Rangers Top Penguins for 4th Win in Row Jason Cohn/Reuters Tyler Kennedy interfered with goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. Brandon Dubinsky had a goal and an assist, Henrik Lundqvist made 37 saves and the surging Rangers beat the host Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1, on Friday night. Brad Richards scored his 15th goal of the season for the Rangers, and Derek Stepan took advantage of an embarrassing gaffe by Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to notch his ninth goal as the Rangers won their fourth straight. The Rangers improved their position atop the Eastern Conference by riding Lundqvist, who has won six straight starts. He held the Penguins in check with a series of flashy glove saves and dug in when Pittsburgh turned the pressure up late. Ben Lovejoy scored his first goal of the season for Pittsburgh, and Fleury stopped 18 shots but badly misplayed a clearing attempt in the third period, leading to Stepan's goal. REALIGNMENT SCRAPPED The N.H.L. said it would not go forward with its realignment plan and modified playoff format next season after the players union refused to agree to the changes. The changes were approved in December by the N.H.L."s board of governors, with the league planning to switch from two three-division conferences to six divisions. The league said it would maintain its current alignment and playoff format next season. "It is unfortunate that the N.H.L.P.A. has unreasonably refused to approve a plan that an overwhelming majority of our clubs voted to support, and that has received such widespread support from our fans and other members of the hockey community, including players," the N.H.L. deputy commissioner, Bill Daly, said. "We have now spent the better part of four weeks attempting to satisfy the N.H.L.P.A."s purported concerns with the plan with no success. Because we have already been forced to delay and, as a result, are already late in beginning the process of preparing next season's schedule, we have no choice but to abandon our intention to implement the realignment plan and modified playoff format for next season. We believe the union acted unreasonably in violation of the league's rights. We intend to evaluate all of our available legal options and to pursue adequate remedies, as appropriate. DEVILS 5, PANTHERS 2 Ilya Kovalchuk had two third-period goals to lead the Devils to a victory over Florida Panthers at Prudential Center. The win enabled the Devils to snap a two-game losing streak, while the Panthers lost for the second straight night. HURRICANES 4, SABRES 2 Eric Staal had a goal and two assists to lead host Carolina past Buffalo. Chad LaRose scored the go-ahead goal with 11:50 left, Justin Faulk also scored and Brandon Sutter added an empty-net goal for the Hurricanes. They never trailed in winning for the fourth time in seven games. FLAMES ACQUIRE CENTER The Calgary Flames acquired center Blair Jones from the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenseman Brendan Mikkelson. Jones, 25, has appeared in 78 career N.H.L. games, including 22 this season with Tampa Bay. He had two goals and two assists.