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Chris Conner started his day at practice in Wilkes-Barre and finished it as a top star on Broadway.

Just hours after being called up by the Penguins, Conner scored twice to lead Pittsburgh to a 4-2 victory over the slumping New York Rangers on Monday night.

It wasn’t the forward’s first time on the huge stage as he had a six-game stint with Pittsburgh this season and a somewhat longer run with the Dallas Stars in previous years, but he made the most of his latest chance.

Conner staked the Penguins to a 1-0 lead early in the first period and then netted the winning goal in the third.

“It was fantastic,” he said. “It was kind of a chaotic day — getting called up and stuff. It just felt excellent to get the win.”

The Rangers grabbed a 2-1 lead in the third, but the Penguins tied it on Evgeni Malkin’s power-play goal just 31 seconds later that caromed in off diving Rangers captain Chris Drury. Conner struck for his second of the night — and the season — one minute after Malkin’s goal.

Conner had one help for the Penguins earlier this season. He has eight NHL goals and has been on a binge lately, posting five goals and three assists in his last three games in the minors, including a Wilkes Barre/Scranton franchise record five-point night (two goals, three assists) against Syracuse on Friday.

“It’s tough making the decisions sometimes who is going to get that call-up,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “Chris Conner had a excellent weekend, got his call-up and he certainly cashed in with a very excellent game.”

That offset the huge night place up by New York rookie Artem Anisimov, who had his first two-goal NHL game. Anisimov made it 1-1 in the second for the Rangers, who had been shut out in their previous two games. New York has dropped three straight and six of eight (2-5-1), including four shutout losses.

“This one was painful,” said Henrik Lundqvist, who made 24 saves.

“We battled back. The second period, we played really well.

“In the third, it was a terrible time to get that penalty and they get a lucky goal on a deflection off our player. We had a bunch of games like this this year and it would be a different tale if we manage to win these.”

Pascal Dupuis’s empty-netter sealed Pittsburgh’s fourth win over the Rangers this season with 39.8 seconds left. That was enough to give a win to Marc-Andre Fleury, who returned from a four-game absence caused by a broken finger.

“I felt pretty excellent,” Fleury said. “They have been working me pretty hard.”

‘Flower made solid saves’

New York had several chances to score more but couldn’t take advantage of a four-minute power play in the third after Jordan Staal was sent off for high-sticking, and another power play that came a few seconds before Staal left the box.

The Rangers recorded seven shots in the advantage, but Fleury stood up to them and finished with 28 saves.

“They didn’t get a whole lot and the shots they did get, Flower made solid saves,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “But it wasn’t like they had us hemmed in for four minutes.”

One goal Fleury would like back was Anisimov’s jam shot that was forced in at the right post and then nudged over the line by Fleury’s skate at 9:15. Anisimov has nine goals.

The Rangers broke out of their latest long drought when Anisimov netted the tying goal with 6:56 left in the second. After Christopher Higgins knocked the puck away from defenceman Mark Eaton inside the Pittsburgh blue-line, Anisimov cut across the slot and let go a rising shot that beat Fleury.

Anisimov’s first goal in 18 games was New York’s first in 156 minutes 32 seconds.

Conner made the most of his time alongside Crosby just 2:47 in. Skating on a 3-on-2 break, Conner took a right-to-left pass from Crosby, glided into the circle and snapped a shot that eluded Lundqvist inside the left post.

Conner took the spot in the lineup vacated by 39-year-ancient forward Bill Guerin, who was scratched for the first time this season. Conner’s experience with Dallas was a factor in his latest recall.

“One of the things we liked is he played with Mike Modano on a line with Dallas,” Bylsma said. “Getting called up and being questioned to play with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin can be a tough call-up.”

Rangers forward Ryan Callahan meets plenty of resistance on a wraparound attempt in a 4-2 loss to the Penguins on Monday. (Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

Chris Conner, recalled from the AHL earlier in the day, netted two goals and the Pittsburgh Penguins scored twice one minute apart in the third period to beat the slumping New York Rangers 4-2 on Monday night.

Conner was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and took the spot in the lineup vacated by 39-year-ancient forward Bill Guerin, who was scratched for the first time this season.

After Artem Anisimov gave the Rangers their only lead 9:15 into the third with his second goal of the night, Evgeni Malkin got Pittsburgh even 16 seconds into a power play at 9:46. Conner then fired in a rebound of Sidney Crosby’s shot one minute later to place the Penguins back in front.

Crosby has six goals and five assists against the Rangers this season.

Pascal Dupuis’s empty-netter sealed Pittsburgh’s fourth win over the Rangers this season with 39.8 seconds left.

That was enough to give a win to Marc-André Fleury, who returned from a four-game absence caused by a broken finger.

Conner staked the Penguins to a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the game with his first of the season.

Anisimov made it 1-1 in the second for the Rangers, who had been shut out in their previous two games. New York has dropped three straight and six of eight (2-5-1), including four shutout losses.

New York had several chances to score more in this one but couldn’t take advantage of a four-minute power play in the third period, after Jordan Staal was sent off for high-sticking, and another power play that came a few seconds after Staal left the box.

The Rangers recorded seven shots in the advantage, but Fleury stood up to them all. He finished with 28 saves.

One he want to have back was Anisimov’s jam shot that was forced in at the right post and then nudged over the line by Fleury’s skate. Anisimov has nine goals this season.

Henrik Lundqvist made 24 saves.

The Rangers broke out of their latest long scoring drought when Anisimov netted the tying goal with 6:56 left in the second. After Christopher Higgins knocked the puck away from defenceman Mark Eaton inside the Pittsburgh blue-line, Anisimov corralled it, cut across the slot and let go a rising shot that eluded diving defenceman Kris Letang and beat Fleury.

Anisimov’s first in 18 games was New York’s first goal in 156 minutes 32 seconds. The Rangers snapped an earlier power outage of 172 minutes, following another pair of consecutive shutouts, during a 4-1 loss at St. Louis on Jan. 16.

Conner, playing in only his seventh game of the season with the Penguins, made the most of his time alongside Crosby just 2:47 in. Skating on a 3-on-2 break, Conner took a pass from the Penguins captain, glided into the circle and snapped a shot that beat Lundqvist inside the left post.

Steve Fonyo, pictured in 1985 after he completed his cross-country marathon, was stripped of his Order of Canada following a number of criminal convictions. (Canadian Press)

Steve Fonyo, the one-legged athlete who ran across the country to raise money for cancer research, has been stripped of his Order of Canada, the governor general’s office said in a news release.

Fonyo had Canada’s highest civilian honour revoked on Dec. 10, 2009, because of “his multiple criminal convictions, for which there are no outstanding appeals,” the release, issued Saturday, said.

Fonyo, who lost a leg to cancer at 12, received his Order of Canada in November 1985 for running nearly 8,000 kilometres across the country in 1984 and 1985 to raise more than $13 million for cancer research.

The one-time hero has battled personal demons, including cocaine addiction and depression. In 1996, he pleaded guilty in Edmonton to more than a dozen charges, ranging from assault with a weapon to fraud and theft.

He received an 18-month conditional sentence and two years’ probation and was ordered to pay about $11,000 to two supermarkets where he bounced dozens of cheques.

At the time, he was working as a mechanic in a B.C. town and hoping to write a book and turn his life around.

By 2008, he had wracked up at least seven driving convictions, including impaired driving, for which he served time in jail that year.

Last summer, while working as a mechanic in Surrey, B.C., Fonyo received the news that he would lose his Order of Canada, his former boss Satnam Singh Sidhu told CBC News.

“He was very upset that they were taking it back from him,” said Sidhu, co-owner of Trans Canada Auto & Transmission Services. “He was feeling that it was part of him and it was something that was given to him and it shouldn’t be taken away.”

Membership to the Order of Canada can be terminated if the recipient:

• Has been convicted of a criminal offence.
• Departs from generally recognized standards of public behaviour.
• Has been sanctioned by a professional organization.

Other Canadians, who have lost the Order of Canada, include former NHL Players’ Association head Alan Eagleson, after he was convicted of fraud, and lawyer T. Sher Singh, whom the Law Society of Upper Canada disbarred after finding him guilty of professional misconduct.

With files from The Canadian Press