Associated Press
Marc-Andre Fleury made 35 saves to tie the Pittsburgh franchise record for wins and the Penguins clinched home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a 5-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night.
Despite the loss, the Rangers are still in position to win the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL regular-season champion by beating Washington in theire regular-season finale on Saturday night
Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang each had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh, which will be the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference for the fourth consecutive season. The Penguins will play the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round.
Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov scored for the Rangers, who were playing for the first time since clinching the top seed in the conference. The Rangers entered the day tied with the Vancouver Canucks with the most points in the NHL (109), but Vancouver also lost on Thursday.
Fleury has 226 career victories, the same Tom Barrasso had for Pittsburgh from 1988-2000. Fleury's 42nd win of the season tied him with the Nashville Predators' Pekka Rinne for the league lead.
Tyler Kennedy and Richard Park also scored for the Penguins (50-25-6), who reached 50 wins for the second time.
• COMMENT ON BLUESHIRTS UNITED | PHOTO GALLERY
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STATS OF THE GAME
The Rangers out-shot the Penguins 37-32 including a 20-7 advantage in the third period. The Blueshirts' 20 shots in the third are a season-high for most shots in a single period. |
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| (selected by newyorkrangers.com) |
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| 1. Dubinsky |
2. Boyle |
3. Anisimov |
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[51-24-7]
[51-25-6]