#georges laraque

Malkin, who carried the Penguins in the regular season when Crosby was out with an ankle injury, has three goals and three assists in this lopsided series, which Pittsburgh leads, 3-0. Pittsburgh has won seven playoff games in a row.

Malkin, 21, was named earlier Tuesday as one of three finalists for the Hart Trophy, awarded to the league’s most valuable player. Calgary’s Jarome Iginla and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin, the favorite to win the award, were the other finalists.

Malkin, a Russian, was the N.H.L.’s second-leading scorer behind Ovechkin, compiling 47 goals and 59 assists. He had 20 goals and 26 assists in the 28 games that Crosby missed. Malkin had 65 points after Jan. 1, and Pittsburgh went 27-11-6.

“He’s not really thinking about that,” Pittsburgh defenseman Sergei Gonchar, acting as Malkin’s interpreter, said after the game when asked about the Hart Trophy. “He’s focused on the playoffs right now.”

Crosby, the Penguins’ captain, has not had a bad series, contributing four assists. But Malkin was the difference again Tuesday, four days after he scored the game-winning goal in the series opener.

During the regular season, the Penguins lost all four games they played at Madison Square Garden. But they scored 62 seconds into Tuesday’s game, and Malkin gave Pittsburgh a nudge whenever it needed one.

“Malkin was really efficient,” Pittsburgh Coach Michel Therrien said. “Our special teams were really efficient.”

Both of Malkin’s goals came at critical times. The Penguins had taken a 2-1 first-period lead when Rangers right wing Ryan Callahan clipped Pittsburgh defenseman Hal Gill with his stick 32 seconds later, drawing blood — and a double minor.

Gonchar, playing the left point on the power play, shoved a lateral pass to Malkin, who one-timed a shot that seemed to scoot past Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist in an instant for a two-goal lead.

The Rangers tied the score on second-period goals by Callahan and Jaromir Jagr that came 1 minute 4 seconds apart. Less than three minutes later, though, Rangers left wing Ryan Hollweg slammed Petr Sykora into the boards headfirst, drawing a penalty.

“We wanted to gain some momentum, even if we didn’t score,” Crosby said.

The Penguins had been outshot to that point, 29-12, but they patiently worked the puck around the Rangers’ zone before taking a shot. Crosby won a battle for a loose puck, tapping it back to Gonchar at the left point.

Gonchar passed the puck to Crosby in the high slot, and Crosby almost did not get the puck out to Malkin at the right point. But Malkin had already proved that he did not need a lot of time to size up a shot. He caught up to the puck and let a shot fly. It went in.

“When we really needed to get a goal, the power play came through,” Sykora said.

Malkin was not finished. He won a face-off against Callahan in the Rangers’ zone, knocking the puck to Sykora, who sent it to Kristopher Letang at the point. Letang’s shot was deflected past Lundqvist by Ryan Malone, and the Penguins had a two-goal lead again.

Malkin also set up Georges Laraque’s goal in the first period after Sykora dug a loose puck out of the corner. Malkin took the puck behind the net and fed a pass to Laraque in front. Laraque is not a goal-scorer, but Malkin tends to create chances for everyone.