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Rare goal by Havelid lifts Thrashers over Rangers

Jan 20, 2007 - 11:01 PM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Henrik Lundqvist stopped Marian Hossa on a penalty shot, but the goaltender was unable to handle a shovel pass into the crease by an offensively challenged defenseman.

Niclas Havelid flicked a short backhander that snuck through Lundqvist's pads with 11:51 left in the third period and Hossa added an empty-net goal with 24 seconds remaining to give the Atlanta Thrashers a 3-1 win over the New York Rangers.

It was just the second goal in 45 games this season for Havelid, who snapped a 1-1 tie after the Rangers failed to capitalize on a 5-on-3 advantage for nearly a minute.

After the Thrashers killed off the penalties, former Ranger Steve Rucchin won an offensive zone faceoff and passed to Havelid at the right point. The Swedish defenseman then surprised the Rangers by skating all the way to the right goalpost before flipping a pass into crease that went off Lundqvist's stick before sliding between his pads.

"I tried to get the puck out front to (Glen) Metropolit and it hit some skates and went in," Havelid said. "Steve Rucchin set a good screen on the play, and that made it easy for me to skate in and get the puck out front."

"It was a tough way to lose a game, no matter how it went in," Lundqvist said. "It looked like (Havelid) was going behind the net and then it was tipped in front of me. I don't know if it hit my stick, but that was a tough one."

Lundqvist had made numerous brilliant saves to that point, including a right arm stop on a penalty shot by Hossa with 2:56 left in the second period. Hossa was awarded the chance after Rangers defenseman Fedor Tyutin threw his stick at the puck during a breakaway.

Hossa, who had a hat trick in a win over Los Angeles on Tuesday, sealed the win by stuffing a shot into an empty net for his league-leading 30th goal of the season.

Kari Lehtonen made 29 saves for the Thrashers, who have never made the playoffs but head into the All-Star break in first place in the Southeast Division with 62 points.

"It is very important to get this win on the road before the break because the games are only going to get tougher and tougher as teams try to make the playoffs," Hossa said. "We have to make sure we keep a good cushion and try to keep first place, because first place is pretty golden in the division."

The Rangers lost for the fourth time in five games and head into the break second in the Atlantic Division with 50 points, 13 behind New Jersey. New York also lost for the 10th time at home (10-10-3), matching its total of last season. Two of those home losses have come against the Thrashers.

New York again faltered on the power-play, going 0-of-6 to extend its streak to 16 straight failed chances with the man advantage. The Rangers barely put pressure on Lehtonen during the two-man advantage in the second period.

"The 5-on-3 was easy for me because I didn't have to make any saves," Lehtonen said. "You don't feel too comfortable when you take penalties like we did, but the guys did an unbelievable job in front of me. They had two power plays when they didn't even get the puck inside our zone."

Jaromir Jagr scored New York's lone goal with 11:53 remaining in the first period, gliding to the middle of the left faceoff circle and snapping a shot that went over Lehtonen's glove and into the top right corner of the net.

It was the 609th career goal for Jagr, who moved into sole possession of 14th place on the all-time list, one ahead of Dino Ciccarelli. Hall of Famer Bobby Hull is 13th with 610 tallies. Only teammate Brendan Shanahan is ahead of Jagr in goals (622) among active players.

Jagr has 18 tallies this season, but just three have come in the last 19 games. He was not named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team.

"Obviously, something is missing for us and I have no clue what it is," Jagr said. "If there wasn't something missing, we'd have a better record."

Ilya Kovalchuk scored Atlanta's first goal 4:56 into the game, firing a shot from the left faceoff dot that went off the glove of Lundqvist before trickling into the net. It was the 24th tally of the season for Kovalchuk, who also was left off the Eastern Conference All-Star team.