NEW YORK -- The New York Rangers defeated the Penguins, 5-2, at Madison Square Garden tonight.

The loss ended the Penguins' three-game winning streak, dropped their record to 41-25-7 and left them in second place in the Atlantic Division, one point behind New Jersey.

The Rangers dominated the opening period, when Sean Avery and Ryan Callahan beat Penguins goalie Ty Conklin during a 40-second span to stake them to a 2-0 lead.

Avery opened the scoring at 11:07 by beating Conklin with a wrist shot from inside the right circle, and Callahan put in a Chris Drury rebound from the inner edge of the left circle at 11:47.

The Penguins exploited a sloppy line change by the Rangers to get back into the game early in the second period.

Ryan Whitney hit Jarkko Ruutu with a long lead pass and Ruutu broke in alone from the neutral zone before beating New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist with a backhander at 1:38.

The Penguins struck again 93 seconds later, as Jordan Staal knocked his own rebound by Lundqvist for his 11th of the season.

The Penguins' surge prompted New York coach Tom Renney to use his timeout, and it didn't take long for that move to pay off.

Rangers winger Fredrik Sjostrom picked off a Whitney clearing pass up the middle of the ice, then broke down the slot alone and buried the puck behind Conklin to put New York back in front at 3:55.

Lundqvist preserved New York's advantage with an outstanding save on Ryan Malone 6:30 before the second intermission, as Malone took a feed from Malkin and was able to cruise down the slot before launching a backhander from close range.

Avery made it 4-2 at 5:37 of the third by beating Conklin from the front lip of the crease and former Penguin Martin Straka steered in a Drury shot at 11:29 to put the game out of reach.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.