NEW YORK -- The New York Rangers defeated the Penguins, 3-2, in a shootout at Madison Square Garden tonight.

It was the second time this season the Penguins built a 2-0 lead in New York, only to lose in a shootout.

The loss dropped the Penguins (15-6-3) six points behind the first-place Rangers in the Atlantic Division. The Penguins have played 24 games, four fewer than New York.

In the shootout, Markus Naslund, Nikolai Zherdev and Fredrik Sjostrom of the Rangers beat Penguins goalie Dany Sabourin. New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist stopped Miroslav Satan before being beaten by Kris Letang.

The Penguins played part of the second period and all of the third without fourth-line center Mike Zigomanis. He appeared to have hurt his right shoulder or arm but the Penguins, in keeping with league guidelines adopted a few months ago, did not provide any information on the nature or severity of his problem.

Third-line winger Tyler Kennedy left the game early in the third period and did not return. Again, there was no word on his injury.

Defenseman Mark Eaton gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 13:56 of the first period, when he took a feed from Sidney Crosby and beat Lundqvist from the slot during a four-on-four situation.

The goal was Eaton's first in 91 games, ending a dry spell that dated to April 8, 2006, when he was playing for Nashville.

Jordan Staal pushed their advantage to 2-0 at 9:35, when he deflected a Rob Scuderi wrist shot behind Lundqvist, but Nikolai Zherdev countered for the Rangers 81 seconds later by steering a Scott Gomez shot past Sabourin.

Petr Prucha of New York forced overtime with his first goal since Jan. 31 at 14:03 of the third. Prucha collected the rebound of a Gomez shot that missed the net and caromed off the backboards, then flipped it by Sabourin.