Pittsburgh: Kevin Hayes scored at 3:14 of overtime to give the New York Rangers a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday in Game 4 of the NHL Eastern Conference first-round series.
The Rangers lead the series 3-1 heading back to New York for Game 5 on Friday night.
In overtime, Martin St. Louis started a goalmouth scramble when he threw the puck in front on a wraparound attempt. The puck pinballed to Carl Hagelin and went across the crease for Hayes to flip it past fallen goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. The point was Hayes’ first in the postseason.
New York’s Derick Brassard tied it at 1 with 2:45 left in the second period with his third goal of the series. Patric Hornqvist opened the scoring at 2:22 of the first period. Fluery and New York’s Henrik Lundqvist each made 22 saves.
Pittsburgh are a loss away from elimination after dropping consecutive home play-off games to the NHL’s best regular-season road team. The Rangers have won 12 of their last 13 on the road, allowing 15 goals.
Ryan Kesler scored twice in the third period and Anaheim beat Winnipeg to sweep the Western Conference first-round series.
Andrew Cogliano, Emerson Etem and Sam Vatanen - into an empty net - also scored, and Frederik Andersen made 25 saves. The Ducks are the first team to advance to the second round.
Bryan Little and Mark Stuart scored for Winnipeg.
Anaheim will face Calgary or Vancouver in the second round. Calgary lead that series 3-1.
The Jets/Atlanta Thrashers franchise remain without a play-off victory through 15 seasons of their existence. The only previous play-off appearance was in 1999 in Atlanta, a sweep at the hands of the New York Rangers.
