The Fifth Liners

The New York Rangers scored an impressive win last night at Madison Square Garden as they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1! They were lucky not to fall behind after 20 seconds though when Henrik Lundqvist stopped Sidney Crosby's breakaway chance! He was also faced with challenging efforts from Tanner Glass and Marcus Niskanen, but the Swede's efforts kept things at a tie game! But in a late 1st period flurry, the Rangers took control as Ryan McDonagh scored on 18 minutes to give them the lead and this was then followed up just over a minute later when Derek Stepan put the Rangers 2-0 up! Into the second period and New York went further in front when Brian Boyle slammed past Marc-Andre Fleury to make things 3-0 after 13.10 played. Kris Letang gave Pittsburgh a solitary reply when he scored on a powerplay, but Pittsburgh would get no further than that! But Rangers captain Ryan Callahan restored their three goal advantage shortly after when he deflected in Carl Hagelin'...

This season the New York Islanders are playing their first playoff game since 2007 and last night visited the on-form Pittsburgh Penguins . In a game which included 89 penalty minutes, the Pens put five goals past the Isles. Beau Bennett , Pascal Dupuis , Kris Letang and Tanner Glass all netted to give the Pens the advantage in the series. Full story  here. In other Penguins news, superstar Sidney Crosby is on the verge of returning although there's still no timetable. Sid is training with the team in the morning skates and is just waiting for the doc to sign him off. More info  here.