The Rangers, once down 3-1 in their second-round series against Pittsburgh, came all the way back and advanced to the Eastern Conference finals with a 2-1 win Tuesday night. They're there in large part because of Lundqvist, who made 35 saves on 36 shots, including several on a game-deciding sequence with a little more than five minutes remaining in the third period.

PHOTOS: Eastern Conference second round | MORE: Box score

On Pittsburgh's end, Marc-Andre Fleury made 18 saves, Jussi Jokinen scored a goal, and Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and James Neal came up empty despite several opportunities.

A few more notes from Consol Energy Center:


POWERED BY LIGHTNING


The Rangers had huge power-play goals in each of their last two road games. Game 5 was more about breaking their 0-for-36 stretch; Game 7 was about regaining the lead after Jokinen pulled Pittsburgh even at 4:15 of the second period. A little more than three minutes after that, Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen tripped Rangers center Derick Brassard. Martin St. Louis (and some seriously poor net-front coverage) set up Brad Richards in front of Fleury, who, until that point, had done well to prevent a second New York goal.

Richards and St. Louis who, by the way, have hooked up in the past. In 2004, specifically.


MAJOR MISSTEP


Niskanen, as noted several times, is going to make a lot of money over the summer, and he'll deserve it — but he's going to want a do-over on a first-period play that led to the Rangers' first goal. Niskanen stepped up to hit Derek Dorsett and quickly watched a 2-on-2 rush turn into a 3-on-1, when Dorsett pushed a pass ahead to Brian Boyle. That wasn't all Niskanen's fault, though; Boyle beat Fleury with a soft five-hole shot, and Brian Gibbons was the only Pittsburgh forward to backcheck.


SMALL CONSOLATION


After Boyle's goal, Pittsburgh settled down and spent the majority of the first period in New York's zone, eventually outshooting the Rangers 10-7 and out-attempting them 17-12. They couldn't convert that into an equalizer, though, and Crosby fanned on a backhand chance with a lot of open net ahead of him. Pittsburgh's only first-period power play was negated when James Neal held Marc Staal's stick in front of an official.