosed injury. ... The Penguins are 2-6 in their last eight Game 2s. Esa Tikkanen Jersey .com) - The Los Angeles Dodgers made it official Tuesday and signed pitcher Brandon McCarthy to a four-year contract. Jari Kurri Jersey . - After spending the morning in the hospital, Logan Couture gave the San Jose Sharks the spark they needed. http://www.officialoilersfanstore.com/authentic-boyd-gordon-oilers-jersey/ . -- Kole Calhoun homered and drove in three runs, Albert Pujols also went deep and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Chicago White Sox 8-4 Friday night. Edmonton Oilers Jerseys . -- LeGarrette Blount made one last big splash into a soggy end zone. Custom Edmonton Oilers Jerseys . At quarterback, all agree that Andy Dalton has been a wonderful surprise, but to truly progress he has to play his best in the playoffs. The two losses in the wildcard rounds keep the evaluation on Dalton open -- just like it did for Peyton Manning many years ago and Matt Ryan until last year.This is the first time in nearly a decade that the Boston Bruins have entered a new year not in position to make the playoffs. The reigning Presidents Trophy winners are determined to make sure that changes. Besides feeling better about its recent play and having a renewed focus, Boston should soon get a key piece back on the ice, and theres a shot that happens as early as todays matchup with the visiting Ottawa Senators. Viewers in the Senators region can watch the game live on TSN5 at 1pm et/2pm at, or listen live on TSN Radio Ottawa 1200. Adam McQuaid was third on the Bruins in ice time when he broke his thumb Nov. 18. They had a 12-8-0 record with the sixth-year defenseman but have gone 7-7-4 without him while giving up nearly half a goal per game more. McQuaid has been practicing and said Friday hes close to returning, but he hasnt been medically cleared. I feel really good out there, and every day, pretty significant improvements, McQuaid told the teams official website. Well have a talk with the trainers, and well see from there. McQuaid, one of the clubs top penalty killers, could provide a boost for a team whose last five opponents totaled 17 goals and went 4 for 12 on the power play. Boston (19-15-4), though, went 3-1-1 in that span. Were getting better net-front presence and scoring chances and all that stuff, coach Claude Julien said. ... Were trying not to get too focused on the stats, because they dont mean anything going into (Saturdays) game. Its all about living in the present. Ottawa (15-14-7) has had four days off since Bobby Ryans hat trick - his first since 2011 - keyed a 5-2 victory over Buffalo on Monday. The Senators had lost their previous three games, but coach Dave Cameron was pleased with their 4-2-2 finish to 22014.dddddddddddd Im seeing better execution, Cameron said. Im seeing good effort. Goaltender Craig Anderson agreed, and he has keyed Ottawas solid play with a 3-1-1 record and 1.79 goals-against average in his last five starts. Lately weve been playing really simple, giving ourselves an opportunity to win games, Anderson said. ... The chances and the amount of opportunities were giving up are way down. Anderson hasnt received many opportunities to face the Bruins recently, partly because his 3.50 GAA against them is his worst versus any East team. Hes given up 23 goals in his last five games in Boston but is starting Saturday after being left on the bench in the previous two meetings. Rask is 6-3-1 with a 1.99 GAA in 10 career starts versus Ottawa. While Boston is 10-2-3 at home since the beginning of November, Ottawa is 2-5-2 on the road since Thanksgiving. Juliens club is within two points of an Eastern Conference postseason berth. They hadnt been out of playoff position going into January since the 2005-06 season. Every point right now matters, and our position does matter, defenseman Kevan Miller said. It makes it tougher every game that we dont climb. The Bruins are looking to get five of a possible six points on a key three-game stretch this week against fellow Atlantic Division foes. They dominated Detroit in Mondays 5-2 win, then came back from a two-goal deficit to force a shootout in Wednesdays 4-3 loss to Toronto. These are huge games, huge points for us. (Saturdays) a big game, said Chris Kelly, who has nine points in the past eight games. Both meetings this season have been in Boston, with the Bruins winning 4-2 on Nov. 1 and the Senators winning 3-2 on Dec. 13 on Ryans shootout goal off Tuukka Rask. ' ' '