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Gomez ends Rangers' mini-slide in OT

Dec 11, 2008 - 5:01 AM By Phil Foley PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- New York Rangers coach Tom Renney has said that in order for his team to get over its recent offensive woes, it will have to crash the net. Scott Gomez and his teammates did so with authority in Atlanta.

Gomez scored 18 seconds into overtime Wednesday, lifting the Rangers to a 3-2 triumph over the Atlanta Thrashers.

Enforcer Colton Orr and Ryan Callahan also tallied for New York, which had lost two in a row.

Defenseman Wade Redden notched three assists after missing a game due to injury and Stephen Valiquette made 27 saves for the Rangers, who have won four straight meetings with the Thrashers.

"Anytime you get the win, it's nice," Gomez said. "We got the two points that we needed. We just need to get things going."

Joey Crabb netted his first career goal and Ilya Kovalchuk also scored for Atlanta, which has lost five straight at home (0-3-2) and nine of 11 overall (2-7-2).

Shortly after the opening faceoff in overtime, Markus Naslund unleashed a weak shot toward the net from along the left wing boards. The Thrashers' defense forgot to check a streaking Gomez, who swarmed in front of the net and wristed the puck past goaltender Johan Hedberg for his fifth goal of the season.

"I just went to the net," Gomez said. "We've been talking about it. I think (Hedberg) thought it was going into his glove and it took a bad bounce. I got lucky."

The tally improved New York's all-time record at Atlanta to 10-5-2. It also had a snake-bitten Hedberg shaking his head.

"The (goal) was really frustrating," the Swedish netminder said. "I should have had it. It's a (heck) of a play by Gomez."

Prior to Gomez's heroics, things had not been going well for New York, which was shut out twice and held to just five goals over its previous four games.

The struggles had Renney preaching the basics to his veteran club. Part of that lesson plan included crashing the net to create more offensive opportunities.

New York's hard work in the offensive zone resulted in all three of its tallies in this one.

"I think we call it that - a first step back," Renney said of his team's progress. "It's an important two points."

Orr opened the scoring 2:37 into the second period. Aaron Voros grabbed the rebound of Redden's shot and dished a backhand pass to Orr, who fired the puck past Hedberg from the slot to end an 82-game goal-scoring drought.

A pair of rookies combined to help the Thrashers answer less than four minutes later.

Defenseman Nathan Oystrick blistered a long pass to Crabb, sending the 25-year-old native of Anchorage, Alaska in on a breakaway from New York's blue line. From the low slot, Crabb beat Valiquette high to the glove side with a snap shot at 6:05, knotting the contest at 1-1.

"Oystrick made a nice pass and I was able to catch it in stride and get a jump on the defense," Crabb said. "It was nice to be able (to score)."

The Rangers reclaimed the lead with an unorthodox shorthanded goal 80 seconds into the third.

Hedberg attempted to poke away a lead pass by Brandon Dubinsky from above the left faceoff circle, but the puck bounded off of the chest of Callahan, who was tangled up with Atlanta's Eric Perrin as he closed in toward the net. The duo crashed into Hedberg as the puck crossed the goal line, giving New York a 2-1 edge.

But Kovalchuk evened the contest just 89 seconds later with his 10th tally of the season.

Chris Thorburn's shot bounced off the leg of a defender and onto the stick of Boris Valabik at the top of the left circle. The rookie blue-liner rifled a pass to Kovalchuk on the doorstep, and the Russian superstar tapped it into the vacant right side of the net to forge a 2-2 tie.

Hedberg stopped 30 shots for the Thrashers, who are struggling under first-year coach John Anderson.

"We had our chances to win," Anderson said. "It's just kind of the way the year has gone so far. If it's a bad bounce, it's going to go against us."