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Lundqvist helps Rangers end struggles in Dallas

Dec 15, 2006 - 4:36 AM DALLAS (Ticker) -- The New York Rangers chose the hard way to end their road struggles against the Dallas Stars. Thankfully, Henrik Lundqvist was in the net.

Lundqvist made a career-high 43 saves as the Rangers snapped a six-game winless streak here with a 5-2 victory over the Stars.

Despite picking up its fifth straight win overall and first here since December 30, 1996, New York made nothing easy. It committed 12 penalties and surrendered a season-high 45 shots against.

"We figured they'd have an onslaught of shots," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "They kept on pumping shots at the net. It's hard to believe they've had such a hard time scoring."

"It's good we're getting our opportunities," said Dallas captain Brenden Morrow, who finished with one shot. "But at some point, you've got to bear down and put it in the net. It looks good on paper that we had over 40 shots, but at the end of the day, we still got beat."

Lundqvist, however, was up to the task. The Swedish goaltender helped the Rangers successfully kill nine of the Stars' 11 power-play opportunities en route to his third consecutive win.

"We feel confident that we can play well against good teams," Lundqvist said. "I had a couple of good saves early, and when the guys are working so hard, you want to make a couple more."

One reason for the Stars' struggles on the power play may have been the absence of Mike Modano, who was tied for the team lead with six man-advantage goals. The veteran center was placed on injured reserve with a "lower body" injury earlier Thursday.

Lundqvist was playing against twin brother Joel, who was recalled from the minors to replace Modano. It marked the third time in NHL history twin brothers have faced each other in a game.

"I've got to be honest, I was nervous every time he was on the ice," Henrik Lundqvist said. "It was a very special feeling going into this game. Growing up, we played together and played on the national team and in Frolunda, Sweden. The chance to play against him in the NHL is a very special feeling."

Appearing in just his fifth career game, Joel Lundqvist was on the ice for just 5 minutes, 44 seconds and did not record a shot.

With the game tied at 1-1 entering the second period, the Rangers pulled ahead on a fluke goal. Just 57 seconds into the session, Matt Cullen's intended pass to Jaromir Jagr deflected off rookie netminder Mike Smith and into the net.

Cullen, who halted a 17-game drought against Philadelphia on Tuesday, added his second of the contest 1:44 into the third period, firing a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle that went between Smith's pads for a 3-1 advantage.

However, New York was shorthanded again just 33 seconds later when Jason Ward was called for slashing. Defenseman Philippe Boucher scored on a slap shot from the left point 27 seconds into the power play to cut Dallas' deficit to a goal with 17:16 remaining.

"We spent too much time in the penalty box, so consequently, our defense was stretched," Rennemay said.

Lundqvist, who recorded 14 saves in the third period, made that slim advantage hold up until defenseman Karel Rachunek netted his second goal of the game on the power play with 4:03 to play.

"Henrik played great," Cullen said. "When he plays like that, that adds to our confidence."

"Sometimes you just need one more save, one more win in a 1-on-1 battle, one more play," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said. "It's frustrating because our team did a lot of things right tonight."

Defenseman Fedor Tyutin added an empty-netter with 63 seconds to play to seal the win for the Rangers.

Blue-liner Sergei Zubov also netted a power-play goal for Dallas, which absorbed its third straight home loss.