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Rangers blank Pens, Wings complete sweep
2008-05-02
The New York Rangers, led by two goals from captain Jaromir Jagr and a penalty-shot save by goalie Henrik Lundqvist, beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 on Thursday to stave off playoff elimination. The Penguins, leading the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-finals 3-1, have another chance to wrap up the series in Game 5 in Pittsburgh on Sunday. In Thursday's other playoff game, the Detroit Red Wings crushed the Colorado Avalanche 8-2 to complete a four-game sweep and advance to the Western Conference finals. Jagr, who won two Stanley Cup championships with the Penguins in 1991 and 1992, broke the game open in the second period, beating goalie Marc-Andre Fleury with a low wrist-shot from a feed by rookie Brandon Dubinsky. "Personally, I would like to play (Game 5) tomorrow," said Jagr, who has scored three of the Rangers' 10 goals in the series and assisted on four others. "Then after tomorrow again. The scoring is great -- I love to score goals, help the team," said the Czech-born forward, who has more than 640 goals in his 18-year National Hockey League career. Lundqvist stopped all 29 shots he faced and kept the Rangers in the game early on, making a fine pad save on a breakaway by Evgeni Malkin, who scored twice in the Penguins' 5-3 win in Game 3 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. The Swedish goaltender then stopped Ryan Malone on a short-handed breakaway in the second after Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi lost the puck. PENALTY SHOT In the 18th minute of the second period, Girardi lost his stick and pushed Malkin into Lundqvist on a breakaway. The puck ended up in the goal but the referee ruled no score since the net had come off its moorings in the collision. Malkin was awarded a penalty shot but Lundqvist made an easy glove-save from the Russian forward's weak shot. The Rangers started the third period on the powerplay after Petr Sykora was penalized late in the second. They made it count when Dubinsky took a pass from Martin Straka from behind the net, swiveled and shot on the turn past Fleury. The Penguins' frustration boiled over later in the period and Sidney Crosby ended up in the penalty box after he took exception to Girardi's hit on Marian Hossa. Jagr settled the game with an empty-net goal seconds from the end on the powerplay. The Red Wings will meet either the Dallas Stars or the San Jose Sharks in the next round. Dallas lead that series 3-1. Johan Franzen continued his red-hot playoff form with a hat-trick, giving him 11 goals in the post-season and nine in the four-game series. Detroit broke a 1-1 tie with a pair of late goals in the first period and then scored four more in the second to spark the rout. Henrik Zetterberg added two goals and two assists to the Wings attack. (Additional reporting by Roger Lajoie) (Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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