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Shanahan, Lundqvist lift Rangers past Flyers

Nov 16, 2007 - 5:08 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The New York Rangers continued their mastery of the Philadelphia Flyers in the City of Brotherly Love.

Brendan Shanahan scored a goal in regulation and also tallied in the second round of the shootout and Henrik Lundqvist stopped all three shooters in the bonus format as the Rangers defeated the Flyers, 4-3, on Thursday in a battle of Atlantic Division rivals.

The Rangers have won nine of their last 10 games in Philadelphia, including all four last season.

The loss was the first at home for Philadelphia, which had won its previous six games at the Wachovia Center this season.

"When you lose in a shootout, it doesn't feel like a tie even if you get a point," Flyers center Daniel Briere said. "It's tough to lose to the Rangers because they're so close to us. We did come back to get a point, but it doesn't feel great."

In the bonus format, Shanahan wristed a shot that beat goaltender Martin Biron just under the crossbar for the only tally. Shanahan also had scored in both regulation the shootout in New York's 3-2 victory over Toronto on Saturday.

"I was looking to see what was open," Shanahan said. "I was thinking of going through the pads or pulling to my backhand. Instead, I put it somewhere else."

"He goes the glove hand 95 percent of the time," Biron said. "I kept my glove up to take that away from him. He released it right under the crossbar. That's why he has over 600 goals in the league."

Lundqvist stopped Briere, Mike Richards and Scottie Upshall in the bonus format. The Swede finished with 20 saves.

"The big key in shootouts is Hank (Lundqvist)," Shanahan said. "He puts you in a position where you're skating up the ice with the puck with a chance to win it."

Jim Dowd opened the scoring just 3:23 into the first period.

The 38-year-old veteran had possession of the puck in the right corner. Alertly, Dowd fired a sharp-angle shot that deflected off Lundqvist and inside the right goalpost for his second goal of the season.

"It was a tough start after they banged one in from behind," Lundqvist said. "They crashed the net a lot, so I just tried to battle out there. You have to hang in there, and it was a big win for us."

Fedor Tyutin leveled the game with 5:39 remaining in the period.

Fellow defenseman Daniel Girardi started the play, gaining possession of the puck behind his own net and passing to Sean Avery, who in turn fed Scott Gomez at the Rangers' blue line. Gomez carried the puck through the neutral zone before finding Tyutin, who wristed a shot from the left faceoff circle past Biron for his second goal of the season.

Shanahan gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead just 1:47 into the second.

After Ben Eager fired a shot wide during a 3-on-1 rush, the Rangers raced up the ice with an odd-man advantage of their own.

Avery quickly fed Gomez, who gained the offensive zone before dishing to Shanahan in the left circle. The future Hall of Famer wristed a shot over Biron's left shoulder for his third goal in as many games and sixth of the season.

Gomez, a free-agent acquisition over the summer, extended his points streak to eight games.

"We're starting to get a feel for each other, and that's important," Gomez said. "My job is to always give the guys the puck. When you play with a guy like this (Shanahan), it's easier because he always gets open."

Briere leveled the game with a power-play tally with 4:09 remaining in the session.

Richards cleanly won a faceoff in the offensive zone, sending the puck back to Briere. The high-priced free-agent acquisition wound up and blasted a shot from just outside the left circle past a screened Lundqvist to tie it at 2-2.

It was Briere's seventh goal of the season.

Chris Drury helped the Rangers regain the lead early in the third, stealing the puck at center ice and skating his way into the offensive zone before dropping a pass for Petr Prucha. After doing so, Drury went to the front of the net to provide a screen for Prucha, who ripped a shot from just outside the right circle past Biron at 5:17.

"We expected this kind of a game," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "Philadelphia is playing awfully hard. They seem to identify with what their tradition is, and we knew that we had to be one of those teams that really had to put in a second and third effort."

Denis Tolpeko, who was recalled from the American Hockey League prior to the game, evened it at 3-3 with some fancy footwork.

Stationed in front of the net, the 22-year-old Russian corralled a rebound after Lundqvist denied defenseman Jason Smith's shot from just inside the blue line. Tolpeko kicked the puck to his forehand before sliding it between the pads of the netminder at 10:29 for his first career goal.

Biron finished with 26 saves for the Flyers.