Beat the clock
NEW YORK — Mario Lemieux already made room in his house for Sidney Crosby. If the kid keeps having nights like this, No. 66 will have to share space in the Penguins' record book, too.
Crosby scored a power-play goal with 3.3 seconds left, tying a career high with four points, and Pittsburgh pulled out a wild 6-5 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night.
Crosby fired a pass from the right-wing boards, while Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr sat in the penalty box, that struck New York defenseman Aaron Ward in front and ricocheted in. Earlier, the 19-year-old phenom set up three goals for Pittsburgh, which scored six times on 22 shots.
He has a long way to go to catch his host Lemieux, who retired last season with 690 goals and 1,723 points. But in only 84 NHL games, Crosby's totals are 41 and 108.
"It's nice, but it's just one game," Crosby said.
Jagr was left hanging his head while Crosby happily skated across the ice and looked up at the board to see how timely his goal was.
"I knew it was like five seconds," he said. "The last time I saw it, it was 10, and Reccs (forward Mark Recchi) kind of handled it for a while at the top. I just knew I had to get it on net."
If the pass had gone through, Michel Ouellet was ready to steer it in at the left post.
"I could have picked a better position to not line up and block the pass in front of the goalie," Ward said. "I should have stepped out to the side.
"As a defenseman, you don't want to be the catalyst to their goal."
The Penguins allowed only two goals and went 1-1 at home to start the season, each a shutout, before winning their first road game. Pittsburgh had an Eastern Conference-low 10 wins away from the Steel City last season.
Jordan Staal, the No. 2 pick in this year's draft, and Kris Letang each scored their first NHL goals for Pittsburgh, while Ryan Whitney scored his first two of the season and Ouellet added one.
Marc-Andre Fleury allowed goals to Jagr, Matt Cullen, Adam Hall, Michael Nylander — each scoring their second of the season — and Brendan Shanahan but still made 37 saves against the Rangers, who recorded three goals on 18 shots in the second period.
"I asked our guys to find a way to win," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said. "It got a little crazy, but we got the last shot and we got the win."
After a scoreless first period, the teams combined for six goals in the second with Pittsburgh getting three on seven shots.
Neither team led by more than one goal and each found the touch on the power play. Pittsburgh finished 4-for-9, while New York was 3-for-9.
