It was a scoring frenzy, but the Pittsburgh Penguins couldn't stay in the win column against the New York Rangers.

PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins entered St. Patrick’s Day weekend just five points out of a playoff spot and on the first half of a back-to-back. Facing off against the New York Rangers, the Penguins were looking to bring their A-game to close their gap to the postseason.

In their last meeting with the Rangers, the Penguins kept up but lost by a score of 1-0. It wouldn’t take long for there to be far more scoring this time around.

First Period

Just over two minutes into the contest, John Ludvig picked up his third goal of the season and second in as many games. The Penguins knew Ludvig would be an important piece against the Rangers, but it wasn’t quite expected on the scoresheet.

The Rangers didn’t take long to answer back in a big way, however, as they scored twice on two shots to take a 2-1 lead. The game wasn’t even four minutes old, and there were three goals.

The scoring didn’t stop, either, as the Penguins sustained some pressure for themselves. Their scoring chance was capitalized when Sidney Crosby made a perfect pass to Bryan Rust, who had a wide-open net to work with. It was a harsh angle, but Rust didn’t miss for his. 20^th goal of the season.

Once again, the Rangers didn’t wait long to respond. Rust had an ugly neutral zone turnover that led to a perfectly placed saucer pass over a sprawling Ryan Graves. Vincent Trocheck floated his pass perfectly over Graves and found Artemi Panarin, giving the Rangers a 3-2 lead.

A wild first period finally ended with the Rangers up 3-2 and far more goals expected from both sides.

Second Period

The second period kicked off without much scoring but plenty of entertainment. Both the Penguins and Rangers traded some scoring chances and power play opportunities but not any goals.

On their third power play opportunity of the game, the Penguins finally broke through to tie the game. Rangers defender Adam Fox blocked a shot, which left him hobbled, and the Penguins pounced. A few extra passes put Jonathan Quick in a bad spot, and he could not sprawl over and make a stop on Lars Eller.

The Rangers took longer to retaliate this time, but they managed to score a pair once again in quick succession. Both goals came on the power play, as a pair of penalties came from the Penguins one after another.

Now carrying a 5-3 lead, the Rangers were in the driver’s seat heading into the second intermission.

Third Period

The Penguins weren’t entirely out of the game entering the third, but they would need to play near-perfect to have a chance.

That chance went away pretty quickly when a seemingly harmless shot from K'Andre Miller beat Tristan Jarry for the Rangers' sixth goal of the game. With six goals against, Jarry was pulled in favor of Alex Nedeljkovic.

The Penguins made sure to show they weren't totally dead, yet when Reilly Smith found Valtteri Puustinen on a 2-on-1 opportunity. Puustinen was long overdue to find some offense, and the Penguins hoped that could be a spark for a comeback.

With the clock winding down, the Penguins pulled Nedeljkovic looking for a pair of magical late goals. The Penguins had their chances, but couldn't convert.

The Rangers notched the empty netter for their seventh of the game, putting the nail in the coffin. Panarin ended the day with five points in the 7-4 scorefest.

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