New York: With one of their top players out for several weeks, the Pittsburgh Penguins are going to need some help to make the play-offs.
Conor Sheary did his part on Sunday.
Sheary scored twice and Matt Cullen had the go-ahead goal in the third period as the short-handed Penguins beat the New York Rangers 5-3.
The Penguins were missing star Evgeni Malkin, who is out six to eight weeks after suffering an upper-body injury in Friday’s win over Columbus. He is second on the team with 27 goals and 31 assists in 57 games.
“It’s a good opportunity for a lot of guys to get some secondary scoring to get some more minutes when a top guy like that goes down,” Sheary said. “Obviously, it’s unfortunate for the team as whole, losing a player like that, but it’s good for younger guys and guys who don’t get that many minutes.”
Patric Hornqvist also scored for the Penguins and Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves for the Penguins. Sidney Crosby added an empty-netter for his 29th of the season.
Derick Brassard scored his team-leading 25th goal for the Rangers. Ryan McDonagh and Chris Kreider also scored and Derek Stepan had two assists.
Jonathan Bernier made 38 saves in his 12th career shutout to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 1-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
It marked the Maple Leafs’ second shutout of the Red Wings in the last 30 years. The last time was Curtis Joseph’s 3-0 victory on December 6, 2000, in Detroit.
“I felt great from the get-go,” Bernier said. “We felt we dominated this game from the start and we wanted it.”
Toronto’s Michael Grabner came in on a breakaway and was hauled down by Danny DeKeyser with 29.5 seconds left in the second. Petr Mrazek made the save, but as Grabner slid into the crease, the puck went into the net.
After a review, it was ruled that the puck crossed the line in a legal fashion before the net was displaced. It was Grabner’s first goal since January 2.
“I saw the puck out of the corner of my eye go in and I knew that I didn’t touch the goalie,” Grabner said. “I didn’t feel it hit me or anything. I got a lucky bounce.”
The Tampa Bay Lightning got back on track after a rough week by beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 to stop a three-game slide.
Ben Bishop made 37 saves while Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist as Tampa Bay (40-24-5) moved into a tie with idle Florida (38-21-9) for second in the Atlantic division with 85 points.
Stamkos hit the 30-goal mark for the fifth time in eight seasons when Bishop earned his fourth shutout of the season and No. 16 for his career. Ondrej Palat had a goal and an assist, and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored.
