Sid the Kid helps Pens head home with split

NEW YORK— Sidney Crosby scored twice as the Pittsburgh Penguins evened their first-round playoff series against the New York Rangers with a 4-3 win Saturday night. The Rangers won Game 1 by making Crosby virtually invisible and keeping Evgeni Malkin out of the danger zone. On Saturday, both of them and the Penguins as a whole showed more jump, possessing the puck and keeping New York off-balance. Forcing turnovers in the decisive second period, shutting down the Rangers’ power play and generally controlling the pace, the Penguins got even.

Crosby, naturally, was at the centre of the turnaround. He broke a 1-1 tie by knocking in a rebound of Patric Hornqvist’s shot in the second period. Then Crosby made a diving deflection past Henrik Lundqvist of a pass from Chris Kunitz on the right wing boards following a Rangers giveaway in their zone.

At that point, Crosby had four shots on goal in the series, with two going in.

Game 3 is Monday night in Pittsburgh. The Rangers had the league’s best road record this season while also winning the Presidents’ Cup for top overall record.

Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 23 saves for the Penguins, while Lundqvist had 18.

The resilient Rangers got back in it early in the third period on, of all things, their previously sputtering power play. Derick Brassard knocked in a rebound from short range after strong pressure with Blake Comeau penalized early in the third.

Derek Stepan hit the goal post on the first shot of another power play less than three minutes later.

Rick Nash scored with 5.1 seconds to go for New York.