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Rangers use power play to notch third straight win

Feb 16, 2007 - 4:30 AM RALEIGH, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Pascal Dupuis did not play a role in the New York Rangers' success on special teams, but his debut with the team was a good one nonetheless.

New York cashed in on all three of its power-play opportunities and Dupuis also tallied in his first game with the club as the Rangers posted a 4-1 triumph over the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Rangers scored with the man advantage in each period en route to their third consecutive victory overall and first here in the last six visits dating to December 31, 2002.

"We can't lose any more," Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr said. "The biggest factor is the fear not to make the playoffs. We need to win 20 of 28, and this is only three. We've got 17 to go to make the playoffs."

"We certainly played as a team tonight," New York coach Tom Renney said. "You can't win by going backwards. You can't win by backing up. You win by moving the puck forward, by attacking, by forechecking, putting the pressure on the other team, and by everybody participating."

New York took advantage of Carolina defenseman Tim Gleason's holding penalty when Michael Nylander fired Jagr's cross-crease feed over goaltender Cam Ward's left shoulder with 73 seconds left in the first period for a 1-0 lead.

"We've tried some different things (with the power play)," Nylander said. "We're moving the puck quicker and getting the puck to the net. ... We limited our mistakes and we played well defensively."

One game after becoming the 12th player to record 1,500 career points, Jagr collected his team-leading 49th assist, giving him 890 - one shy of Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuk for 18th place all-time.

"They've got great skill level with guys like Jagr and (Martin) Straka out there," Carolina coach Peter Laviolette said. "They were able to set it up and establish a shot. We couldn't seem to establish a shot. It appeared we had some lanes to shoot at but opted to pass it. They established a shot."

Andrew Ladd tied it 43 seconds later, but Nylander set up blue-liner Karel Rachunek, who scored his fourth goal of the season from the right faceoff circle at 5:40 of the middle session.

"I think we may have found a formula," Renney said. "We've also recognized that being a smart, efficient team, staying out of the penalty box, capitalizing on our own man advantages, trying to run through four lines giving you the opportunity to keep certain people fresh and maintain a pace and tempo off the bench is important."

Acquired from the Minnesota Wild for Adam Hall on Friday, Dupuis netted his 11th tally by knocking in Matt Cullen's cross-crease pass from the doorstep with 3:41 left in the second period for a 3-1 advantage.

"He showed quickness and he killed penalties well," Renney said of Dupuis. "I thought he attacked well. He's alert. He's aware. I know there are a couple of things he can improve on, as we all can. But for him within our system, it shouldn't be a long learning period at all."

All-Star Brendan Shanahan added his 28th goal on a power play at 4:01 of the third period and Henrik Lundqvist made 23 saves for the Rangers, who are 6-for-9 with the extra skater in their last two games.

"We looked like a fast team again," Lundqvist said. "I think we skated more and moved the puck well. I think that's why we looked fast. We didn't skate fast a couple of months ago."

"We won our last two and had a week off basically coming into tonight, and anytime you have that, you worry a little bit," Cullen said. "I thought we were good from the first drop of the puck tonight and now we're a pretty confident team beating (Carolina), who obviously is as good as anybody."

The reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Ward stopped 23 shots for Carolina, which has lost six of its last nine.

"We've got guys in here who've got to step in and fill some roles," Ward said. "For whatever reason, we didn't have it tonight. We weren't able to generate anything. We were too much of a perimeter team."

"We gave up a couple of power-play goals and the (high-sticking) penalty I took in the third took the life out of us trying to come back," Carolina center Eric Staal said. "It's tough to take that. We just didn't generate enough offense, getting pucks to the net."