NEW YORK – Reilly Smith scored the go-ahead goal and Artemi Panarin scored two goals as the New York Rangers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 on Friday night.

Smith gave New York the lead with his fourth goal of the season at 9:53 of the third period, a game that came hours after the Rangers traded captain Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks.

New York responded with a win on home ice as goaltender Igor Shesterkin made 20 saves to snap a personal five-game losing streak.

Vincent Trocheck also scored for the Rangers and provided two assists. Alexis Lafreniere had two assists.

Blake Lizotte and Philip Tomasino scored goals for Pittsburgh, halting its four-game winning streak.

After Lizotte opened the scoring with his fifth goal at 6:19 of the second minute, Panarin equalized at 7:28.

Panarin followed with his second goal of the game and 15th goal of the season with two seconds left in the second period, firing a low shot past Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic. Nedeljkovic made 28 saves for the Penguins.

Tomasino scored his third goal in five games with the Penguins at 8:29 of the third period, tying the game 2-0.

New York had lost six of its last seven games since the start of the season, going 12-4-1.

Takeaways

Penguins: Sidney Crosby became the 72nd player to reach 1,300 regular-season games played. The 37-year-old captain ranks 10th in NHL history with 1,622 points, including 600 goals.

Rangers: Improved to 7-5-1 at Madison Square Garden this season.

Key moment

Rangers defenseman Zac Jones broke up a Penguins two-on-one break with just over seven minutes left in the third period, preserving New York’s one-goal lead.

Important statistics

Panarin, who assisted on Trocheck’s goal, led the Rangers with 32 points. He has points in 19 of New York’s 25 games.

Next

The Rangers host the Kraken on Sunday and the Penguins host the Maple Leafs on Saturday.

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