Penguins edge Rangers in overtime

NEW YORK — The Pittsburgh Penguins kept their hopes of earning home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs alive with a 3-2 overtime win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden Sunday night. Eric Staal, who joined the Rangers a month ago, surely was waiting for a night like the one he finally enjoyed Sunday against the surging Pittsburgh Penguins. Staal, a late-season acquisition and a veteran offensive force, had just one goal for the Rangers since he was acquired from Carolina on Feb. 28. The pressure to produce had been growing. Staal scored both goals for the Rangers Sunday, but the Penguins forged a close win when Sidney Crosby scored at 4 minutes 30 seconds of overtime. The victory was the Penguins’ third straight over the Rangers. The victory also moved Pittsburgh (42-25-8) 3 points behind the second-place Rangers (43-24-9) in the Metropolitan Division race. Staal chose to focus on the home team earning a point rather than his personal achievements on Garden ice. “You would have liked to get a bounce the other way after the guys did a great job there, but unfortunately not tonight,” he said. “But we’ll take the point and get a couple of days to recover and look forward to the rest of the week.” The Penguins, who won for the eighth time in their last nine games, are 9-3-1 in their last 13 road games and 10-4 this month. “We stuck with it, stayed focused and found a way to finish it in overtime,” said Crosby, who leads his team with 32 goals. “To find a way to get 2 points against a good team was really good.” Crosby’s star turn was needed to overcome Staal’s best game as a Ranger. After using his long reach for a one-handed redirection of a pass from his linemate Kevin Hayes past Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury at 4:19 of the first period, the 6-foot-4 Staal exulted with a fist pump. After the former Ranger Matt Cullen tied the score at 1-1 at 15:49 of the first, Staal whipped home his second goal at 2:07 of the middle period, again with assists to Hayes and Jesper Fast, his most recent linemates as Rangers Coach Alain Vigneault has sought the best line complement for Staal, a 31-year-old forward who had spent his entire career with the Hurricanes. “It’s not easy when you’ve played in the same place for a number of years like he was, but he’s fit in real good,” Vigneault said. “He’s been real positive and real upbeat on the bench and I like what he’s bringing to our team.” Another arm-raising celebration ensued for Staal, who will return to Carolina when the Rangers visit Raleigh Thursday. But later in the second period, another former Rangers forward, Carl Hagelin, managed to race down the ice ahead of the defense and get a shot on goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who left the puck available on a rebound for Phil Kessel, who notched his 23rd goal at 8:36. Kessel was coming off a 5-point performance in a 7-2 win over Detroit Saturday. Hurricanes 3, Devils 2: Goalie Cam Ward came up a big after a midgame rough stretch, and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New Jersey Devils 3-2 at PNC Arena. Ward finished with 23 saves, stopping all nine shots in the third period. Victor Rask scored twice and Ron Hainsey had a goal for the Hurricanes (33-28-15). Bobby Farnham and Travis Zajac scored for the Devils (36-32-8), who had a three-game points streak snapped. Blackhawks 3, Canucks 2: Andrew Ladd scored the winning goal with 2:27 left in the third period as the Chicago Blackhawks used a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks to clinch a playoff spot Sunday. Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa had a two-on-one breakaway. Instead of shooting, Toews dropped the puck back to Ladd, who beat Vancouver goaltender Ryan Miller for his 23rd goal of the season. — Agencies