If he had thought about it, Marc-Andre Fleury could have sent out for a hot dog in the overtime of the Penguins' game yesterday.

"Yeah, or I could have sat on the bench, talked with the guys," the goaltender said of his light day at the office, thanks to a Penguins defensive effort that limited the New York Rangers' scoring chances in a 4-3 win at Mellon Arena.

"The guys did really good," Fleury said. "They kept the rebounds away, kept the shots low."

The Rangers mustered just 17 shots, and 11 of those came in the first period.

The Penguins held them to three shots in each of the second and third periods and none in overtime, which the Penguins spent on power plays.

"It's one of the reasons we won," defenseman Sergei Gonchar said. "The effort was there. We played smart.

"We're playing within the system and everyone knows what to expect, knows where to be."

The Penguins had allowed 46 shots Wednesday in a 6-2 win against New Jersey and averaged 33 shots against in Michel Therrien's first five games as coach.

Against the Rangers, the Penguins did not give up an even-strength goal.

New and improved?

The new coach's style? The influx of young players?

General manager Craig Patrick isn't willing to pick out one reason the Penguins have been playing better. They have won two in a row for just the second time this season.

"I think we're playing a lot more consistently," Patrick said. "We're playing hard, which we weren't always doing before. When we weren't playing consistently, sometimes we weren't playing very hard at all.

"All I can say is the results are starting to show. Certainly, Michel has a different approach, but it could be a lot of things. As long as they're playing hard, I'm happy."

Missed opportunity

Gonchar had two assists but missed a golden scoring opportunity late in the second period.

Sprung on a breakaway that stretched nearly the length of the ice, he bore down on Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who easily stopped Gonchar's shot from in close.

"I made a nice move, I think," Gonchar said. "I was going 5-hole."

The problem? He shot too soon after a deke.

"I didn't let him open up," Gonchar said.

Mario update

Patrick said there still is no timetable for Mario Lemieux's return.

The Hall of Fame forward and team owner is out of the lineup because of an irregular heartbeat condition called atrial fibrillation.

"He's working out, and he's hoping to skate sometime soon," Patrick said.

More work for Malkin

There was a theory floating around that Russia should have held Penguins prospect Evgeni Malkin out of the ongoing World Junior Championships in Vancouver so he would be fresher for the Olympics next month.

Poppycock, Patrick said.

"I think the more experience he gets, the better," Patrick said. "He could play in a tournament like this every other week as far as I'm concerned. It makes you a better player."

Slap shots

Winger Ryan Malone was a healthy Penguins scratch for the second game in a row. The team's other scratch was defenseman Lyle Odelein. ... Rangers scratches were defenseman Tom Poti, center Steve Rucchin and winger Colton Orr. ... The standing-room sellout crowd booed every time former Penguin and NHL leading scorer Jaromir Jagr touched the puck.