Before this Eastern Conference semifinal series, the one spot where the Rangers seemingly had a clear advantage over the Penguins was in goal with Henrik Lundqvist.
The King has been good for three games, but Penguins counterpart Marc-Andre Fleury has gone from shaky question mark to star of the series with shutouts on consecutive days.
Suddenly Pittsburgh is dominating all over the ice, and its 2-1 series edge feels a whole lot wider.
Since a 3-2 overtime loss in Game 1, Fleury has been perfect. He stopped 22 shots in Pittsburgh's 3-0 home win in Game 2 on Sunday and followed that with a stellar 35-save performance in the Penguins' 2-0 victory at Madison Square Garden on Monday.
"I felt good out there. Confident," Fleury said. "We didn't want to give them much, and we didn't."
Forget about the guy who faces constant criticism, or the one who seemed to be crashing and burning during the first round against Columbus when no leads were safe.
Through it all, Fleury -- the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NHL draft and a Stanley Cup champion with the Penguins in 2009 -- keeps bouncing back.
After a summer away from it all, and time with a sports psychologist, Fleury regained his starting spot. Now he is the biggest reason the Penguins are two wins away from a return trip to the conference finals.
"To see your goalie confident like that, on top of his game, you see everyone is calm," said Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, whose first goal of the playoffs made it 1-0 in Game 3. "(The Rangers) get a chance, he makes a save, and we move on."
Bylsma has a theory about how Fleury is able to shake off the naysayers.
"Right now, it's from a lot of practice," he said. "Questions have been asked for 100 days in a row. He knows the answer only comes on the ice and winning hockey games."
Lundqvist has been sharp for the Rangers in the three games against Pittsburgh, but has just one win to show for it. The Penguins attacked him in waves in Game 2, and Lundqvist's play was the sole reason the Rangers trailed only 1-0 in the third period.
The game is live streaming online at www.stream2watch.me/live-tv/nhl-network-live-stream
