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Dubinsky's 3rd period goal lifts NYR to 2-1 win

Jan 1, 2010 - 4:36 AM RALEIGH, N.C.(AP) -- Erik Christensen figured there was only one way for the New York Rangers to atone for their most embarrassing loss of the season.

Go hard for three periods and win.

Christensen, claimed off waivers from Anaheim on Dec. 2, had a goal and an assist as the Rangers rebounded from their worst loss and beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 on Thursday night.

The Rangers, who lost 6-0 at home to Philadelphia on Wednesday, outshot the Hurricanes 35-18.

"We had to come back and play well," Christensen said. "It was a tough night last night, and for whatever reason we weren't ready to play and I don't know why. I don't think it was the turkey.

"The thing (coach John Tortorella) was saying was that we had a good stretch and it's OK to maybe come down a bit, but you can't just plummet and have no effort at all. The sign of a good team is that we came back and showed some character and I thought we played a good 60 minutes."

Brandon Dubinsky, who called Wednesday's loss the worst game he had ever played in the NHL, netted the winning goal 11:49 of the third on the second assist of the night from Marian Gaborik.

Gaborik, who has 26 goals this season, became the fourth NHL player to reach 50 points this season.

"It's obvious we competed harder," Tortorella said. "It was the most important thing we had to accomplish after last night. It was important not to lose two in a row, and I thought we answered well in all aspects of the game."

Henrik Lundqvist earned his 17th win. Carolina's Cam Ward fell to 5-14-5.

Carolina (10-23-7), last in the NHL with 27 points, fell to 1-8-2 when tied after two periods.

"I don't think the Rangers played a real tough game," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said. "There wasn't a lot of momentum to be had in the game either way. It was a slug from one end to the other."

Joni Pitkanen scored for Carolina on a 4-on-3 power play at 11:08 of the first when his shot from the slot bounced off Lundqvist's back and over the goal line. Ray Whitney had the primary assist.

Christensen tied it during the Rangers' 5-on-3 power play at 17:36 of the first. He fired a rebound of Gaborik's shot over Ward's left shoulder.

Carolina had a goal disallowed at 10:18 of the second, when it was ruled that a puck that bounced off Brandon Sutter's chest went in because of Sutter's contact with Lundqvist.

"That game last night, we played pretty bad," Lundqvist said. "The good part about playing in this league is you have the opportunity to respond right away. It was one of our better games lately.

"We played very solid."

Eric Staal had an assist on Pitkanen's goal, giving him eight points in three games.

NOTES: New York leads the season series 2-0, with both meetings in Raleigh. The teams will meet again on Saturday in New York. ... Rangers LW Vinny Prospal missed his second straight game following knee surgery. He is expected to be sidelined from 10 days to three weeks. ... Carolina is 3-5-0 on New Year's Eve at home, including 0-2 against the Rangers.