• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Straka, Ortmeyer lead Rangers over Bruins

Jan 14, 2007 - 12:24 AM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Captain Zdeno Chara succeeded in shutting down Jaromir Jagr. But Martin Straka and Jed Ortmeyer made the difference for the New York Rangers.

Straka scored the go-ahead goal off a rebound 5:52 into the second period and Ortmeyer added some insurance with a penalty-shot tally late in the third as the Rangers posted a 3-1 win over the Boston Bruins.

Signed by the Bruins to a five-year, $37.5 million contract in the offseason, Chara was named as an All-Star reserve for the Eastern Conference earlier Saturday. Coach Dave Lewis used his 6-9 defenseman to shadow Jagr, the NHL's second-leading active goal scorer (608), for most of the game.

"Chara has the size and reach to deal with the strength of Jagr," Lewis said. "But it's not always possible to have that matchup every time."

In the second period, it became more difficult since Boston's bench was on the side of the Bruins'offensive zone. The Rangers took advantage of that, outshooting the Bruins in the session, 22-6.

"You know coming in that their big defenseman is going to be all over Jags," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "It didn't happen as much in the second period with our bench in the offensive zone."

Jagr assisted on the go-ahead goal by Straka while Chara was off the ice. Instead, rookie Matt Lashoff and Milan Jurcina were the defensemen on the ice when Jagr skated in from behind the net and attempted a wraparound that went off the stick of Lashoff.

Michael Nylander, who scored New York's first goal on a goalmouth scramble in the first period, chipped a shot that went off the right pad of goaltender Tim Thomas. The rebound came out in front to Straka, who scored his 24th goal of the season.

Ortmeyer was awarded a penalty shot when he was tripped from behind by Patrice Bergeron on a shorthanded breakaway with 2:47 left.

Although it was his first career penalty-shot attempt, Ortmeyer handled it like a seasoned veteran, pumping his left skate before quickly switching from backhand to forehand and slipping a shot under the left leg of Thomas.

"I wanted to get him to move a little bit with a fake," Ortmeyer said. "I wanted to shoot, but the puck was rolling on me a little bit, so I skated in and found a little space behind his pad."

"I thought I had everything covered," Thomas said. "I tried to bring my leg back, but he kept coming with the puck, and I wasn't really prepared for it."

It was the first goal of the season for Ortmeyer, who was playing in just his sixth game after recovering from a pulmonary embolism - a sudden blockage in a lung artery caused by a blood clot.

The physical right wing had five goals in 78 games last season.

Jagr, a five-time NHL scoring champion, is the league's premier right wing, but was not selected as an All-Star reserve.

"I honestly don't know what happened, but we talked about it and it's better for me not to go," Jagr said. "(General manager) Glen Sather talked to the league about it."

Left wing Brendan Shanahan, who is tied with Straka for the team lead in goals, was the only Ranger named to the All-Star team.

Marc Savard, Boston's leading scorer with 56 points, tallied the Bruins' lone goal on a deflection. Defenseman Brad Stuart fired a shot from the left point that went off the skate of New York blue-liner Thomas Pock and caromed off the leg of Savard before getting past netminder Henrik Lundqvist, who improved his career record to 4-0-0 against the Bruins.

The loss was the third in a row and sixth in seven games for Boston.