• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Naslund leads Rangers over Lightning

Nov 27, 2008 - 4:48 AM TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Markus Naslund scored two goals in regulation and added a tally in the first round of a shootout as the New York Rangers skated to a 3-2 triumph over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday.

Nikolai Zherdev had two assists and also scored in the bonus format, while Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves before denying Radim Vrbata and Jussi Jokinen in the shootout to secure the victory.

Ryan Malone and veteran Mark Recchi each scored for the Lightning, who have dropped seven of their last eight contests.

"We're just having a tough time scoring goals," Lightning coach Rick Tocchet said. "It's a little disappointing, but we got to roll up the sleeves and go to work. ... We're not going to back down from it. ... You're not talking about loose pucks, going to the net, things like that."

After Lundqvist turned aside Vrbata's attempt, Naslund capitalized with a backhander that flew past the glove of Tampa Bay goaltender Mike Smith in the first round.

"It's a special play, for sure, and it's a nice feeling when you do score because there's points on the line and you want to help," Naslund said. "You can't expect Henrik to save them all so, it's nice to get a couple for him."

Then, Jokinen's wrist shot was stopped and Zherdev clinched the win with a snap shot.

Naslund opened the scoring 2:40 into the second period, but Malone beat Lundqvist with the man advantage while sitting on the doorstep 89 seconds later to even the game.

"We know that this is a tough building to play in and they're a desperate team," Naslund said. "We had to work hard to get the win, but it was nice to get it."

With 2:03 remaining in the session, Naslund redirected defenseman Michal Rozsival's initial attempt while positioned in the slot to give New York another one-goal lead. Naslund now has 15 points - eight goals and seven assists - in his last 17 games.

"We were going to win the game," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "To a man, everybody says we're going to get that back (in the shootout) and win the hockey game and it was as simple as that. So that's what you want to hear as a coach."

Lundqvist was impenetrable in the third until Tampa Bay pulled Smith for the extra skater and Recchi deflected a shot from Martin St. Louis past the Swedish netminder with 50 seconds left.

"I didn't see it. I had to go down to block it and the last time I saw it, it just bounced, hit the post and in," Lundqvist said. "A lot of times, that's the way you score goals late in games. There's a lot of traffic in front. A lot of times it's not the hardest shot, it's more the tricky shot that goes in.

"At first, I was disappointed, but now when you've got two points you don't really care. "We settled down and we came out pretty good in the overtime."

Smith finished with 33 saves and captain Vincent Lecavalier had an assist, extending his points streak to five games.

"It's disappointing, obviously, not getting the two points but it's not a lack of effort," St. Louis said. "If we play like that and battle like that, game in, game out, I like our chances of coming out on top. The guys stepped up after a poor game we had against the Devils (a 7-3 loss on Sunday). It's just unfortunate we didn't get the two points."