|
 Jokinen is the only player left from that group, which lost in the
Eastern Conference finals, but he continues to help make the
Penguins contenders this season. His two goals Friday night helped
boost Pittsburgh to a 5-2 victory over the New York Rangers.
"Getting traded here has been great for my career," said Jokinen,
who was acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes. "I spent 4 1/2 years
in Raleigh (N.C.) and it really became home to me but it didn't take
long for Pittsburgh to become home. I felt like I fit in from the
first day I got here because they've done a great job of finding
ways for me to help the offense."
The Penguins (30-12-1) lead the Eastern Conference with 61 points.
Jokinen, a second-line winger, is helping the cause with 11 goals a
year after the Penguins were swept by the Boston Bruins one step
short of the Stanley Cup Finals.
"I really felt like we had the team that could win the Cup last
year," Jokinen said. "I think we're just as good this year, maybe
better. I'm glad I'm here to make another run at it."
Left winger Chris Kunitz also scored a pair of goals for the
Penguins and center Sidney Crosby added one. They are tied for the
team lead with 23 goals each.
Crosby also added two assists and has tallied 10 goals and 16
assists in the last 14 games.
Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 33 shots as the Penguins
won their 11th straight home game and improved to 18-3-0 at the
Consol Energy Center this season. They have not lost at home since
Nov. 13 and are one victory from tying the club home winning streak
record set last season from Feb. 22-March 30.
"This is a great place to play," Jokinen said. "Hopefully, we can
get home ice all the way through the playoffs."
The Penguins won their fifth straight game against the Rangers in
Pittsburgh, outscoring them 21-5 during that stretch.
Center Mats Zuccarello scored a goal and assisted on defenseman Ryan
McDonagh's goal, helping pull the Rangers within 4-2 in the third
period, but goaltender Henrik Lundqvist had a tough night in net as
he gave up five goals on just 28 shots. Until holding the Panthers
to one goal in a win at Florida on Tuesday in the Rangers' previous
game, Lundqvist had allowed at least three goals in eight straight
games.
"It was just too easy for them to create the big chances," Lundqvist
said. "We outplayed them for stretches of the game but it starts
with good structure in our own end and we kind of beat ourselves a
little bit."
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Captain and right winger Ryan Callahan returned after missing
nine games with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his
left knee but couldn't help the Rangers (20-20-2) extend their
two-game winning streak. He played 13:55.
On the flip side, Rangers right winger Derek Dorsett will miss
four to six weeks after suffering a broken fibula — the team
did not specify which leg — while blocking a shot in the first
period.
Kunitz opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 13:09 of the
first period. A slap shot by defenseman Matt Niskanen redirected
off Crosby's right skate to Kunitz, who knocked in the puck from
close range.
Jokinen then scored the next two goals, at 18:40 of the first
and 1:09 of the second, to push the Penguins' lead to 3-0.
The first goal was a beauty as Jokinen, stationed just to the
right of the crease, one-timed a pass from behind the net by
center Brian Gibbons past Lundqvist. Jokinen scored again by
beating Lundquist to glove side with a backhander.
Crosby put the Penguins up 4-0 when he scored on a backhand shot
at 18:29 of the second.
"I thought our guys battled hard," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault
said. "Anytime that you give a team that's so structured the
lead we gave them, it makes it hard."
The Rangers halved the deficit to 4-2 with 8:07 remaining, but
Kunitz ended the Rangers' comeback hopes by scoring with 7:06
left.
"We had taken our foot off the gas a little bit, they had gained
momentum and there was still a little too much time left on the
clock," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "For Kunny, that was a
big goal to finish off their run."
NOTES: Rangers D Michael Del Zotto was a healthy scratch for a
second straight game. He has just two goals and five assists in
32 games this season with a minus-9 rating while falling behind
rookie D Conor Allen on the depth chart. New York C J.T. Miller
and D Justin Falk were also healthy scratches. ... LW Taylor
Pyatt made his debut for the Penguins as he was in the starting
lineup a day after being claimed off waivers from the Rangers.
... Penguins RW Chuck Kobasew was a healthy scratch. ...
Penguins C Evgeni Malkin (lower body) and D Kris Letang (upper
body) both took part in the morning skate but Malkin missed his
ninth straight game and Letang sat out his 10th in a row. ...
The Rangers play the Maple Leafs on Saturday night at Toronto
while the Penguins host the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.
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