NEW YORK _ Penguins coach Mike Sullivan clearly was impressed by what he'd seen from the New York Rangers.
A few hours before his team met New York at Madison Square Garden Wednesday evening, Sullivan noted how the Rangers are faster than they'd been in recent seasons, how dangerous they can be on the counter-attack.
"They're trying to play more of a speed game, a transition game," he said. "They're playing a similar style to what we're playing."
That's a fair assessment, and helps to explain why New York is in first place in the Metropolitan Division.
But on this night, the Penguins played their game a lot better than New York did, and they were rewarded with a 6-1 victory.
It raised their record to 12-5-3 and lifted them to within two points of the Rangers.
The Penguins' best second period of the season _ and probably their finest 20 minutes so far in 2016-17 _ was their catalyst, as they ran off five unanswered goals.
New York had gotten the only goal of the opening period as Rick Nash tucked a rebound behind Penguins goalie Matt Murray at 4:22, five seconds after Evgeni Malkin was penalized for tripping Rangers forward J.T. Miller in the neutral zone.
The Penguins were awarded five minutes of power-play time during those 20 minutes, but failed to get anything past New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
Nash's goal extended New York's run of unanswered scores to six, dating to the second period of the Rangers' 5-2 victory at PPG Paints Arena on Monday.
That streak ended early in the second, however, as Scott Wilson converted a Phil Kessel set-up to tie the game, 1-1, and trigger the Penguins' outburst.
Kessel was along the outer edge of the left circle and threw a pass to Wilson, who beat Lundqvist from the right side of the crease at 2:02 for his third of the season.
Kessel's assist was his 15th, the most on the team. Nick Bonino received the second assist.
Although New York has been an exceptional second-period team _ the Rangers had outscored their opponents, 35-11, then during the first 20 games _ the Penguins' surge continued at 4:59, when Sidney Crosby steered an Ian Cole shot between Lundqvist's legs to make it 2-1.
Just 55 seconds after Crosby scored, he took a tripping minor. The Penguins killed that, but two seconds before Crosby's penalty was to expire, Nick Bonino was penalized for hooking.
The Penguins not only got through that man-disadvantage unscathed, but took a two-goal lead just 19 seconds after returning to full strength.
Kessel got the goal at 10:12, throwing a wrist shot by Lundqvist from near the right dot. Bonino received the only assist on that goal, Kessel's fifth.
By that time, the Penguins had the momentum, and Crosby picked up his 14th of the season at 12:57.
He had a two-on-one break with Conor Sheary and his cross-ice pass attempt hit Ryan McDonagh's stick and floated by Lundqvist to put the Penguins up, 4-1.
That goal prompted Rangers coach Alain Vigneault to replace Lundqvist, who gave up four on 17 shots, with Antti Raanta.
Switching goalies didn't have much of an impact, however, because Sheary made it 5-1 at 16:42, scoring his fourth of the season from below the right dot. Assists went to Crosby and Carl Hagelin.
Matt Cullen rubbed it in by steering a Justin Schultz pass by Raanta at 13:05 in the third, which was three minutes and 10 seconds before New York's first shot of the period.
