PITTSBURGH _ In their first game without center Mika Zibanejad and after losing two straight, including in a shootout on Sunday, the Rangers had plenty of excuses to mail it in.
After all, the Penguins came out hungry and rookie Jake Guentzel, playing on a line with stars Evgeny Malkin and Phil Kessel, scored twice in the first period in his NHL debut to send the crowd at PPG Paints Arena into a frenzy.
But the Rangers rebounded in the second period with three consecutive goals to erase the Penguins' lead. Antti Raanta, who had allowed Guentzel's first goal from the left circle at 1:02, kept the Rangers in the game with 24 saves, and they left the Steel City with a 5-2 win.
With 7:14 left and the Rangers leading 3-2, Ryan McDonagh's shot from the right side glanced off Kevin Hayes' skate at the crease for a two-goal lead. Derek Stepan finished the rally with a long, rolling empty-netter.
It was the teams' first meeting since the defending Stanley Cup champions eliminated the Rangers in five games in the first round of last season's playoffs.
A rematch is on tap quickly. The Penguins (11-5-3) visit the Rangers (14-5-1) at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.
Raanta, who had been peppered, denied Conor Sheary's try in close with less than four minutes to go in the first period to prevent a three-goal lead. In the second period, he turned away a hat-trick bid for Guentzel from between the hashmarks, alone in front.
That seemed to spark the Rangers, who beat Marc-Andre Fleury three times. Rick Nash scored his eighth goal when he followed his own shot and lifted a rebound past Fleury at 4:51.
With the Rangers throwing shots from all angles at Fleury, McDonagh tossed a shot that Fleury bobbled and Michael Grabner pounced on. He flipped a high backhander in at 14:23. It was Grabner's 12th goal, tied for the league lead.
Then, with Brady Skjei in the box for a questionable interference call on Bryan Rust along the boards, Hayes' short-handed lead pass to J.T. Miller glanced off Miller and through Fleury to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead.
They had outshot the Penguins 15-9 in the second period, and 27-23 for the first 40 minutes.
Perhaps no player illustrated the will needed on a night that started poorly more than Kevin Klein. With 8:42 left in the first. Klein blocked a shot and went down, eventually struggled to his feet, went to trainer's room without putting much weight on left leg. But he returned and took regular shifts.
The win spoiled an otherwise memorable night for Guentzel, the 22-year-old Minnesota native. His dad, Mike, a defenseman, was a seventh round pick of the Rangers in 1981. He was in the stands Monday night.
