PITTSBURGH — First, Henrik Lundqvist lost his cool, and then the Penguins caught fire.
Sidney Crosby, Evgeny Malkin and Patric Hornqvist scored three times in 1:39 near the end of the second period to chase the Rangers’ No. 1 goalie and dispatch the Blueshirts, 4-1, on Thursday night.
Tempers were rising throughout the game, and at 6:17 of the second period at CONSOL Energy Center, Lundqvist snapped, frustrated that there was no stoppage or call, and play continued when he was knocked over during a tangle between Ryan McDonagh and Hornqvist.
Lundqvist bent over in the crease, shaken up and appearing to favor one hand or arm, then turned and shoved the net well off its moorings, and skated to center ice arguing with the officials.
It was an uncharacteristic outburst for the veteran, who was penalized for delay of game. The Penguins didn’t score on the power play, and then fell behind 1-0.
On a rush with 3:10 left in the second, Mats Zuccarello looked to his left and found Chris Kreider, who played the puck from skate to stick and beat Marc-Andre Fleury under his right arm, just inside the post, to snap the scoreless tie.
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Then the roof fell in.
At 17:47, a harmless shot banked off the backboards behind the cage and slid just past the post to the right of Lundqvist, who was facing center ice, and the puck, helped by Crosby, bounced across the line. That goal ended Lundqvist’s shutout streak against the Penguins at 97:47.
Two more goals came quickly. Twenty-one seconds later, Malkin swooped in to make it 2-1 after a point shot bounced off Dan Girardi right to the Penguins center. With the building taunting Lundqvist with chants of “Hen-reek, Hen-reek,” Hornqvist scored with 34 seconds remaining in the period.
Lundqvist, who was credited with 19 saves, was replaced by Antti Raanta and was not on the bench to start the third period. The team did not provide an immediate update. Phil Kessel scored an empty-netter with 2:04 left in regulation.
In a spirited first period, punctuated by 28 hits, including several booming ones (Dylan McIlrath on Tom Kuhnhackl, Ian Cole on Viktor Stalberg, Kevin Porter on Stalberg), the Rangers had to kill a Penguins power play when Dominic Moore was whistled for hooking Malkin at 5:55. In the last 30 seconds, players who aren’t usually on the ice shorthanded were Eric Staal, Kevin Hayes and Dan Boyle.
Lundqvist later kept it scoreless, first at 9:41, knocking away Derrick Pouliot’s blast from 24 feet and then pushing to the post with his right pad to deny Nick Bonino from about a dozen feet away on a two-on-one at 11:22, his best stop in the first 20 minutes.
In the second game of a three-games-in-four-days run, the Rangers visit Washington on Friday night. The Penguins visit the Garden twice, on March 13 and March 27.
- Newsday