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Matt Murray watched the Pittsburgh Penguins' second-round collapse against the New York Rangers from afar two years ago, the wispy goaltender still a teenage prospect in the spring of 2014 as a 3-1 series lead morphed into a franchise-altering meltdown. The 3-1 advantage Pittsburgh takes into Saturday's Game 5 (3 p.m. ET, NBC) has as much to do with the rookie's steadiness while filling in for injured Marc-Andre Fleury as it does the performances of the bold-faced names in front of him. Teammates Conor Sheary and Tom Kuhnhackl have given the Penguins a needed dose of youth and speed at forward. Continue to Article

April 22, 2016 5:49:pm EST

NEW YORK, N.Y. — On the back of three power play goals, the Pittsburgh Penguins won Game 4 against the New York Rangers 5-0 and will now head home with a chance to close out the series on Saturday. The Rangers again had no answers for the Penguins power play, which through three games has seven goals on 19 opportunities (36.8 percent).  It started in the first period when Evgeni Malkin’s shot from the point deflected off Patric Hornqvist’s skate to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead.  The special teams success continued in the final two periods when Malkin would celebrate his first two goals of the playoffs as the Madison Square Garden crowd slowly emptied out. There was some question about whether Malkin’s re-entry into the Penguins’ lineup would cause chemistry issues, but clearly that’ s been answered now. At even strength, he’s improved since returning in Game 2. With the extra man, he’s only added to an already dangerous unit that’s looked unstoppable after finishing 15th (18.4 percent) in the NHL during the regular season. “I think getting a guy like Geno back, it brings another element to it,” said Penguins defenseman Kris Letang. “I think we simplified things. Some games we tried too many seam passes. They were able to knock pucks down. Tonight we used what they were giving us. We put the puck at the net and got rewarded.” Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan lauded the decision-making of his power play units, which in Game 4 seemed they were running a clinic on the ice. While the Penguins were making the right decisions the Rangers were making very wrong ones, as evident on Malkin’s second goal. Having not lost back-to-back games since mid-January boosted Pittsburgh to their 104-point season and second-place finish in the Metropolitan Division, and is a reason why so many believe they can come out of the Eastern Conference and reach the Stanley Cup Final.   That success has also helped build a confidence within that dressing room at the right time of year. “I think that builds a belief, it builds a trust in each other,” said Penguins captain Sidney Crosby. “We’ve been fortunate enough to get good results. We’re playing the right way, we’re doing little things. “You can see in games when we start to get away from that momentum changes, so we understand if we do those things we give ourselves a great chance. But when we don’t we’re ordinary, so we need to make sure that we play with that edge, but we have been doing that and gotten great results because of it.” - - - - - - - Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY : Continue to Article

April 21, 2016 11:24:pm EST

The Pittsburgh Penguins might have been the NHL's hottest team at the end of the regular season, playing the last month with Evgeni Malkin out of the lineup with an arm injury. Malkin scored two goals and set up two others and the Penguins pushed the New York Rangers to the brink of playoff elimination with a 5-0 victory Thursday night. ''I think he took another big step tonight,'' Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. Continue to Article

April 21, 2016 11:03:pm EST

(The Sports Xchange) - Center Evgeni Malkin had two goals and two assists as the Pittsburgh Penguins demolished the New York Rangers 5-0 in Game 4 of their first-round series at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. The Penguins hold a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series and can clinch a spot in the second round by winning Game 5 in Pittsburgh on Saturday. Two years ago, the Penguins were in the same situation and lost the final three games of their second-round series against the Rangers. Continue to Article

April 21, 2016 10:51:pm EST