NEW YORK _ Henrik Lundqvist was named as the Rangers' representative at the NHL All-Star Game just before Wednesday night's game against the Penguins at the Garden.
After a scoreless first period, the Penguins showed Lundqvist what happens when you face a veritable All-Star team when you're not at your sharpest.
Pittsburgh scored three goals in a span of 5:51 of the second period and six goals on just 18 shots overall against Lundqvist en route to a 7-2 victory. It was the Penguins' seventh win in a row and ninth in their last 10 games.
Lundqvist, who will be making his fifth All-Star appearance on Jan. 26 in San Jose, was pulled 4:40 into the third period after the Penguins took a 6-2 lead.
Zach Aston-Reese, Jake Guentzel and Kris Letang all beat Lundqvist in the second-period span to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead.
Aston-Reese, a Staten Island native playing in his first NHL game at the Garden, made it 1-0 with 13:31 left in the period.
Guentzel got credit for Pittsburgh's second goal when his shot deflected off Rangers defenseman Marc Staal's stick and past Lundqvist. It was a lowlight of Staal's 800th NHL game.
(Penguins coach Mike Sullivan was interviewed on NBCSN after the Penguins took a 2-0 lead. He said he thought his team was "going through the motions" and wasn't happy with the way they were playing. They had just gone up 2-0!)
Letang's goal at 7:40 came after a giveaway by Pavel Buchnevich. Letang whistled the puck high over Lundqvist's glove to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead. Rangers coach David Quinn turned away from the ice and shook his head in disgust.
Ryan Strome answered 26 seconds later when he sent his fourth of the season past Matt Murray. The Garden had hope ... until Dominik Simon made it 4-1 with 4:15 left in the period.
Lundqvist allowed a fifth goal 1:03 into the third period. Evgeni Malkin slid one in through Lundqvist's legs from in front and then continued into the goal himself to bowl over the shell-shocked goaltender.
Buchnevich made it 5-2 just 19 seconds later. But the onslaught continued when Tanner Pearson scored on the power play to make it 6-2 and end Lundqvist's night in favor of Alexandar Georgiev.
Sidney Crosby (oh, yeah, him) scored the final goal with just over six minutes left.
Quinn sounded the alarms after the Rangers' 2-1 victory on Monday in St. Louis. Lundqvist was the star _ perhaps the only star for the Rangers _ as his 39 saves covered up a lackluster team performance.
Quinn gave the Rangers a day off on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he made Jimmy Vesey a healthy scratch for the first time this season and re-inserted 19-year-old Filip Chytil after a one-game benching, perhaps as a way to show the team even the veterans can take a seat when they are not measuring up.
The Rangers came out faster than the Penguins, outshooting Pittsburgh 12-5 in the first period. But Murray was able to stop the Rangers' best chances and the Penguins stepped up their intensity in the second.
The Rangers, who had earned at least one point in their last seven home games, go back on the road Friday to begin a three-game trip at Colorado, Arizona and Las Vegas before a home-and-home with the Islanders beginning with a Jan. 10 meeting at MSG.
