Without Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Mark Letestu, the Penguins limped into New York way underpowered and depleted at center.  By all rights the Rangers, 29-20-4, should have had at least an fairly easy time against the gimpy Penguins.  And after jumping out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Prust (8) and Anisimov (11) things were looking that way early in the second period.

Then came a spurt.  Pittsburgh scored on goals by Dustin Jeffrey (3) at 5:30 of the second, Mike Rupp (5) at 10:36 of the second and Chris Kunitz (17) at 14:12 of the second.  They were up 3-2 when they lost another center, Jordan Staal, to a match penalty and when he was ejected for throwing a gloved punch.  The Penguins almost escaped the second period without that hurting them.  But at 19:47 of the frame Callahan (11) scored to tie up the game on the power play that the Staal penalty afforded the Rangers.

The Penguins dug in in the third period and held off the Rangers through overtime.  Then came the shootout.  Marc-Andre Fuery, who made 26 saves in regulation and OT, stopped shots by Wolski, Zuccarello, Callahan, Anisimov, Stepan and Dubinsky.  Lundqvist stopped Letang, Dupuis, Kunitz, Goligoski, Kennedy and Conner.

Then came Dustin Jeffrey, the man who scored the first goal of the game for Pittsburgh and who by all rights would be playing daily for the big club on a lesser team not chocked full of talent.  He scored in round seven of the shootout.  Fluery then proceeded to stop Marian Gaborik to end the game.

The Penguins were undoubtedly happy to come out of it all with two points considering their situation.  But surprisingly the Penguins have been playing well without their superstars lately.  They are proving that they can stay competitive, adapt and even win when temporarily missing pieces to the puzzle.

After getting trounced by the Penguins on Saturday night, the Rangers wanted a little revenge. Pittsburgh put the previous game away with a third period explosion that New York just could not match and the Rangers got a little antsy, taking all sorts of foolish penalties trying to settle scores. Monday night however was their chance.

The Rangers strategy early seemed simple; shoot the puck from any angle on Fleury who was up to the task. But the Penguins had other plans along the lines of not letting the Rangers get even.

After a scoreless back and forth first period in which both Lundqvist and Fleury were on top of their games, the contest moved to the second frame where Marion Gaborik (20) scored early to put the Rangers up. But before the jubilation of the players and their home town fans ended Sidney Crosby (16) answered with a backhand shot and goal just ten seconds later.

Even though the second period ended in a tie with Rupp (6) scoring for the Penguins and Gaborik (21) notching another for the Rangers on a power play, you could see the blood in the water. In the third Pittsburgh needed only eight shots to notch another three goals and put the game away. One of those goals was by His Sidness (17) but the other two were all Michael Rupp (7, 8). It was Rupp’s first career hat trick in the NHL thanks to the empty net.

Rupp has long been known for his physical play and has been used in that role for years. But what is becoming apparent to everyone is that he has a keep nose for the puck and how to score too. He is quickly becoming a utility man for the Penguins playing everywhere and with anyone at various times throughout games.

While he and his fellow fourth liners, Adams and Goddard, have been turning heads with their aggressive play and almost scoring a number of goals making teams play them like they would a #2 or #3 line, Rupp has emerged as the current hot hand and versatile enough to do whatever the Penguins want of him.

The Rangers have struggled this season despite the addition of Gaborik and the loss dumped them to .500 on the season at 13-13-1. The Penguins however improved to 19-9-0 to keep pace with the Washington Capitals in the East. Thursday the Penguins return home to host the Colorado Avalanche who are 15-8-5 and in second place in the Northwest Division (4^th overall in the West).