After the Pittsburgh Penguins drew closer in the standings, the last thing the Rangers needed was to run into a hot goaltender. But that was what happened when they faced Semyon Varlamov at Madison Square Garden Saturday. Despite outshooting Colorado, 42-20, the Rangers failed to solve Varlamov in a 3-1 loss to the Avalanche. “He stood on his head,” said Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who made 18 saves in the loss and, in a rarity this season, was not as sharp as the opposing goaltender. The Rangers carried the play for most of the game. But Varlamov, 9-2-0 and having allowed only 18 goals in his last 11 starts, was magnificent. No matter where the Rangers shot the puck, or whether they had forwards blocking his view, Varlamov allowed only a goal in the first period to Mats Zuccarello. Matt Hunwick and Gabriel Landeskog scored on Lundqvist and Paul Stastny scored an empty-net goal with 14 seconds left. Penguins 5, Devils 2: Sidney Crosby sparkled in Game 2 of his second comeback tour, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins to their 11th win in a row, a 5-2 domination of the Devils. Crosby had a game-high three assists and went plus-2. He set up second-period goals by Matt Cooke and Evgeni Malkin — the latter with a highlight-reel pass — and added an assist in the third period on Cooke's second goal. The victory moved the streaking Penguins 2 points behind the Eastern Conference-leading Rangers. Crosby missed 40 games because of concussion and neck injury symptoms. Islanders 3, Canadiens 2: Josh Bailey's shootout goal sealed a victory for the Islanders in Montreal. Mark Streit and Frans Nielsen scored in regulation for the Islanders, who ended a five-game losing streak. Al Montoya stopped 28 shots. Bruins 3, Flyers 2: Tim Thomas turned aside Danny Briere's shot to wrap up a shootout win for host Boston. Tyler Seguin scored in regulation and in the shootout for the Bruins, who ended a four-game losing streak. Ilya Bryzgalov made 31 saves for the Flyers. Blues 3, Lightning 1: St. Louis (46-19-8) became the first team to reach 100 points as Jaroslav Halak made 22 saves in a victory at Tampa Bay. Jaden Schwartz scored his first NHL goal for the Blues. Panthers 3, Sabres 2 Shootout goals by Wojtek Wolski and Dmitry Kulikov lifted Florida to a win at home against Buffalo. Jose Theodore made 24 saves for the Panthers. Ryan Miller stopped 15 shots for the Sabres. Other results: Carolina 5, Minnesota 3; Toronto 3, Ottawa 1; Vancouver 4, Columbus 3; Los Angeles 4, Nashville 2; San Jose 3, Detroit 2, OT.
