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PITTSBURGH -- The New York Rangers arent about to let the loss of two top forwards derail their hot start.The Rangers were hit with adversity the previous two days, first on Sunday after learning Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich would miss extended time because of injury, and the following day when they fell behind early against their division rival Pittsburgh Penguins.Rick Nash sparked a comeback, though, and J.T. Miller scored short-handed to cap a second-period rally, helping the Rangers overcome an early two-goal deficit to beat the Penguins 5-2 on Monday night.We know a lot about this team because we played them so much over the last handful of years, Miller said. I think we were on our heels a little too much to start, a little too passive. I thought we were a lot more aggressive after that, and when we did that, we forced them into more turnovers and got a couple lucky bounces.The teams play again Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden to complete a pivotal, early season home-and-home between Metropolitan Division contenders. The Penguins have lost four of six and trail the first-place Rangers by four points.Pittsburghs Jake Guentzel scored twice in the first period of his first NHL game, but Rick Nash and Michael Grabner made it 2-2 before Miller, a Pittsburgh native, got his eighth of the season.Kevin Hayes added his ninth goal midway through the third, and Derek Stepan also scored into an empty net.Antti Raanta, starting the second game of a back-to-back for New York, rebounded after the first period and made 29 saves for his fifth win in six games.Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 31 shots for Pittsburgh. It was the first time he started two straight games since Matt Murray returned earlier in the month from a broken hand.Its a long season and things arent always going to go your way, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. Whats most important, from our standpoint, is how we react to it. Thats the lesson we need to learn from this game.Zibanejad, injured a day earlier against Florida, is expected to miss six to eight weeks for the Rangers with a broken leg, while Buchnevich is out two to three weeks with a back injury. Zibanejad had five goals and 15 points in 19 games, while Buchnevich scored four goals and eight points in 10 games.That didnt deter the Rangers on Monday, as New York, with an NHL-best 81 goals through 20 games, was able to rally.Miller scored in the final minute of the second period to put the Rangers ahead. A centering pass deflected off Penguins defenseman Kris Letang and forward Evgeni Malkin before hitting Miller and going past Fleury.The Rangers next goal was also a lucky one, as Ryan McDonaghs centering pass hit off Hayes skate and went behind Fleury.The game didnt start the way we wanted, but I thought after the first period we settled down, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. Thats a really strong team, but we were able to do what we had to do to get the job done.Guentzel made his debut against the same team that drafted his father Mike in the seventh round in 1981. The younger Guentzel scored on the first shot of his first shift, a similar feat accomplished by Penguins co-owner Mario Lemieux 32 years earlier. Guentzels wrist shot from below the left faceoff dot sneaked between Raantas pads 1:02 into the game. It was the fastest goal by a Penguins player making his NHL debut.His second goal came exactly 12 minutes later. Malkin tipped Phil Kessels initial shot, and Guentzel put the rebound behind Raanta from the slot.Guentzel, the Penguins 2013 third-round pick, was recalled from the teams AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton earlier in the day. He had seven goals and 17 points in 16 AHL games, leading the team and ranking among the league leaders.Its a dream come true to play here, Guentzel said. Whenever you get the chance, you want to make the most of it.This was the first meeting between the division rivals since the Penguins eliminated the Rangers in the opening round of the playoffs last spring. It marked the third straight year the teams met in the postseason -- the Rangers won the first two meetings before losing to the Stanley Cup champions last season.Game notes Guentzel is the fifth player in team history to score his first NHL goal on his first shift. He is the third Nebraska-born player in NHL history to score a goal. ... Malkin has points in seven straight home games.... Penguins F Chris Kunitz, who has 11 points in 18 games, is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury. ... Patric Hornqvist, who missed the last three games with a concussion, skated on his own before the Penguins morning skate.UP NEXTThe teams complete their home-and-home at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. Derek Fisher Lakers Jersey . Inter president Erick Thohir says in a club statement on Wednesday that Vidic is "one of the worlds best defenders and his qualities, international pedigree, and charisma will be an asset. Robert Horry Lakers Jersey . "We have always prided ourselves on the way we play defence. Having two big pieces back is going to be a key for us moving forward for years to come," said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. http://www.lakersbasketballshop.com/Customized-Jersey/ . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. Vlade Divac Lakers Jersey . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. Derek Fisher Jersey . The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling "puts an end to my dreams of being a top player," the 27-year-old Troicki said in a statement. "I worked my entire life for it, and it has been taken away from me in one afternoon by a doctor I didnt know," said Troicki, whose ranking peaked at No. NEW YORK -- Connecticut and Syracuse supplied plenty of great moments over the years at Madison Square Garden as members of the Big East. They had one more Monday night in a nonconference matchup.Christian Vital made two free throws with 2.2 seconds to play to give Connecticut of the American Athletic Conference a 52-50 victory over Syracuse of the Atlantic Coast Conference in the Tire Pro Classic.Andrew White III hit a 3-pointer with 9.1 seconds left to bring Syracuse into a 50-50 tie. Rodney Purvis missed a 3-point attempt for the Huskies but Vital was fouled on the rebound. Syracuses final chance was a long inbounds pass that was stolen by Connecticut.Vital, a 6-foot-2 freshman guard, said he knew Purvis was going to shoot so he just went to get position among bigger players underneath.I definitely had a lot of nerves going to the line but the timeout they called helped me out a lot, Vital said. A lot of our veteran guys talked to me during the timeout and they said `Listen, were in your city. Take us home. And I was able to do that.Purvis had 21 points and seven rebounds for the Huskies (4-4) while Jalen Adams had 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Kentan Facey, who coach Kevin Ollie said has been battling a stomach virus, had a career-high 13 rebounds.This is definitely a huge win for us, Purvis said. We had some early season struggles but to come together tonight in this atmosphere, in this historic place. It was huge for us to come out with the win.White finished with 14 points for the Orange (5-3), who have lost three of four. Dajuan Coleman had 10 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for Syracuse.I think the three games that we just played, two and a half of them the offense just wasnt good enough to win, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. Defense was pretty good tonight. We did a good job on the boards. We just could not score any points.Neither team shot well and that made a lot of rebounds available as both teams finished with 42.Connecticut finished 16 of 51 from the field (31.4 percent) while the Orange shot 25.9 percent (14 for 54). Syracuse was 6 of 26 from 3-point range and the Huskies were 7 of 25.Once again it wasnt the most beautiful basketball game from an offennsive standpoint but I thought the defense was great, Ollie said.ddddddddddddSome new growth was made today.Syracuse led 23-21 at halftime. The Orange used an 11-2 run to go up 37-26 with 13:11 to play. The Huskies finally started hitting some shots and they used a 19-7 run to take a 45-44 lead with 6:19 to play. Connecticut led the rest of the way except for the 50-50 tie.What we need to think about is our offense, Boeheim said, We have to get better there.These teams had met at Madison Square Garden many times when they both were in the Big East. The greatest of all their matchups was the 2009 Big East Tournament quarterfinal that Syracuse won 127-117 in six overtimes. Syracuse leads the all-time series 55-38.We were thirsty for this opportunity and we were hungry to hit and the guys really hit and fought tonight and I was very proud of them, Ollie said.BIG PICTURESyracuse: The Orange are out of the Top 25 this week for the first time this season. They were 22nd last week and dropped out following a loss to Wisconsin in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. ... With no ranked teams on their schedule until mid-January it will be hard for the Orange to return to the rankings until then. ... Syracuse is playing in Madison Square Garden for the 35th consecutive season. It entered this game 94-76 all-time in MSG.UConn: The Huskies are going to struggle all season to replace swingman Terry Larrier and guard Alterique Gilbert, both of whom are out for the season with injuries. Both were averaging in double figures when they were injured. ... This was UConns 115th game at Madison Square Garden. The Huskies entered this game 61-53.MEET AGAINThese schools will meet again at Madison Square Garden next December in the 2017 Jimmy V Classic. Villanova and Gonzaga will also meet in one-night event.LOT OF FANSThe crowd was listed as 15,347 and they made it sound like an old-time Syracuse-UConn matchup.UP NEXTSyracuse: The Orange host the Terriers of Boston University on Saturday.UConn: The Huskies will make their first trip to Columbus, Ohio, in 33 years to face the Buckeyes on Saturday. ' ' '