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Dubinsky, Rangers topple reeling Coyotes

Nov 25, 2008 - 3:58 AM By Larry Fleisher PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Brandon Dubinsky came tantalizing close to ending his lengthy scoring slump in the first period. When he had another opportunity in the second, he finally ended it.

Dubinsky scored 75 seconds into the session and added an assist as the New York Rangers handed the Phoenix Coyotes their sixth straight loss with a 4-1 triumph on Monday.

Nikolai Zherdev also had a season-high three assists as the Rangers avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season. Defenseman Dan Girardi scored a power-play goal midway through the third and penalty-killer Blair Betts tallied in the first.

"The effort was good," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "The intentions was good. The outcome was great."

After missing the last five games with an ankle injury, Scott Gomez added an empty-net goal with 28 seconds remaining to seal the win.

Henrik Lundqvist made 35 saves for the Rangers, who had allowed 10 goals in their previous two contests. It was Lundqvist's first start since allowing five goals on 16 shots to Vancouver and it marked the 17th time in 20 games he allowed two goals or less.

Enver Lisin scored the lone goal for Phoenix, which fell to 0-4-2 its last six games. The Coyotes, who have scored 48 goals have been outscored 23-10, during this skid.

"I can see they are getting a little bit frustrated," Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzky said. "We can't seem to find ways to score goals right now."

"We had than enough opportunities to do that (score) in the first period," Coyotes captain Shane Doan added. "We played really well and we had some opportunities to be up two or three (goals)."

Dubinsky had not scored in exactly a month when he recorded the game-winner at Columbus. That was 14 games ago and entering Monday, he had just four points in that span.

In this one, he posted his fourth multi-point game of the season but first since collecting two assists at Detroit on October 18.

Dubinsky's frustration continued 86 seconds into the contest when he hit the left post despite having a point-blank opportunity. Just over a minute later, he fought Phoenix enforcer Daniel Carcillo and while he was in the penalty box, the Coyotes took a 1-0 lead when Lisin tapped in his own re-direction attempt of Olli Jokinen's at 4:08 of the first.

"I don't want to make it a habit," Dubinsky said. "It seems like there's been a couple the last little while. Sometimes when the puck's not going in for you and you're squeezing your stick a little bit, you want to mix it up a little bit and do some other things."

After Betts tied it with 6:27 remaining in the first, Dubinsky ended his lengthy drought by working a give-and-go with Zherdev. After passing to Zherdev, he skated around the net and scored on a wraparound, squirting the puck through Ilya Bryzgalov's pads for his fifth goal of the season.

"It feels good," Girardi said. "We were tied and then we didn't look back after that one."

Dubinsky also had a little help on his goal as defenseman Ed Jovanovski put it in while trying to clear it off the goal line.

"I felt good from the start," Dubinsky said. "It was certainly nice to get the goal. I think maybe the hockey gods helped me out a little bit after I had a few chances there. It went through the goalie and the guy (Jovanovski) knocked it in with the tip of his stick. It's nice and hopefully this is a sign to keep going.

Unlike several of their previous games in the last two weeks, the Rangers did not wait until they faced a two-goal deficit to start a comeback.

"We played a very solid second and third," Lundqvist said. "The first period was better than usual. The goal was very important. We established momentum after that goal."

They started it when Betts deked Bryzgalov for New York's first goal in the opening 20 minutes in eight games.

The Rangers sealed it at 7:57 of the third when Dubinsky screened Bryzgalov, allowing Girardi to blast a shot from the right point.