PITTSBURGH -- Henrik Lundqvist lost control of his temper, something his teammates couldn't recall seeing before. Then something just as rare happened: he lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Led by Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins took advantage of an uncharacteristic and game-altering meltdown by Lundqvist to score three times in less than two minutes late in the second period and beat New York 4-1 on Thursday night.

"It got away from us there, I can't pinpoint what happened," Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi said. "They kept coming and we couldn't stop it."

And it came against the team that Lundqvist almost always stops. The Rangers had won 11 of their previous 13 against the Penguins, counting the playoffs, all with Lundqvist in net.

"I didn't know what's going on," Malkin said of Lundqvist losing his composure. "Maybe he got frustrated. But we played a solid game -- go to the net, get some rebounds. It's like the playoffs."

Only it wasn't like the playoff series last spring in which Lundqvist and the Rangers dominated the Penguins, winning in five games. Lundqvist also shut them out in Pittsburgh 3-0 less than a month ago.

This time, Patric Hornqvist added his fifth goal in three games as the Penguins bounced back from a tough 3-2 loss Tuesday at the NHL-leading Washington Capitals.

It all changed in barely a New York minute as the Penguins improved to 10-2 in their last 12 in Consol Energy Center behind goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 27 saves in winning for the 12th time in his last 16 starts. They also moved five points ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers for the conference's second wild-card berth.

Lundqvist became angry 6:17 into the second when Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh accidentally ran into the goalie, apparently causing Lundqvist to injure his neck.

"I'm just chasing back, trying to get in front of the pass, going to the far post, as he slid with the pass he kind of way outside the crease and (they collided) ..." McDonagh said.

Lundqvist, who didn't speak to reporters after the game, apparently was upset that neither of the referees, Trevor Hanson or Jean Hebert, stopped play. He responded by angrily upending the net -- causing the yellow mooring pins to fly high in the air, and drawing a delay-of-game penalty.

"I don't think I've ever seen him that mad," teammate Derek Stepan said.

"I think he was trying to tell the referee he was hurt -- the signals crossed or whatever -- (and) obviously the referee didn't pick up on it and he wasn't feeling right at that moment," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "I don't think Hank made it clear to the referee."

Lundqvist -- who gave up only three goals in his previous four starts against the Penguins -- didn't give up control of the game right then, but he soon did. And he was gone by the start of the third period, removed for precautionary reasons with neck spasms.

"I don't think it's anything serious, but we wanted to be on safe side and take him out," said Vigneault, who isn't certain of Lundqvist's status for a Friday night game at Washington.

It happened all so suddenly.

After the Rangers' Chris Kreider scored his 14th goal of the season to break the scoreless tie at 16:50 of the second and five seconds after a holding penalty on Crosby expired, Lundqvist -- who turned 34 on Wednesday -- promptly collapsed.

Crosby, who had only six points in his 13 most recent games against the Rangers, alertly tied it at 17:47 with his 26th goal. Crosby banked a shot off the rear boards and, following it to the net, was there to nudge it across the goal line by an inch or two as the puck ricocheted directly into the crease.

"Being down gave us some jump and urgency," Crosby said.

Malkin gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead only 21 seconds later, getting his 25th of the season by putting in a rebound of Chris Kunitz's shot that deflected off Lundqvist and directly to Malkin.

It got worse for the Rangers when Keith Yandle went off for interference at 18:43. Hornqvist scored the Penguins' third goal in 1:39 -- and his fifth in three games -- by redirecting Phil Kessel's shot on the power play. Lundqvist stopped the first 17 Penguins shots, only to allow three goals on the next five shots, and backup Antti Raanta came on for the third period.

Kessel scored his 20th of the season with an empty-netter in the closing seconds.

NOTES: Rangers RW Jesper Fast (flu) was not expected to play Thursday in Pittsburgh or Friday in Washington but unexpectedly flew to Pittsburgh and was in the lineup against the Penguins. D Marc Staal (flu) was out and D Dylan McIlrath was paired with D Dan Boyle. ... Rangers F Rick Nash (bone bruise in left leg) skated lightly Thursday morning at Consol Energy Center, the first time he has done so since Feb. 2. He has been out since Jan. 22 and coach Alain Vigneault estimates he'll be sidelined an additional 10-14 days. ... Penguins D Justin Schultz, acquired Saturday from Edmonton, still hasn't played with his new team, missing three games. Coach Mike Sullivan wants Schultz to go through a full practice before playing. G Jeff Zatkoff was also scratched. ... The Penguins moved RW Bryan Rust to the third line and dropped RW Kevin Porter to the fourth line. According to Sullivan, Porter was being evaluated after the game for a lower-body injury.

NOTES: Rangers RW Jesper Fast (flu) wasn't expected to play Thursday in Pittsburgh or Friday in Washington but unexpectedly flew to Pittsburgh and was in the lineup against the Penguins. D Marc Staal (flu) was out and D Dylan McIlrath was paired with D Dan Boyle. ... Rangers F Rick Nash (bone bruise in left leg) skated lightly Thursday morning at Consol Energy Center, the first time he has done so since Feb. 2. He has been out since Jan. 22 and coach Alain Vigneault estimates he'll be sidelined an additional 10-14 days. ... With Nash closer to returning and four-time all-star F Eric Staal now in the lineup, Vigneault says he'll have plenty of "options" with his forward lines. Against Pittsburgh, Staal centered a line with LW Viktor Stalberg and RW Kevin Hayes. ... Penguins D Justin Schultz, acquired Saturday from Edmonton, still hasn't played with his new team, missing three games. Coach Mike Sullivan wants Schultz to go through a full practice before playing. G Jeff Zatkoff was also scratched. ... The Penguins moved RW Bryan Rust to the third line and dropped RW Kevin Porter to the fourth line.