Rangers win shootout, earn two big points

PHILADELPHIA -- It was an eerily similar scene, but with a far better finish. Unlike last April here, a shootout against the Flyers Sunday kept the Rangers in playoff position.

Wojtek Wolski and Erik Christensen, who saw just over two minutes of ice time each in the third period, warmed up enough to beat Sergei Bobrovsky in the shootout to lift the Rangers to a 3-2 win. Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves and stopped Nik Zherdev and Claude Giroux to give the Blueshirts two big points.

The eighth-place Rangers moved two points ahead of Carolina, which lost in overtime to Buffalo yesterday. The seventh-place Sabres (90 points) lead the Rangers by one point. Sixth-place Montreal has 91.

"It's a little different situation, but not for us," said Marc Staal, who was part of last year's squad that was eliminated in the final game via shootout. "I had a good feeling going into the shootout that we were going to pull it off. We've been good all year long."

The Rangers, who improved to 9-3 in shootouts, have three games to play, all at home, starting Monday night against the Bruins.

"We talked about it before the game," said Lundqvist, who is 7-3 in shootouts. "We were 8-1-1, then lost two games. It just felt really tough. All you need is one win and you get that feeling back that you're on the right track. But you have to do it tomorrow again.''

"You have to expect that teams like Buffalo, Carolina, Montreal are going to keep winning," said Staal, who played a rugged 34:01. "We can't rely on help."

Or for the Flyers, tied for first in the East, to fold. With the Rangers playing four-on-four and leading 2-1 in the third period, defenseman Ryan McDonagh hobbled to the bench after blocking a shot and the Flyers curled back into the offensive zone. Former Ranger Zherdev converted a left-side pass from Giroux at 4:43 to tie the score. It was Zherdev's fourth in five games against the Rangers this season.

Ruslan Fedotenko had given the Rangers a 2-1 lead, scoring his first goal in 14 games at 13:30 of the second period after his team killed a power play. The Rangers were 4-for-4 on the penalty-kill. Fedotenko was hammered along the boards by Braydon Coburn after his goal, and Brian Boyle dropped the gloves with Coburn and took some heavy rights.

Bryan McCabe had the Rangers' first goal, tying it with seven-tenths of a second left in the first period. During a five-on-three, with Coburn in the box for high-sticking Staal in the face, McCabe stepped into a shot from the slot and rifled the puck over Bobrovsky's glove. The Rangers had entered 0-for-16 on the power play.

But it all came down to the shootout again, and Lundqvist admitted feeling pressure and thinking back to last year but "staying in the moment."

His coach said he had no flashbacks from last season's anguishing defeat. "I probably should," John Tortorella said. "I thought the key save was on Giroux," who lost the puck on a poke check by Lundqvist.

"He's the best in the league," Tortorella said of Lundqvist in shootouts.