(SportsNetwork.com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to avenge their most lopsided loss of the season when they host the New York Rangers in Saturday's clash at Consol Energy Center.
The Penguins were slammed 5-0 in Tuesday's tilt against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. It was the first meeting between the Metropolitan Division rivals since New York beat Pittsburgh in seven games during last spring's Eastern Conference semifinals.
The setback halted the Pens' winning streak at seven games and also marked the first time Pittsburgh had lost by five goals since a 5-0 setback in Ottawa on Dec. 23 of last season.
New York received goals from five different players to rout the Penguins and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 33 shots for his third shutout of the season.
Not including the playoffs, the Rangers have won two straight and three of the last five meetings against Pittsburgh. The Blueshirts also snapped a five-game regular-season slide in the Steel City with a 4-3 shootout win over the Pens on Feb. 7.
Pittsburgh was able to rebound with a win Friday, as it posted a 2-1 regulation decision in Toronto. Backup netminder Thomas Greiss stopped 30 shots to anchor the Penguins and Pascal Dupuis scored both goals in the win.
Dupuis notched the game-winner just 15 seconds into the third period, taking a pass from Sidney Crosby before one-timing the puck past Jonathan Bernier for his sixth goal of the season.
"He makes it easy for everybody," said Dupuis about Crosby. "He's the best in the game. You just gotta find spots to get open."
Marc-Andre Fleury will get the start in net tonight for the Pens and is 26-15-8 with a 2.74 goals against average versus the Rangers.
After posting its impressive win over the Pens, the Rangers lost for the third time in four games when they dropped Thursday's 4-3 shootout decision against visiting Colorado. The setback gave the defending Eastern Conference champions a 1-1-1 record on a three-game homestand.
The Blueshirts held a 3-2 edge over the Avalanche after 40 minutes, but Nathan MacKinnon evened the score with a power-play marker in the third period and Alex Tanguay provided the decisive goal in the shootout.
Tanguay hit the post late in overtime, but he wasn't denied in the tiebreaker. The third shooter for Colorado, Tanguay faked a shot to get Lundqvist down and roofed the puck.
All three Rangers goals came in the second period with Derek Stepan, Dan Girardi and Kevin Hayes each scoring. Lundqvist made 26 saves for New York.
New York can bring its road record this season to .500 with a win tonight, as the Rangers currently are 2-3-0 away from Madison Square Garden.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.