Blue Notes

9:40 p.m. Jagr hits the empty net and the Rangers will win, 3-0. Um, did Michal Rozsival and Sergei Gonchar just have a fight? Poor sportsmanship by the Pens at the end here.

Henrik Lundqvist should get well-deserved first star accolades. The win at least salvages some pride and prevents the Pens from clinching on Garden ice. Now to Pittsburgh, where a win would make a series out of it. It's not over yet...

9:37 p.m. Pascal Dupuis take a penalty and that shot just about do it. 1:14 left, the Rangers on the power play, up 2-0.

9:35 p.m. Excellent penalty kill. Gonchar's chance was the best the Pens could manage. Under 2 mins.

9:34 p.m. The puck hops over to a wide-open Gonchar on the left point, he moves in, fires a hard slapper, but Lundqvist stops it and covers the rebound. 3:06 to go.

9:33 p.m. Good start to the kill. 1 min left on the power play, 3:15 in the period.

9:31 p.m. Uh oh. High sticking on Gomez, so the Pens will get a power play with 4:10 to go. I wonder if they'll pull the goalie at any point to give themselves a 6-on-4 advantage.

9:30 p.m. The Pens have entered all-out attack mode, sending two players in deep on the shorthanded forecheck.

9:28 p.m. Wow, what a great tradeoff for the Rangers. Dan Girardi sits for two, while both Malkin AND Crosby get two minutes. So not only do the Rangers get a power play -- they won't see Malkin and Crosby at any point during that time. 6 minutes left.

9:26 p.m.The Crosby line seems to be hitting the ice every other shift now. Great play Rozsival to hit stop Crosby one-on-one, and then Girardi decked Hossa. Crosby takes exception and we have ourselves a scrum. Some frustration, perhaps? I'll get you the penalties ASAP.

9:23 p.m. The Rangers have done a very good job of bottling up Hossa, Crosby and Malkin so far. For the first time this series, those three seem a little out of sync.

9:18 p.m. Decent power play for the Rangers. Fleury left a couple of rebounds, but the Rangers couldn't convert. 9:25 to go.

9:16 p.m. Pens coach Michel Therrien has put Crosby, Hossa and Malkin on the same line to try to get his team going. But the Jagr-Straka-Dubinsky job did a great job keeping them pinned in their own end. Then Nigel Dawes took a cross check from Sergei Gonchar, and the Rangers will have a power play with 11:40 to go.

9:14 p.m. Lundqvist stops a point-blank shot from Ryan Malone, who fought off a Rangers defender at the top of the crease. 12:47 left.

9:13 p.m. The Rangers must be winning in the third period, because Dancin' Larry just did his thing -- and he brought a prop with him. It appeared to be a giant baby bottle with a yellow top. I'll leave it to you to read between the lines.

9:10 p.m. I'm amused by how similar the Penguins' and Rangers' strategies seem to be. They obviously don't have much confidence in their defensive game, so the goal is just to play on offense as much as possible. Including Game 1, this is the worst game the Pittsburgh defenders have played in the series so far. 13:45 left.

9:09 p.m. What an opportunity for the Pens. With a wide-open net, Jordan Staal bats a bouncing puck right through the crease.

9:07 p.m. We have (I believe) our first Colton Orr sighting of the game. With a 2-0 lead, Renney obviously felt it was a good time to get him out there. He came in hard on the forecheck, belting a Pens defenseman. 15:50 to go.

9:05 p.m. Get ready for the longest third period of the season, Rangers fans. Pittsburgh is going to come to life eventually, and the home team will need every ounce of energy (and good fortune) to preserve the lead. 17:30 to go.

9:03 p.m. Another big save from Lundqvist, who is almost single-handedly saving the Rangers' season tonight. He stops Petr Sykora on a point-blank rebound to keep it 2-0.

9:01 p.m. What a start for the Rangers. After getting knocked down in front of the net (no call), Brandon Dubinsky gets up, gathers the puck, and spins in a turnaround wrister from just above the crease. 2-0 Rangers. Do I detect an air of confidence in the Garden? Hmmm... not just yet.

8:43 p.m. Well, that was a different kind of period, wasn't it? A 1-0 lead isn't much against Pittsburgh, but it's the first time the Rangers have led after the second period all game. We'll be back when the third period resumes...

8:39 p.m. If the Rangers can keep Pittsburgh off the scoreboard, it will be only the sixth time in 23 periods in the playoffs in which the Pens have not scored. Another Penguins penalty after a nifty move by Prucha. Bill McCreary sends Petr Sykora off for hooking.

8:37 p.m. Malkin comes in very slowly, takes a snapshot to the glove side and Lundqvist makes the save. Still in 1-0 Rangers. Biggest save of the Rangers' season. Lundqvist's second penalty shot save in the playoffs.

8:36 p.m. No goal... Now the penalty shot.

8:34 p.m. Penalty shot for Malkin! But first, a review to see if the puck crossed the line before Lundqvist was shoved into the net. Huge, huge moment in the game here.

8:33 p.m. Malone's breakaway was the best team either team had on that Rangers power play, and the fans are expressing some serious dissatisfaction with Michal Rozsival's play on the point. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh's attack game has ground to a halt. This is exactly what the Rangers needed.

8:31 p.m. Great save by Lundqvist on a shorthanded breakaway by Ryan Malone. He's earning his paycheck tonight. 45 seconds left on the PP.

8:29 p.m. No question anymore who has the momentum in this game. Now Jarkko Ruutu takes a penalty and the Rangers will have a chance to make it 2-0 with 4:52 to go in the period. There was a brief "Re-sign Jagr" chant from the blue seats. I wonder what the blue-seaters would have said about Jagr if I took a straw poll in mid-January when the Rangers were out of a playoff spot and Jagr was struggling badly.

8:26 p.m. The Garden is alive for the first time since the middle of Game 3. They're still chanting "JA-GER!" and going wild every time a Ranger delivers a hit. They can't let the adrenaline go to their head, though. They need to continue to play steady.

8:24 p.m. Great move by Jagr and he puts one past Fleury. Rangers 1, Penguins 0. Then he gets leveled by a late hit and stays down for a few seconds. The crowd let him know how they felt about his goal after he finally got to his feet, chanting "JA-GER, JA-GER!" Isn't it funny how things change?

8:21 p.m. It's interesting to note here that the Rangers aren't playing four lines like they have all season. The understanding all year long was that the Rangers fourth line was being groomed to play significant minutes in the postseason. But the Pens' speed -- and the Rangers' need to keep their best players on the ice -- seems to have nullified that strategy.

8:19 p.m. 9:55 to go. The Rangers deserve credit for not allowing a goal so far, but the offensive attack hasn't equaled the withering pressure they put on Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fleury during the second period of Game 3.

8:17 p.m. A rare offensive gaffe by Malkin there... He skated too far past the post and wasn't in position to receive a give-and-go pass that would have resulted in a slam dunk goal. The Penguins are taking back some of momentum now...

8:16 p.m. The second period edge so far (12 mins left) belongs to the Rangers. They've closed down most of Pittsburgh's scoring chances and created plenty of their own. My biggest criticism at this point is they're carrying the puck wide too often rather than shooting from outside. They either need to take the long sots they're being given, or try to make a move to the net.

8:14 p.m. After allowing five goals in Game 3, Lundqvist is doing his part tonight. After Hossa stripped Callahan at the redline, he set up Malkin for a slapper and Lundqvist deflected it into the netting above the glass.

8;12 p.m. Renney gave Marc Staal a shift on the power play point, but it didn't help much. Another big chance is wasted. And Ryan Callahan is hooked down... No penalty.

8:10 p.m. The shots are 10-7 Pittsburgh, and that's a pretty good indicator of the flow of play so far. Scott Gomez tries to set up Dawes for a slam dunk in front, but Dawes whiffs. The intensity has ratcheted up in the last few minutes. And now Shanahan makes another strong play, driving hard to the net and drawing a penalty on Kris Letang for holding. The Rangers could sure use a good power play here.

8:06 p.m. Drury looked like he had a bit more oomph on that shot than he did on a wrist shot from the slot in the first period... but still not his usual power on the slap shot. Then he gets a great chance in from off a beautiful feed from Brendan Shanahan and misses the net. I can say with confidence that's most impact Shanahan has had on the series so far.

8:04 p.m. Nice save by Henrik Lundqvist on Malkin to keep it scoreless. Once again, Pittsburgh made a play there by pressuring the Rangers' defense into a mistake.

8:01 p.m. Just chatted with some friends and family who are sitting in the 300 section tonight. Everyone here seems to feel the same way: The Rangers haven't done enough to pressure Pittsburgh in this game. It may be tough to do that, though, with Chris Drury clearly not 100 percent and Sean Avery in a hospital bed right now. Second period is under way...

7:46 p.m. It's not that Pittsburgh played particularly well, but the Rangers should feel lucky to get out of this period with no score. They had to kill two power plays and they looked absolutely awful coming out of their own zone. I thing Rangers coach Tom Renney has done a great job in his three-plus years here, but to me it looks like the Rangers' D just isn't reacting quickly enough against the Pens' forecheck, and that's something that should've been addressed in practice.

Back after a short break...

7:42 p.m. Pretty bad no-call just now on a trip by Evgeni Malkin behind the Pittsburgh net. I think the ref turned a blind eye because the puck had bounced away. The crowd let out a loud roar.

7:40 p.m. I think -- yes -- I did just see Jaromir Jagr throw a check. It was against Crosby. Big roar from the crowd.

7:37 p.m. What you just saw in the Rangers' end is the all the evidence you need to understand why the Rangers MUST play the game in Pittsburgh's end. The Rangers' defense just can't handle the Penguins' quickness.

7:35 p.m. Pittsburgh's speed is giving the Rangers ALL kinds of problems getting out of their own zone. Whenever a Ranger turns to clear the puck, a Pittsburgh player is right on top of him. This has been the case all series since the second period of Game 1.

7:33 p.m. Another good kill from the Rangers. Very little setup time for Pittsburgh.

7:31 p.m. Marc Staal gets nabbed for slashing. Time for another big penalty kill for the Rangers.

7:28 p.m. Sorry, guys, the internet gremlins got me. Lousy Rangers power play... The Pens put on their best pressure of the game just now but Sidney Crosby couldn't convert on a chance in front.

7:20 p.m. Dubinsky passes to Straka in front and he's hooked by Marian Hossa, who goes off with 13:28 to go. Would be nice for the Rangers to at least get some momentum going, even if they don't score.

7:19 p.m. The Rangers need to get their forecheck going here. If they can play in Pittsburgh's end and score a goal, they may be able to dent the Pens' confidence. Remember: Pittsburgh has only trailed for about 30 minutes all postseason long.

7:15 p.m. Good kill from the Rangers. They needed to avoid a repeat of Game 3, in which they yielded the first goal inside of two minutes.

7:13 p.m. First hit on Sidney Crosby prompts a loud roar... And now we have our first penalty call -- it's on Marc Staal for goalie interference. Not good. This exactly what the Rangers didn't want.

7:08 p.m. I have to mention a great nugget my colleague Steve Zipay put in his blog a couple of days ago after the Game 3 loss that put the Ragers in a 3-0 hole. The last two NHL teams to recover from 3-0 deficits were the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders -- there's a gap of 33 years between those seasons. It's 2008. Do the math. Here we go...

7 p.m. We are about five minutes from the opening faceoff here. A quick update on the scratches: Marek Malik (healthy), Blair Betts (face), Sean Avery (spleen) and Christian Backman (healthy) will not play tonight. That means Chris Drury, Ryan Hollweg, Petr Prucha, Colton Orr and Jason Strudwick are all in the lineup. I'll leave it to you to speculate where they fall in the lineup.