NEW YORK -- The Pittsburgh Penguins whipped the hometown New York Rangers 5-0 Thursday night to take a 3-1 series lead and push the Rangers to the brink of elimination. Game 5 is set for Saturday in Pittsburgh.

How it happened: This one was over in a hurry as the Penguins brought their A speed game and the Rangers responded with what would charitably be described as their D-game. The Pens scored three times in the first period and then again early in the second period to make it 4-0 and chase starter Henrik Lundqvist. Hardly The King's fault, though, as the Pens scored twice on the power play, once on a rebound and once on a great rising shot by rookie Conor Sheary, who stole the puck from defenseman Kevin Klein at the Penguins' blue line and then raced down the left side, beating Lundqvist over his right shoulder. In all, Lundqvist gave up four goals on 18 shots in 26 minutes, 4 seconds of ice time Thursday before getting a rest. The Rangers were on their heels from the moment Eric Fehr gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead just 1:09 into the game, and even when they had chances, the puck seemed to bounce out of harm's way or a Penguin would make a play to steal away a chance. When the puck did get through to the net, Matt Murray was again solid in winning his second straight start. The 21-year-old stopped 31 shots for his first postseason shutout. The Rangers have no answer for a Penguins power play that is 7-for-19 in the series, and the Rangers have not taken advantage of their chances on the power play, going 1-for-16.

What does it mean: So much for the old Madison Square Garden mystique. The Rangers have now lost five straight home playoff games and been outscored 18-3 dating to the Eastern Conference finals of last spring. The Rangers now face the unenviable task of having to win three straight against a Penguins team that appears to just be rounding into form, especially Evgeni Malkin, who had two goals and two assists in his second game back from an injury that cost him the final month of the regular season. Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault moved Kevin Hayes out of Thursday's lineup, inserting rookie Oscar Lindberg, but that clearly had no meaningful impact on the Rangers' ability to generate consistent offense. What now? Even if defenseman Dan Girardi was able to come back into the lineup, and that seems unlikely, the Pens' speed is not suited to where Girardi's game is at right now. With the Washington Capitals also up 3-1 in their series against the Philadelphia Flyers, it's not too soon to start wondering about a long-awaited playoff rematch between the Capitals and the Penguins, who last met in a classic seven-game set in 2009. Yes, we know that Pittsburgh was in the same position two years ago in the second round leading the Rangers 3-1 before losing three straight, but this Penguins team is deeper, faster and seemingly less likely to fall into the kind of offensive funk that cost them in that series two years ago. In short, it's really not too soon to be looking ahead to the second round if you're the Penguins.