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Jagr, Shanahan lead Rangers past Lightning

Oct 30, 2007 - 4:04 AM By Larry Fleisher PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NEW YORK (Ticker) - Considering all the bad bounces the New York Rangers encountered in their first 50 minutes, something finally had to give.

Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan scored power-play goals nearly three minutes apart in the third period as the Rangers recorded a 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.

It looked like another fruitless night trying to reach the net for the Rangers, who had just a tip-in by Nigel Dawes in the first period during their first 28 shots.

New York continued to put shots toward the net but had some frustrating experiences by hitting crossbars and posts while encountering some timely goaltending by Johan Holmqvist.

Frustration turned to jubilation just 13 seconds after the Lightning's Chris Gratton was sent to the penalty box for cross-checking midway through the final session.

Defenseman Michal Rozsival found Jagr open just inside the blue line near the Tampa Bay bench. The Czech superstar unleashed a shot that got past Holmqvist, who was screened by Shanahan.

"The passing worked very well," Jagr said. "We just tried to put more guys to the net and just shoot. We tried to score the ugly goals, especially right now, nothing's worked for us."

"It was something we talked about yesterday in practice," Shanahan added. "Change it up a little bit and get a bit more traffic and pucks to the net."

Shanahan's skate may have deflected the shot but the goal was credited to Jagr. Officials, however, were still reviewing the play well after the game ended.

Looking for more, the Rangers got it just over a minute after Shane O'Brien was called for hooking. Shanahan parked himself in the same exact spot of the doorstep and tipped Chris Drury's shot from the right circle with 6:31 left.

"We talk about putting pucks on the net, but also having bodies there, having screens there, working the blue paint, getting the greasy goals," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "That's the way it is. That's the way we are going to have to score."

However, before the Rangers struck, they encountered nothing but frustration, especially in the second period.

They were on their way to scoring fewer than three goals for the fifth straight game and eighth time in their first 11 contests, losing a 1-0 lead when Vincent Lecavalier scored on a penalty shot 6:28 into the second.

Rookie defensemen Marc Staal hit the left post on a blast from the point, blue-liner Paul Mara's shot from down low went off the crossbar and New York failed to score during a 5-on-3 as Holmqvist stopped shots by Scott Gomez and Jagr.

With 11:37 remaining in the third, New York had a goal disallowed when Drury used his hand to redirect a shot by Mara.

It was an incredibly frustrating night for Jagr in more ways than one. He broke his skate and lost a pair of teeth when he was struck by an errant stick just before Lecavalier scored.

"I don't think, I was looking for my teeth," Jagr said. "I always said, first you have to suffer if you want to accomplish something.

"I brought them over to him," Shanahan said. "While Lecavalier was celebrating his goal, I was retrieving Jaromir's teeth. That's what an assistant (captain) does."

The Rangers opened the scoring when Dawes put himself in a good position to screen Holmqvist and tipped a blast from the right point by Mara.

Linemate Shanahan started the play by gathering a loose puck in the left circle and dished to Mara. Mara unloaded, Dawes tipped it and the puck trickled past Holmqvist.

The 1-0 lead stood until defenseman Marek Malik took down Lecavalier on a partial breakaway. Lecavalier patiently streaked through the slot and waited for netminder Henrik Lundqvist to commit before sliding a backhander into the net.

Lundqvist made 21 stops for New York, which scored on the power play for just the fourth time in a game this season.

He only had to make four saves in the third and sealed the victory by stopping Martin St. Louis on a breakaway with just under six minutes remaining.

Holmqvist made 32 saves for the Lightning, who have lost three straight here to the Rangers.

"They played a good game," Lecavalier said. "We didn't play the way we should play."

Tampa Bay also remained winless on the road and gave the Rangers four power plays in the final 20 minutes, profusely angering coach John Tortorella.

"We were undisciplined and we only had one power play," Tortorella said. "Our goalie gives us a chance after two periods and we can't put 20 minutes of disciplined, hard hockey together. We spent more time looking for calls tonight than playing. We didn't deserve it."