Crosby showing True Form

[Appels]

This kid is good

Crosby's scoring has picked up since he was left off the Olympic roster, and his team is playing better too.

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Memo to the Canadian Olympic team: This Sidney Crosby kid is pretty good.

Crosby scored with 1 1/2 minutes left in overtime by steering a rebound past New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist and also set up the first goal as the Pittsburgh Penguins won 4-3 Saturday despite squandering three leads.

With Pittsburgh on the power play throughout the overtime -- every goal but one came on the power play -- Crosby slid the puck across the ice to Michel Ouellet, whose shot from the left circle deflected directly to Crosby. Crosby grabbed the puck below the right circle and wristed it inside the near post before Lundqvist could recover.

Crosby has three goals in two games and five goals and four assists in four games since being snubbed for the Canadian Olympic team. The No. 1 draft pick has six goals in six games following a brief slump of one goal in eight games.

While Crosby's scoring has picked up since he was essentially told he was too young and inexperienced for the Olympics, what he likes most is how the Penguins are playing better. They lost their first four games under new coach Michel Therrien by one-goal margins but have won the last two, allowing one even-strength goal, after losing 27 of their first 35.

"We're playing solid hockey and not making too many very big mistakes," Crosby said. "We're not giving up a lot of opportunities, and we have to continue to play like that."

With Tomas Surovy scoring twice for the second consecutive game, the Penguins outshot the Rangers 37-17, two nights after being outshot 46-25 in a 6-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils. But the Rangers bounced back from deficits of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 with goals by Jaromir Jagr, Martin Rucinsky and Fedor Tyutin while going 3-of-8 on the power play.

After tying it on Tyutin's goal with 3{ minutes left in regulation, the Rangers left themselves short-handed in overtime because of penalties to Marek Malik for arguing at the end of regulation and Michal Rozsival for shooting the puck into the stands.

"After we scored the third goal, it felt like we had the game. We were confident," Lundqvist said. "But when we take those penalties, it's hard. Four minutes of penalties in the overtime, it's too much."

Pittsburgh, also 3-of-8 on the power play, has won successive games for the first time since beating the Devils and Islanders on the road in early November.

"We deserved to win," Therrien said. "We stuck to the plan and we allowed only 17 shots, and I'm happy about the way we are playing."

Surovy broke his stick on his second goal of the game and sixth of the season, but still one-timed a shot through Lundqvist's pads from the right point to put the Penguins up 3-2 with about 6 minutes remaining. Lundqvist was screened on the play by forward John LeClair, who several Rangers thought spent too much time in the crease the entire game.

"He may not have been in the blue when the shots finally came in, but there were moments when he was in the blue paint," coach Tom Renney said. "As a goaltender, there's no way you can come up and cut down on angles and take away the net if you're not able to extend yourself."

Jagr, who scored three goals in a 6-1 victory in Pittsburgh on Nov. 12, tied it at 1 late in the first period with a one-timer from the edge of the right circle during a 5-on-3 power play created by penalties on Surovy and Colby Armstrong. The Rangers scored twice after Surovy penalties.

"It seemed like every shot they took on the power play ended up in the net," Therrien said. "But in 5-on-5 play, I thought we were better than the other team."

The Penguins tied it with their own 5-on-3 goal, by Ouellet midway through the second when LeClair collected a rebound of Sergei Gonchar's shot from the point and slid it a few feet to Ouelett at the left side of the crease. Ouellet has four goals in six games since being promoted from Wilkes-Barre (AHL) along with Therrien following former coach Eddie Olczyk's firing.

Rucinsky, who had a goal and two assists, tied it at 3 less than two minutes later from the left circle faceoff dot off Jagr's excellent cross-ice pass.

"But there's not much to like about the game," Renney said.

Surovy's first goal came 1:35 into the game off Crosby's backhand pass as two defenders rushed to slow Crosby as he skated down the slot.

Notes Rangers D Tom Poti and C Steve Rucchin were scratched after missing consecutive practices with flu-like symptoms. ... Penguins F Ryan Malone was a healthy scratch for the second game in a row. He has one goal in 15 games. ... Jagr has as many goals in two games in Pittsburgh (4) this season as he previously had in 13 career games against his former team.

[yankeesman77]

lucky canadian. atleast the Rangers got a point today but it should have gone to a shoutout. plus ovencheckin is better than crosby hell, rangers prucha is good and even frolov crosby aint the best hes just lucky.