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Rozsival lifts Rangers past Kings

Dec 18, 2008 - 7:22 AM By Jonathan Raber PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- In recent weeks, defenseman Michal Rozsival was said to have been mired in a mini-slump, struggling with consistency.

He officially got back on track on Wednesday.

Rozsival scored a pair of goals - including the game-winner with 79 seconds remaining in overtime - as the New York Rangers recorded a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.

"There's an individual example of resiliency and resolve and the ability to persevere," Rangers coach Tom Renney said of Rozsival. "It's not easy, everyone has tough times during a hockey season and you've got to suck it up and push forward. And Michal has done that with the help of his teammates and coaches."

Blue-liner Marc Staal picked up the puck near the right-wing boards and pushed a pass to Rozsival, who fired a slap shot from just above the right faceoff circle past goaltender Jason LaBarbera for the game-winner.

"I was wide open in the slot," Rozsival said. "Staal passed the puck exactly where it needed to be, there was a little bit of a screen in front of me, and I basically took a one-timer shot and hit the top corner."

Captain Chris Drury had a goal and an assist and Stephen Valiquette made 39 saves for the Rangers, who captured their third straight win in their first appearance at the Staples Center since October 30, 2006.

Patrick O'Sullivan extended his points streak to six games with a power-play goal and captain Dustin Brown added a tally for the Kings, who suffered the loss despite outshooting the opposition, 41-30.

"I think the effort was there," Kings center Anze Kopitar said. "We had a lot of shots and we had some good chances to put the game away, but they managed to come out on top."

Rozsival's goal on a penalty shot with 7:37 remaining in the second period broke a 1-1 deadlock.

The Rangers were awarded the try after Kings defenseman Sean O'Donnell shot a broken stick across the ice, making contact with Rozsival. New York's blue-liner used the opportunity to convert a backhander that gave his team a 2-1 lead.

"It happened so quick. I'm not used to (penalty shots)," Rozsival said. "I knew I was going to go backhand, I made up my mind at the red line. I was just happy I was able to score there. It doesn't happen every day, especially for defensemen. I was nervous too. I got lucky."

Brown deflected a rebound out of midair following shots by Kyle Calder and O'Donnell 2:27 into the third period, knotting the game at 2-2 on his 12th goal of the season.

"It was great to see the effort in the third period, to come back and tie the game," Kings coach Terry Murray said. "That's digging. That's a young team doing things the right way."

After defenseman Dmitri Kalinin was whistled for hooking, O'Sullivan opened the scoring 44 seconds into the power play when Kopitar sent a pass through the mouth of the goal, which the Kings' center converted for a backdoor finish to make it 1-0 with 5:36 left in the opening session.

Drury got the goal back 4:52 later, picking up a loose puck in the slot and unleashing a wrist shot that hit LaBarbera's glove and bounced into the net.

"We kept finding a way to push the puck up the ice, getting it in deep and kept our resolve," Renney said.

LaBarbera made 27 saves in the losing effort.