NEW YORK — Matt Cullen beat Henrik Lundqvist on a semi-breakaway after beating two defensemen early in the third period and the Pittsburgh Penguins spoiled the return of Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh with a 3-1 win in Game 3 of their first-round series on Tuesday night.

Sidney Crosby also scored and Matt Murray made 16 saves in his return to action in helping the Penguins take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series.

Jesper Fast of the Rangers chases Pittsburgh's Carl Hagelin in the first period Tuesday night in New York. The Penguins scored two third-period goals for a 3-1 win and a 2-1 lead in the series. The Associated Press

Game 4 is Thursday night in New York. The Rangers have lost four consecutive playoff games at Madison Square Garden going back to last season’s Eastern Conference final against Tampa Bay.

Kris Letang iced the game with an empty-net goal.

Rick Nash scored for the Rangers, who played without an injured McDonagh (upper body, hand) in the first two games in Pittsburgh. Lundqvist made 28 saves, giving up a power-play goal to Crosby and a one-on-one chance to Cullen.

This was a game in which the Rangers seemed to lose momentum after a first-period goal by Chris Kreider was nullified because of an offside call after a challenge.

Nash still gave New York the lead early in the second period, but the Penguins seemed to take control when Crosby tied the game late in the second on a power play.

Cullen’s winner was as much a good play by him and a bad one by defensemen Keith Yandle and Dan Boyle.

Cullen took a pass and entered the Rangers’ zone. Yandle and Boyle converged on him and ran into each other.

That gave Cullen a clear path to Lundqvist and he beat the goaltender between the pads at 4:16 for a 2-1 lead.

LIGHTNING 3, RED WINGS 2: Ondrej Palat scored with 2:59 left in the third period, lifting Tampa Bay at Detroit for a 3-1 lead in the first-round series.

Game 5 is Thursday night at Tampa Bay.

Ben Bishop stopped 26 shots for the Lightning and Petr Mrazek made 30 saves for the Red Wings.

Palat was in a perfect position right in front of the net to make the most of Jonathan Drouin’s pass on the winning goal. Drouin had three assists.

Nikita Kucherov had power-play goals in the first and second period to give Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead late in the second, but Detroit’s Darren Helm and Gustav Nyquist scored late in the period to tie the game.

NOTES

FLYERS: Forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare was suspended one game for checking Washington Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov from behind.

Bellemare will miss Game 4 on Wednesday as the Flyers try to avoid getting swept by the top-seeded Capitals in the first-round playoff series.

With about 8 minutes left in Game 3 Monday, Bellemare hit Orlov from behind into the boards and was given a major penalty and game misconduct. Orlov was slow to get up but was not injured and returned to the game.

COYOTES: The Arizona Coyotes signed an agreement to purchase the Springfield Falcons and hope to move their AHL affiliate to Tucson.

The deal must be approved by the NHL board of governors and is contingent upon signing a lease agreement.

The Coyotes hope to have the franchise play at the Tucson Convention Center and are in conversations for the team to play in the city for the 2016-17 AHL season.

The Coyotes had an affiliation with the Portland Pirates before signing a three-year deal with the Falcons in 2015.

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