-----------------------------
Ottawa 0 1 2--3
NY Rangers 1 0 1--2
-----------------------------
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, NY Rangers, Messier 20 (Fleury, Kloucek),
18:28. Penalties: York, Ott (tripping), 15:27; Hlavac, Nyr (holding),
19:12.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Ottawa, York 6 (power play) (Phillips,
Hossa), 1:11. Penalties: Ulmer, Nyr (tripping), 6:36; Messier, Nyr
(elbowing), 8:07; Mceachern, Ott (tripping), 18:02.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, NY Rangers, York 13 (Kamensky, Lefebvre),
11:13. 4, Ottawa, White 1 (Dackell, York), 12:24. 5, Ottawa, Alfredsson 16
(Yashin, Rachunek), 16:49.
Shots on goal:
---------------------------------
Ottawa 11 20 11--42
NY Rangers 12 10 10--32
---------------------------------
Power-play Conversions: Ott - 1 of 3, Nyr - 0 of 2. Goalies: Ottawa,
Lalime (32 shots, 30 saves; record: 26-14-4). NY Rangers, K Mclean (42,
39; record: 5-7-1). A:18,200. Referees: Faucette, Joannette. Linesmen: S
Provost, Racicot.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS
Ottawa NY Rangers
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
Alfredsson 1 0 +1 7 Dvorak 0 0 -1 2
Arvedson 0 0 even 1 Fleury 0 1 +1 5
Bonk 0 0 even 2 Graves 0 0 +1 1
Dackell 0 1 +1 1 Gusarov 0 0 +1 0
Fisher 0 0 -2 2 Hlavac 0 0 -1 3
Forbes 0 0 +1 0 Johnsson 0 0 -1 0
Havlat 0 0 -2 1 Kamensky 0 1 +1 2
Hnidy 0 0 -1 1 Kloucek 0 1 even 1
Hossa 0 1 even 5 Leetch 0 0 -1 2
Mceachern 0 0 +1 1 Lefebvre 0 1 +1 0
Persson 0 0 -1 2 M Malhotra 0 0 -1 0
Phillips 0 1 even 0 Mccarthy 0 0 +1 1
Rachunek 0 1 +1 2 Messier 1 0 +1 4
Redden 0 0 +1 4 Nedved 0 0 -1 4
White 1 0 +1 2 Pilon 0 0 even 0
Yashin 0 1 +1 5 Toms 0 0 -1 0
York 1 1 even 4 Ulmer 0 0 -1 1
Zamuner 0 0 -2 2 York 1 0 +1 6
Rivers Healthy Lacroix Healthy
Emmons Concussion Purinton Healthy
Roy Suspended Nhl
Game Story
NEW YORK (Ticker) -- As the standings show, the Ottawa Senators
are too much for the New York Rangers.
Playing in front of one of the league's unsung goaltenders, the
Eastern Conference-leading Senators erased a pair of deficits
and remained red-hot with a 3-2 victory over the fading Rangers.
Patrick Lalime made 30 saves and watched Todd White and Daniel
Alfredsson score in the final eight minutes as Ottawa picked up
its third straight win and seventh in eight games.
New York had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 but dropped its third straight
game and remained nine points behind Carolina for the eighth and
final playoff spot in the East and 27 off Ottawa's pace.
"Tonight was a big game for us," Senators center Alexei Yashin
said. "They really came to play, but for us to mature and take
our game to the next level, it is important for us to win the
games that we're expected to win."
Jason York also scored for the Senators, who are four points
ahead of Philadelphia for the best record in the East. They are
10 better than Buffalo for first place in the Northeast
Division.
One of the reasons for Ottawa's success has been the play of
Lalime, who added to a career high and franchise record with his
26th win of the season.
Ottawa trailed late in the first period and midway through the
third but finally wore down New York and goalie Kirk McLean, who
faced 42 shots while playing on back-to-back nights for the
first time this season.
"You could tell that they have a team that maybe doesn't have
the confidence we have," Alfredsson said. "Even being down in
third period, we had the confidence that if we stuck to doing
what we know how to do we'd be all right."
Starting for the injured Mike Richter, McLean stopped all 11
shots he faced in the first period and entered the locker room
with a 1-0 lead. He finished with a season-high 39 saves but
dropped to 5-7-1.
"Kirk had a monster game for us," Rangers coach Ron Low said.
"In the second period, he was unbelieveable."
With the Rangers controlling play in the first, Messier took a
breakout pass from Theo Fleury and beat Lalime with a snap shot
from the left faceoff circle for his 20th goal and a 1-0 lead
with 1:32 to play.
New York scored first for the eighth straight game but gave back
the goal 71 seconds into the second period, when York
shorthopped a wrist shot past McLean from the right point.
York's sixth goal was the only one of a dominating second period
for Ottawa, which held a 20-10 advantage in shots.
It could have been worse for the Rangers, who killed off a
two-man disadvantage of 29 seconds and watched the Senators hit
a pair of goalposts.
New York had a chance to tie with a power play of its own in the
closing seconds of the second, but Lalime stopped all five shots
during a late flurry.
"We get frustrated when we don't score after we generate
chances, especially when Kirk has been playing so well," New
York defenseman Brian Leetch said.
After the pace slowed in the first 10 minutes of the third
period, Mike York gave the Rangers their second lead of the game
with 8:47 to play.
Valeri Kamensky threw a pass from the left corner to the low
slot, where York was able to poke his 13th goal between Lalime's
left skate and the right post.
But the Senators needed only 71 seconds to tie it. Andreas
Dackell forced Leetch into a turnover to the left of McLean.
White ended up with the puck behind the net and scored on a
wraparound at the left post.
"I didn't even know he was there," McLean said. "Guys were
battling out front and I looked around and he just jammed it in
the net before I could get my skate over there."
A native of Ottawa, White had not scored since February 24,
2000, when he was with Philadelphia. He has eight goals in 50
NHL games, playing four with the Senators.
"It kind of gave us a lift," Senators coach Jacques Martin said.
"When you get a goal from a role player, it helps a lot."
The Rangers got burned by a role player for the second straight
night. Mark Greig had a goal and an assist in his fourth game
of the season on Sunday, helping the Flyers to a 2-1 win.
McLean made a big save on Yashin with 3:39 left, but Alfredsson
won a battle for the puck in the right corner and got it to the
point. He ended up with a rebound near the left hashmark and
roofed the puck over McLean for his 16th goal and a 3-2 lead.
"We would like to have started better, but they came out really
strong," Alfredsson said. "We remained patient."
"It might be that we ran out of gas," Low said. "But when you
have the lead, you have to protect it better than that."
The Rangers pulled McLean in the final minute but could not
pressure Lalime. They left the Madison Square Garden ice to a
chorus of boos as they are on the verge of missing the playoffs
for the fourth straight season.
"We've been in the desperation stage for a long time," Leetch
said. "Games just keep slipping away and we're a long way from
the eighth playoff spot."
York and Yashin had assists for the Senators (36-16-8-2), who
are just eight wins and 21 points off franchise records set
during the 1998-99 season. They have 20 games remaining.