When it's the Penguins and New York Rangers, players can tell whether they're in Mellon Arena or Madison Square Garden with their eyes closed.

In New York, fans couple the last name of Penguins captain Sidney Crosby with a rude verb.

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• Matchup: New York Rangers vs. Penguins
• When: 2:08 p.m.
• Where: Mellon Arena. Soldout.
• TV, radio: WPXI, WXDX-FM (105.9).

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Here, fans boo every time the puck is touched by Rangers captain and former Penguins star Jaromir Jagr.

The latter might not be many notches up the creativity scale from the former, but, for the Penguins, it is home, and that means a lot for a team that has a chance to sew up its Eastern Conference semifinal series this afternoon.

"It's good to be back home," goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said yesterday after the Penguins practiced at Southpointe.

After winning Games 1 and 2 at Mellon Arena and Game 3 in New York, they missed a chance to collect their second consecutive series sweep in a 3-0 loss Thursday in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden.

"We're still in great position," Penguins defenseman Hal Gill said. "We weren't the team we can be in that last game. We have to get back to doing the things we can."

That could be an easier task at home.

"The fans have been fantastic," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said. "They bring the emotion that we need. Our young team really feeds off the fans."

It was the Rangers who connected with their fans in Game 4, ending the Penguins' playoff run of seven consecutive wins after a sweep of Ottawa.

The Penguins -- specifically their top two skaters, Crosby and center Evgeni Malkin -- roughed it up some with the Rangers in the third period after teammate Marian Hossa took a hard hit, and Malkin earned a misconduct penalty for kicking the skate of Paul Mara late in the game.

"I think that's just the playoffs," said Crosby, dismissing any notion that there will be carryover.

The Penguins are 21-20 all time in games when they have a chance to win a playoff series, 8-8 at home, 4-1 in their past five such chances and 5-2 in their past seven.

If they convert today, it will be the first time since they beat Washington in the first round in 2001 that they will conduct the traditional handshake as winners on home ice.

"I've never done that, and a bunch of guys here have never done it, so it would be pretty cool," Fleury said.

The Rangers' win in Game 4 might have loomed a little extra large because the Penguins had not lost this postseason, but it doesn't change the fact that the series is tilted heavily toward the Penguins and their 3-1 lead.

"It was just one game," Fleury said of the loss. "We need one more win, and they need three more."

The Penguins' 5-3 win Tuesday in Game 3 at Madison Square Garden was their first road win against the Rangers in more than a year, since March 7, 2007. They had been 0-4-1 since then, including 0-3-1 in the 2007-08 regular season.

Given that, sweeping the first two home games of the series and splitting two in New York doesn't look so bad.

"Obviously, we're disappointed we didn't finish them off [Thursday] night, but, at the same time, we're in good position here coming home," Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik said. "I think if you told us [we would split] when we went there, we'd be happy."

That doesn't mean the Penguins want any part of returning to Madison Square Garden tomorrow night.

"We have a chance to finish the series at home, and there's no team in our position that wants to go back to play Game 6 in New York," Therrien said. "We've got the confidence and we worked hard to get that confidence. We worked hard to win the [Atlantic] division and get home ice."

"Being at home, we're in great position," Crosby said.

And in an atmosphere that's more comfortable.

"A little different," Crosby said, with what was almost a smile.