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Rangers 5, MAPLE LEAFS 3
Czechmate line leads Rangers past Toronto
TORONTO - The $60-million investment that is the New York Rangers hasn't exactly taken off with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, but there does appear to be a market upturn for not-so-big Blue.
The Rangers showed the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night that if you want to get into the free market exchange of chances, they can leave you with your pockets empty.
New York's Petr Nedved scored three times, including the winner on a zinger of a wrist shot at 12:58 of the third period as the Rangers continued their upsurge with a 5-3 win, their second straight over Toronto, extending the Leafs' losing streak to three games.
The Rangers, a motley crew of free agent mercenaries which has been way below the break-even line this season, seem to finally be finding some chemistry.
"If you look at what those players have accomplished in the past and regard them as trash, you'd be an idiot," said Leafs goaltender Glen Healy, who was victimized by Nedved's riser from the right wing which beat him to the long side.
"The time frame for them to come together? Who knows what it is, but all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are there. They've got goal scoring, strength up the middle, character in a guy like (Adam) Graves, young guys, goaltending in (Mike) Richter and Brian Leetch, in my opinion, is the best defenceman in the world. It's taken them some time to come together. Are they good enough to make the playoffs? Sure they are."
The Rangers closed to within two points of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference Saturday night. They play in Carolina against the Hurricanes Sunday night with a chance to equal their season-high mark of three wins in a row, set back in October.
Nedved has come to life since he was put on a line with fellow Czechs Jan Hlavac and Radek Dvorak (the Czechmates?), who joined the Rangers Dec. 30 in a trade with the San Jose Sharks.
They're all good skaters, good puck handlers and know how to create space for each other. They've combined for 17 shots in the two wins over the Leafs, so some of those were bound to go in, right?
"I'd been shooting and trying to pick corners because the goals weren't coming and I would shoot wide," said Nedved, who slipped a 12-game 0-fer with a goal against the Leafs Wednesday night while dealing with rumours of an impending trade to Carolina for unsigned free agent Keith Primeau.
"Then I figured I might as well shoot for rebounds, at least. The first goal (Saturday night) I shot it between the defenceman's legs and it went in."
That came at 10:09 of the first and washed out Kris King's first of the year, which had given the Leafs a 1-0 lead five minutes into the game.
The teams swapped power-play goals in the second (Mats Sundin with his 18th for the Leafs and Nedved with his second of the night) and Sergei Berezin put Toronto up 3-2 with his 17th of the season on a patient setup from Mike Johnson three minutes into the third.
But then the wheels fell off for the Leafs as turnovers and odd-man rushes did them in. Just 33 seconds after Berezin's goal, Graves turned a turnover by Toronto's Kevyn Adams at the Leafs blue line into a tied game.
After Nedved gave the Rangers the lead, John MacLean made it 5-3 with less than two minutes to go, working a nice give-and-go on a 2-on-1 with Valeri Kamensky that left him with the open side.
"Nedved's shot (on the winner) was pretty good, for sure, but we turned the puck over and they had some options there other than shooting," said Healy. "We made lots of mistakes and gave them one chance too many.
"We've got to get some balance between offence and defence. In a 3-3 game, one mistake either way can be the difference between winning and losing."
Summary
-----------------------------
NY Rangers 1 1 3--5
Toronto 1 1 1--3
-----------------------------
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Toronto, K King 1 (Valk, Kaberle), 5:15. 2,
NY Rangers, Nedved 9 (Lacroix, Dvorak), 10:29. Penalties: Fleury, Nyr
(tripping), 1:55; Thomas, Tor (Obstr hooking), 2:33; Nedved, Nyr (Obstr
hooking), 7:52.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Toronto, Sundin 18 (power play) (Thomas, B
Berard), 6:36. 4, NY Rangers, Nedved 10 (power play) (Hatcher, Dvorak),
12:17. Penalties: Daigle, Nyr (tripping), 6:08; Mcallister, Tor
(roughing), 11:41; Taylor, Nyr (hooking), 18:20.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 5, Toronto, S Berezin 17 (Johnson, Korolev),
3:01. 6, NY Rangers, Graves 14 (York, Fleury), 3:34. 7, NY Rangers, Nedved
11 (Quintal), 12:58. 8, NY Rangers, J Maclean 7 (Kamensky, Schneider),
18:02.
Shots on goal:
---------------------------------
NY Rangers 12 9 10--31
Toronto 14 12 8--34
---------------------------------
Power-play Conversions: Nyr - 1 of 2, Tor - 1 of 4. Goalies: NY
Rangers, Richter (34 shots, 31 saves; record: 10-15-7). Toronto, Healy
(31, 26; record: 4-5-0). A:19,266. Referees: Leggo, Shick. Linesmen: P
Devorski, Scapinello.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS
NY Rangers Toronto
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
Daigle 0 0 even 0 Adams 0 0 even 2
Dvorak 0 2 +2 2 B Berard 0 1 even 2
Fleury 0 1 +1 2 Cross 0 0 even 0
Graves 1 0 +1 5 Di Yushkevich 0 0 -2 0
Hatcher 0 1 even 0 Domi 0 0 -2 0
Hlavac 0 0 +1 0 Hoglund 0 0 -1 5
J Maclean 1 0 -1 3 Johnson 0 1 +1 2
Johnsson 0 0 +1 1 K King 1 0 even 1
Kamensky 0 1 -1 1 Kaberle 0 1 -2 1
Lacroix 0 1 +1 0 Karpovtsev 0 0 -1 0
Lefebvre 0 0 +1 2 Khristich 0 0 -2 0
Nedved 3 0 +2 4 Korolev 0 1 +1 3
Pilon 0 0 even 1 Mcallister 0 0 +1 0
Quintal 0 1 even 3 Mccauley 0 0 -2 2
Schneider 0 1 +2 2 S Berezin 1 0 +1 7
Stevens 0 0 even 1 Sundin 1 0 -1 5
Taylor 0 0 even 1 Thomas 0 1 -1 3
York 0 1 even 3 Valk 0 1 even 1
Langdon Groin Antropov Shoulder
Knuble Healthy Markov Ankle Injury
Doig Healthy
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