PENGUINS PUSH RANGERS TO BRINK
Flashing his old brilliance, Evgeni Malkin scored two goals and set up two others and the Pittsburgh Penguins pushed the New York Rangers to the brink of playoff elimination with a 5-0 victory Thursday night. Malkin, whose four points tied his single-game high in the post-season, assisted on two of the Penguins’ three first-period goals in helping Pittsburgh dominate the Rangers for the second consecutive game and take a 3-1 lead in the bestof-seven, first-round series. Sidney Crosby, who added two assists, and the red-hot Penguins can wrap up things in Game 5 in Pittsburgh on Saturday. Rookie goaltender Matt Murray made 31 saves.