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Dawes, Lundqvist combine to stymie Devils

Oct 26, 2007 - 3:04 AM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Nigel Dawes took it upon himself to put an end to both the scoring drought and losing streak of the New York Rangers.

Dawes scored a pair of goals and Henrik Lundqvist made 22 saves as the Rangers began a season-high six-game homestand with a 2-0 triumph over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.

Without a goal since Scott Gomez tallied with one minute remaining in a 5-3 loss at Atlanta on October 18, New York halted the drought less than a minute into this one.

"Just by what the guys were saying in the dressing room and on the bench, they certainly knew what needed to be done," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "We haven't played enough hockey this year with this group to see if we have really got our hands on that yet, but certainly this is a nice starting point."

Former Ranger Karel Rachunek attempted to complete a pass in the defensive zone, but fellow defenseman Andy Greene was climbing over the boards on a change. The puck hit Greene and deflected to Brendan Shanahan, who fed Dawes for a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle that beat goaltender Martin Brodeur 57 seconds into the first period.

"I just saw it," Dawes said. "They were kind of caught on the boards there and they were trying to get off the ice, so there weren't too many men. I just called for the puck from Shanny."

"It's just a bad break," Brodeur said. "Sometimes the puck finds a way to get out of the zone, and it stayed in. We almost had it with Travis (Zajac) swinging at it and just missing it. It was a 2-on-1 and I was playing a lot of the guy standing right beside the net who was wide open there. I thought (Dawes) was going to give him the pass, but he decided to shoot it."

Devils coach Brent Sutter was unhappy with Rachunek's decision on the play.

"It's terrible," Sutter said. "It's a terrible mistake to make in any kind of hockey game. We came in here knowing it's a big game to get back to .500 on the road. It's just an awful mistake."

The tally ended New York's run of futility at 126 minutes, 56 seconds. During the drought, it recorded a combined 62 shots against Boston and Pittsburgh.

"I think the last couple of games, we felt pretty good, to be honest," Dawes said. "We're playing pretty well defensively and we're getting a lot of opportunities offensively. We just didn't get some of the bounces. We were inches away in Pittsburgh and we hit a couple of posts the last few minutes. We knew we had to keep getting pucks on net and keep working hard as a team."

The Rangers made the goal stand until late in the third, when Dawes struck again during a power play.

With Sergei Brylin in the penalty box for holding, the 22-year-old Dawes fired a wrister from the right faceoff dot that found its way past Brodeur with 3:53 left in the period for a two-goal cushion - New York's first in nearly two weeks.

It capped the first career multi-goal game for Dawes, who was playing in just his 12th NHL game.

"In the last five years, he's probably scored 400 goals going all the way back to juniors," Renney said. "He's a good player. He's got a quick release when he goes to the net and he's got enough confidence to shoot the puck.

"I think Nigel's comfortable," Shanahan added. "Certainly getting two goals is a boost to your confidence. He's got an NHL shot and I think he's trying to find his NHL game, but certainly his best attribute. You stack him up against all the players on our team and he's probably got one of the best shots on the entire team."

Dawes provided more than enough support for Lundqvist, who turned aside nine shots in the first session, six in the second and seven in the third for his second shutout of the season and ninth career. The Swede also did not allow a goal against the Bruins on Saturday, but the Rangers ultimately lost in a shootout.

"I know we might not score that much, so I have to keep focused and play a very good game to get the win," said Lundqvist, whose team has given him just 15 goals of support in nine games this season. "Tonight was a good feeling to get the win."

The blanking was the first by New York against New Jersey since January 12, 1997, when Mike Richter accomplished the feat. Lundqvist preserved the shutout by stopping Jay Pandolfo's backhander with 30 seconds remaining in the third.

Brodeur turned aside 29 shots for the Devils, who concluded their franchise-record nine-game road trip with their third consecutive loss.

New Jersey, which was shut out three times on the lengthy trek, will open the new Prudential Center in Newark against Ottawa on Saturday.