Hagelin's winner helps Rangers clinch series vs. Penguins

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[April 25, 2015]  NEW YORK -- It wasn't easy, but it was quick, a rarity for the New York Rangers in recent years.

Left winger Carl Hagelin scored the game-winning, series-ending goal with 9:08 remaining in overtime to give the Rangers a 2-1 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 5 of their first-round series at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.

The Rangers won all four games of this series by one goal and captured a series in fewer than six games for the first time since 2008, a span of 14 postseason series.

"The rest is definitely beneficial," Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said. "It's not something our group is used to, but it's definitely a nice change of pace."

The winner of the series between the Washington Capitals and New York Islanders will face the Rangers in the second round. The Capitals lead that best-of-seven series 3-2 with Game 6 scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

"Pick your poison there," Staal said.

Both goaltenders played exceptionally well Friday. The Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 36 of 37 shots; the Penguins' Marc-Andre Fleury had his best playoffs since 2008, but he was the loser despite making 34 saves in Game 5.

Hagelin's goal developed after some strong work in the corner by Rangers center Dominic Moore. He was able to get the puck to Hagelin, who skated out from behind the goal line to the front of the net and beat Fleury with a wrist shot to the glove side.

"I didn't do much that shift until I saw Dom was in trouble behind the net," Hagelin said. "I went behind there to pick up the puck then I just skated around the circle and took a shot and somehow it went in."

The Penguins had a chance to win every game in this series but fell short in most cases because Crosby and center Evgeni Malkin were consistently held off the scoresheet. Crosby had two goals in the series, both coming in Pittsburgh's Game 2 victory, while Malkin did not register a single point.

The Penguins were also without key players on defense: Kris Letang and Christian Ehrhoff both suffered late-season injuries that prevented them from dressing in this series.

It all conspired to send the Penguins home before the second round for the first time since 2012.

"We found a way to get ourselves in the playoffs and definitely had opportunities to win games in this series and change the outcome," Crosby said. "Usually you go through a span of injuries and get through it and settle in, but we went through it all year. (Fleury) gave us a chance to win every night.

"We were one goal away from being on the other side of it."

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"We played a good team and kept it close," Fleury said. "But at the end of the day, we still lost."

The Rangers scored first for the fourth time in the series when center Derek Stepan was there to knock home a rebound early in the first period. Defenseman Dan Boyle's point shot was stopped by Fleury, but Stepan cleaned up the garbage for a 1-0 lead and New York's third power-play goal of the series.

Late in the second period, left winger Nick Spaling scored a similar goal to pull the Penguins into a 1-1 tie. Crosby's pass toward the crease was knocked away by Lundqvist, but the puck bounced off Spaling and just across the goal line.

The score remained that way until Hagelin played the hero and earned the Rangers a much-needed weekend off, especially with right winger Mats Zuccarello leaving the game with an undisclosed injury.

"I think any time you can win in overtime twice (they won Game 4 in overtime), it shows that your team has a lot of character," Hagelin said. "A lot of guys in here are willing to go to the extra step to win games. We are definitely looking forward to the next series."

NOTES: The Penguins were without D Kris Letang (concussion), D Christian Ehrhoff (upper body), D Derrick Pouliot (upper body) and LW Beau Bennett (upper body). For the third straight game, rookie LW Scott Wilson took Bennett's spot on the third line. ... Penguins RW Craig Adams was a healthy scratch. ... Rangers LW James Sheppard was a healthy scratch. ... Rangers D Kevin Klein (arm) was given a 50/50 chance of playing by coach Alain Vigneault in the morning, but Klein did not take part in pregame warmups. Klein has not played since March 11.

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