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Rangers seek to take commanding three-games-to-none lead

Apr 17, 2007 - 3:02 PM Atlanta at NY Rangers 7:00 pm EDT Eastern Conference quarterfinals NY Rangers lead series, 2-0

NEW YORK (Ticker) -- The New York Rangers appear to have a lot going for them heading into Game Three of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal matchup with the third-seeded Atlanta Thrashers.

Not only do the Rangers own a two-game-to-none lead in the series, but they also get to play the next two games at home. New York also seems to have luck on its side.

In their 2-1 win in Game Two, the Rangers got on the board first with a fortunate bounce. From the neutral zone, Sean Avery attempted to dump in the puck along the left wing boards. Atlanta netminder Johan Hedberg left his crease in order to play it behind the net, but the puck took an odd bounce and slid directly in at 8:08 of the first period, giving the Rangers a 1-0 advantage.

After Atlanta tied the game, Brendan Shanahan scored with 4:01 left in the third period.

Defenseman Fedor Tyutin recorded two assists and Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves for the Rangers.

Atlanta coach Bob Hartley was not impressed with Kari Lehtonen's Game One effort - a 4-3 loss - and turned to Hedberg for Game Two. Though Hedberg made 37 saves, Hartley said that Lehtonen will get the start in Game Three.

Rangers sniper Jaromir Jagr was held without a point in Game Two and said it was the play of Atlanta center Bobby Holik that kept him off the scoresheet.

"I was expecting that (lack of space for me) playing against Bobby," Jagr said. "But there was more room for other lines. Bobby's too strong and they know how to play defense. Everything will be different at home. We'll have the matchup."

Atlanta won both games it played at Madison Square Garden during the regular season.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored the first playoff goal of his career in Game Two for the Thrashers, who are still searching for their first franchise playoff victory. The team joined the league in 1999-2000.