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Rozsival, Strudwick lift Rangers to fifth straight win

Nov 18, 2007 - 4:58 AM By Vince Comunale PA Sportsticker Contributing Writer

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- The New York Rangers turned to their defense corps Saturday to supply the offense in their fifth consecutive victory.

Michal Rozsival scored two goals and fellow defenseman Jason Strudwick notched the game-winner in overtime to help the Rangers overcome an early two-goal deficit and edge the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3, in a battle of Atlantic Division rivals.

Blue-liner Daniel Girardi also scored for New York (12-7-1), which has won nine of its last 10 contests and taken over the top spot in the division standings.

"They have pretty good forwards," Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said. "Usually if I can stop them, I'm in pretty good shape."

"You're going to have a few games where the defensemen are going to win the game for you, and this was one of the games," Pittsburgh's Petr Sykora added.

With defenseman Paul Mara leading a 2-on-1 rush, Strudwick cut to the net, received the pass and snuck a one-timer past Fleury on the near side.

"All I tried to do was get my stick on it and push it to the net," Strudwick said. "It worked out this time."

"I don't think there is a guy in our organization that doesn't think wonderful things of Jason," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "Obviously, from a personal perspective, it's a very big two points for us against a terrific team. It's one of those nights where it couldn't have happened to a better guy."

Despite the result, the Rangers did not get off to the start they wanted. Less than a minute into the game, Sidney Crosby grabbed a rebound off the pad of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist from in tight but rang it off the right goalpost.

Pittsburgh got on the board on Maxime Talbot's shorthanded goal at 5:51 of the opening session. Talbot blocked a shot in his own zone, and the puck caromed to the stick of Crosby , who then threw it off the boards, knocked it out of the air with his glove and skated up ice with Talbot on a 2-on-1.

The 20-year-old captain waited until Talbot glided toward the crease before making a cross-ice pass that was tapped past Lundqvist. Crosby's assist extended his career-best points streak to 19 games.

After the game, Crosby was more concerned about his team relinquishing a two-goal lead than his personal statistics.

"We got a two-goal lead early and weren't able to build on it," he said. "Lundqvist held them in the game. If we get that third goal, we bury them. Unfortunately, we couldn't get that third one."

It took the Penguins exactly three minutes to double their advantage, as Crosby capitalized on a delayed penalty. Crosby unleashed a bad-angle shot from the left side of Lundqvist that just cleared his left pad.

"We had a great start in the first period tonight", Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien said. "We dictated the first period. Lundqvist made some great saves to keep his team in the game. If you give a team like the Rangers opportunities, eventually they will put the puck in the net."

New York halved the deficit just 49 seconds into the second period, when Rozsival netted his first goal of the night.

Rookie Brandon Dubinsky put a shot on net and gathered in his own rebound with his glove. After skating behind the net, he found Rozsival, who fired a one-timer from the slot that slid under Fleury for his fifth of the season.

"I've been having a little bit of success playing against my former team," said Rozsival, who spent his first four NHL seasons with Pittsburgh. "This win really feels special, to battle back and end up winning this game."

The Rangers got a shorthanded goal of their own to tie it at 2-2 when Roszival accepted a pass from Sean Avery and one-timed it past Fleury at 4:05.

New York 's special teams struck again with 85 seconds left in the second. Defenseman Fedor Tyutin, positioned at the center of the blue line, unleashed a wrist shot that bounced off Fleury's right pad and into the feet of Penguins blue-liner Ryan Whitney.

Whitney fanned on a clearing attempt, allowing Girardi to skate in and put a shot past Fleury, giving the Rangers a 3-2 edge.

With a scramble taking place in front of the net, former Ranger Sykora notched his ninth goal of the season, slapping the puck past Lundqvist with 5:32 left in the third to tie the game at 3-3.

"Everything was going our way," Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar said. "For whatever reason, we let that game slip away, and there's no excuse."