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Hossa, Lundqvist lead Rangers past Canadiens

Feb 28, 2007 - 4:19 AM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- With their postseason hopes slipping away, the New York Rangers turned to Marcel Hossa to jump-start their sluggish offense.

Hossa had two goals and an assist and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist made 19 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Rangers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-0 triumph over the Montreal Canadiens.

In recording his first multi-goal game of the season, Hossa scored for the eighth time in 11 contests as the Rangers ended a six-game home losing streak to the Canadiens dating to March 11, 2002.

"Coach gave me a lot of opportunity to play on the first line and second line and with the good skilled players," Hossa said. "He gave me a lot of confidence and I just took a chance. I'm playing (relaxed) and confident."

"He has been a pretty good player for us, and he continues to elevate his game and pursue a level of excellence that will give him a real good reputation going forward," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "It's good for him and it's good for him."

With just one second remaining on a power play, Hossa netted his ninth goal of the season at 9:32 of the second period by tipping Jarkko Immonen's cross-crease feed past netminder Jaroslav Halak for a 2-0 lead.

"The first one was pretty easy," Hossa said. "I was just standing in the right place (at) the right time. The puck just came to me and I put it in the net."

Hossa struck again roughly six minutes later when he skated in from the right corner and shot the puck off Halak's right skate to give the Rangers a 3-0 advantage.

"I think the fact that we had an early lead and we were relaxed made the difference in the game," Renney said. "Having said that, I think we played a pretty solid game in all aspects."

Captain Jaromir Jagr opened the scoring at 6:51 of the first period with a spinning backhander on the doorstep that glanced off the shaft of Halak's stick for his 23rd goal of the season.

Jagr also collected his 53rd assist of the season and 894th of his career to tie Phil Housley for 17th place all-time.

Lundqvist stopped seven shots in the first period, nine in the second and only three in the third for his fourth career shutout and first since February 9 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"We have been talking so much lately about getting it going and just get a couple of wins," Lundqvist said. "I think it's enough talking now. We just have to go out there and try to do it. There's a lot of explanations here and there and you try to find a way to win."

"(Lundqvist) was awesome," Jagr said. "That is what we needed. He has been good for us all season long. We are having a tough time scoring. Even when we didn't score, he always kept us in the game. He did a great job tonight."

Matt Cullen added a shorthanded empty-net goal with 55 seconds remaining to help New York snap a three-game losing streak.

"I think we recognize that we have a lot of work in front of us now and whatever the individual price is, has to be paid," Renney said. "I'm sure there's a sense of relief but at the same time, the guys knew what's in front of them."

Halak made 23 saves for Montreal, which lost for the second time in its last six contests.

"We keep repeating ourselves every game," Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau said. "We took seven penalties tonight and five were 10 feet away from their net, not our net, their net, and then three of them were retaliation penalties. When we say after the first period to be aware of that and after the second ... that's lacking focus and that's not being a good teammate."