Reilly Smith scored the go-ahead goal with 10:07 left in the third period, and the New York Rangers finished an eventful day with a 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night.
The Rangers got their second win in eight games (2-6-0) after trading their captain, struggling defenseman Jacob Trouba, to the Anaheim Ducks earlier in the day. New York also reportedly signed goalie Igor Shesterkin to an eight-year contract extension.
Smith, who made a defensive play that led to a two-on-one break, scored against his old team after Pittsburgh goalie Alex Nedeljkovic stopped him and Mika Zibanejad. Smith stayed with the play, moved to the right side of the crease, gained control of the rebound, and slid the puck into the slightly open right side of the net.
Smith’s fourth goal of the season came almost 2 1/2 minutes after Pittsburgh’s Phillip Tomasino tied the game at 2-2.
Artemi Panarin scored twice in the second period as the Rangers came back from an early deficit. Panarin, who leads the team with 15 goals, had his fifth multi-goal game of the season, putting the Rangers ahead 2-1 with just two seconds left in the period.
Vincent Trocheck sealed the win with a goal 98 seconds left after assisting Panarin on his goals.
Blake Lizotte also scored for Pittsburgh, which had its four-game winning streak ended.
Shesterkin made 20 saves, ending a personal five-game losing streak. His first win since Nov. 19 was highlighted by a glove save on Evgeni Malkin with about 7 1/2 minutes left in the second period.
Nedeljkovic allowed four goals on 32 shots.
Lizotte gave Pittsburgh the lead when he skated through the offensive zone without being challenged, entered the slot, and beat Shesterkin to the glove side with 13:41 remaining in the second period.
The Rangers tied the game 69 seconds later when Panarin received a cross-ice pass from Alexis Lafreniere and fired a shot from just above the left circle into the net while Malkin tried to block it.
After Owen Pickering hit the right post with 47 seconds left, the Rangers regained the lead. Panarin took a pass from Trocheck, entered the offensive zone, moved through the slot, and released a shot that went past Nedeljkovic.
Tomasino scored after the Rangers turned the puck over in the neutral zone, lifting the puck past Shesterkin’s blocker 8:29 into the third period.
