Sid, Penguins end Ranger streak at 5

PENGUINS RANGERS 5 2

Sidney Crosby scored two goals and added an assist, and Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 28 shots as the Penguins beat the Rangers, 5-2, on Monday night at the Garden, snapping the Rangers’ fivegame winning streak.

Bryan Rust also scored twice and Emil Bemstrom added a goal for Pittsburgh, which ended a four-game losing streak at the Garden and improved to 14-9-3 in its last 26 games against the Rangers. The Penguins lost both previous games this season at home against the firstplace Rangers and were making their lone appearance at Madison Square Garden.

Kaapo Kakko and Jack Roslovic scored goals for the Rangers, and Igor Shesterkin finished with 16 saves.

The Rangers trailed, 3-0, before Kakko ruined Nedeljkovic’s shutout bid at 10:42 of the third with his 12th goal of the season. Artemi Panarin got his team-leading 64th assist and 108th point on the play.

Roslovic made it 3-2 with 3:07 left in the third with his eighth goal of the season and second with the Rangers.

However, Rust and Crosby scored empty-net goals over the final 2:11 to cement the Penguins’ win as Nedeljkovic improved to 13-6-6 in his first season with the Penguins.

Pittsburgh is still about to miss the playoffs for a second straight season for the first time during Crosby’s career, which began in 2005-06.

The Rangers were coming off an 8-5 win at Arizona on Saturday, their 50th victory of the season. They had won 11 of their previous 13 home contests, including last Tuesday’s wild 6-5 overtime win over Philadelphia.

Rust opened the scoring just 18 seconds into the contest, beating Shesterkin.

Crosby made it 2-0 at 10:39 and Bemstrom increased the lead to 3-0 with a breakaway goal at 9:51 of the third, his seventh.

Rust’s second goal of the game was his 26th of the season at 17:21 while Crosby’s second of the contest with 45 seconds left was his 37th of the season and the 587th of his career.

With 82 points this season, the 36-year-old Crosby is assured of averaging a point per game for the 19th time in his 19 NHL seasons. Wayne Gretzky also had 19 such campaigns.

ISLANDERS 4, FLYERS 3

Brock Nelson scored 1:25 into overtime and the Islanders preserved their playoff hopes with a win over the Flyers on Monday night in Philly.

Anders Lee, Bo Horvat and Matt Martin also scored for the Islanders, who moved within four points of Philadelphia for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.