Lundqvist stops 28 as Rangers dump Sens
Posted March 4, 2011 10:45 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA — Henrik Lundqvist made 28 saves as the New York Rangers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators Friday night.
Vaclav Prospal, Mats Zuccarello, Artem Anisimov and Derek Stepan scored for the Rangers.
Sergei Gonchar scored the lone Ottawa goal. Craig Anderson, making his sixth straight start for the Senators, stopped 22 shots.
The win moved the Rangers (34-29-4) four points clear of ninth-place Buffalo in the tight Eastern Conference playoff race.
Both teams had played Thursday night and showed signs of fatigue throughout the game, but in the end it was Ottawa’s defensive breakdowns that were the difference.
The Rangers opened the scoring midway through the first as Prospal grabbed the puck behind the net and let a quick shot go from the side boards. The puck was behind Anderson before he even reacted.
New York scored two goals just 12 seconds apart early in the second to take a 3-0 lead.
Anderson was unable to get back into position after making a save as Zuccarello picked up the puck and lifted it into a wide open net.
The Rangers won the ensuing faceoff and Ottawa’s Filip Kuba was unable to stop Anisimov who skated in alone and beat Anderson.
Ottawa (22-34-9) did have chances, but luck was not on their side. Erik Karlsson hit the crossbar with seconds remaining in the second period.
The Rangers made it 4-0 in the opening minutes of the third as neither Sergei Gonchar nor Karlsson could stop Stepan who beat Anderson glove side.
The Senators broke Lundqvist’s shutout bid with a power-play goal as Gonchar scored from the blue-line. Lundqvist had little chance as Chris Neil set-up a perfect screen.
Notes: The Senators were without RW Daniel Alfredsson (back, indefinite), C Peter Regin (shoulder, indefinite), LW Milan Michalek (lower body, indefinite), G Pascal Leclaire (lower body, indefinite), and D Matt Carkner (knee, indefinite). The Rangers were without G Martin Biron (collarbone, out indefinitely), RW Derek Boogaard (concussion, out indefinitely), C Chris Drury (knee, six weeks), RW Ruslan Fedotenko (shoulder), LW Alex Frolov (knee, out for season), RW Marian Gaborik (concussion, out indefinitely). D Ryan McDonagh was a healthy scratch.
