Tonight at 7 p.m. ET, the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins take the ice for Game 4 of their Eastern Conference Round 1 best-of-seven series live from the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh as part of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
New York is hoping to take a commanding 3-1 series lead while Pittsburgh is looking to even up the set before it shifts back to Madison Square Garden.
These teams have alternated wins and losses throughout this series. The Rangers won Game 1 with a 2-1 win last Thursday and then took their second series lead with another 2-1 triumph on Monday. The Penguins, meanwhile, notched a 4-3 victory in Game 2 on Saturday, temporarily stealing home ice from the Rangers.
This game can be live streamed for free here.
The Rangers have dominated the first period all series long, outscoring the Penguins 4-1 in the opening stanza throughout the three games of this set. Pittsburgh will look for a stronger start.
"There's a fine line between setting up the perfect shot and just throwing shots on net," captain Sidney Crosby said, according to NHL.com. "It's not something where you flick a switch in the playoffs; it's something you work on all year in making that decision. In the playoffs, things are tighter and happen quicker so you have to make that decision much faster than you would the regular season."
Shutdown defenseman Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi have done a great job keeping Crosby (two goals, one assist) and ailing forward Evgeni Malkin (no points) at bay.
In Game 3, it was Carl Hagelin coming through for New York in the opening period with his first tally of the postseason while Derek Stepan scored his first marker of the playoffs in the second frame, which eventually held up as the game-winner.
Patric Hornqvist ruined New York's shutout bid in a chippy third period, but the Blueshirts hung on to steal home ice back.
"It's hard to control what the opponents are gonna do," Martin St. Louis told the New York Daily News. "We gotta be big boys and be smart about it. There's a time and a place to get your licks in. You've got to stay composed."
Girardi and Nash have paced the Rangers with three points thus far in this series while Crosby and Chris Kunitz also have three points to lead the Penguins.
In between the pipes, New York turns to Henrik Lundqvist and he has stopped 65 of the 71 shots he's faced through the first three games.
Pittsburgh counters with Marc-Andre Fleury in the crease and he has had a solid series thus far, yielding seven goals on 90 shots.
It's a pivotal Game 4 when the lights come up on the Rangers and Penguins live tonight from the Consol Energy Center as part of the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs.
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