Dubinsky gives Rangers shootout victory
The Rangers' Brandon Dubinsky celebrates after scoring the winning goal in a shootout against San Jose. (Mar. 12, 2011) Credit: AP
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Brandon Dubinsky beat Sharks goalie Antti Niemi in the sixth round of a shootout Saturday night, giving the Rangers a 3-2 victory and a hard-fought two points in a rugged game that squeezed them back into seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
By outscoring the Sharks 2-1 in the shootout in the second and final game of this West Coast trip, the Rangers (36-30-4) edged two points ahead of the eighth-place Sabres (who lost to the Maple Leafs in regulation Saturday) and moved four points ahead of the ninth-place Hurricanes (who lost to the Blue Jackets). Buffalo has two games in hand on the Rangers and Carolina has one.
Henrik Lundqvist, with 31 saves in regulation and overtime, was magnificent in the shootout, stopping five of six Sharks. Wojtek Wolski and Dubinsky were the only two Rangers to solve Niemi.
With the score tied at 2, Ryan Callahan went off for hooking Joe Thornton at 6:47 of the third. The Sharks had been 1-for-2 on the power play, but the Rangers killed the penalty as Lundqvist stopped Devin Setoguchi's blast with his right shoulder. Lundqvist made another game-saver with 8:55 left, gloving Jason Demers' re-direction on a rush, and stopped Patrick Marleau with less than four minutes to go.
The pace and physical play that started when the puck dropped at HP Pavillion continued in the second. Rookie defenseman Michael Sauer's second goal of the season, a low slap shot from the left side after he pounced on a loose puck, went past Niemi while he was screened by Brian Boyle in front at 1:16 to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.
A desperate play by Justin Braun at the eight-minute mark kept the Rangers from a two-goal cushion. Derek Stepan's shot slid under Niemi to the goal line, but Braun's stick swept the puck away.
The Sharks tied the score at 2 at 16:26 when Torrey Mitchell's shot appeared to hit two players before the raised blade of Ben Eager's stick and went past Lundqvist on the short side.
The period ended with the shots 18-17 in favor of the Sharks and with both Brandon Prust and Eager off for unsportsmanlike conduct. Eager had been bumping Marc Staal, who had flattened Kyle Wellwood with a shoulder earlier.
In the first half of an intense first period, the Rangers withstood a tremendous charge by the Sharks. Lundqvist was sharp, stopping Dan Boyle on a cut-in to the slot and Joe Pavelski on a wraparound. Prust took a shoulder to the mouth from Douglas Murray at 3:58 and challenged Eager about eight minutes later.
Matt Gilroy went off for hooking at 12:19, and the Rangers fell behind 11 seconds later on a deflection, similar to the ones that the Ducks benefitted from Wednesday. After a tip of Boyle's cross-ice pass by Logan Couture, Ryan Clowe wound up, and his high riser from the right side hit Marc Staal's arm and flew past Lundqvist at 12:30 for a 1-0 lead. Staal was stung with an uncalled high stick seconds earlier.
Seventeen seconds after the goal, all 10 skaters engaged in a scrum behind the Rangers' net and Couture went off for goaltender interference.
Ryan Callahan's pass from behind the net found Artem Anisimov, whose shot was gloved by Niemi, and when Marian Gaborik and Vinny Prospal battled the Sharks behind the goal line, Erik Christensen slipped in front to convert Prospal's pass at 16:57 for the tie.
It was Christensen's 10th goal and came after he was a healthy scratch for the previous two games.
Prospal's assist extended his point streak to six games, and the Rangers finished with the last six shots of the period.
More Rangers
