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Hossa ends marathon shootout as Rangers edge Flyers

Oct 8, 2006 - 2:56 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- For the New York Rangers, No. 13 was very lucky.

Marcel Hossa scored in the 13th round of the shootout, lifting the Rangers to a 5-4 triumph over the Philadelphia Flyers.

New York trailed after each of the first two periods but scored the only goal of the third to force overtime, where neither team was able to emerge victorious. After combining to allow eight goals over 65 minutes, Henrik Lundqvist and Antero Niittymaki stole the show in the shootout session.

As the Flyers exercised their option to go first in the bonus format, each goaltender denied the first 12 shooters with Lundqvist forcing defenseman Freddy Meyer to shoot wide on Philadelphia's 12th attempt.

"I was wondering if it was ever going to end," Lundqvist said. "The key was to stay focused, especially since every shot is a chance to win. The only time that I was really nervous was against (Peter) Forsberg. I didn't want to look like a fool against him. Against the other guys, I just tried to be patient."

"We knew Lundqvist likes to play a little bit deep in the net, and that's why you saw a lot of guys trying to go up on him," said Philadelphia's Simon Gagne, who took his team's first shot. "He played well for them and Niitty made some good saves as well."

Hossa then ended the display of futility, sliding the puck between the pads of Niittymaki to give the Rangers their second win in as many games this season.

"I was just thinking that I was just going to shoot it right away and go five-hole," Hossa said. "I didn't want to do any fake moves out there. I just shot it and I'm happy that it went through."

"They had one more skilled forward left, I guess," Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock said.

Rangers coach Tom Renney was impressed with the play of both goalies.

"(Lundqvist) was completely in the zone, and so was Niittymaki," Renney said. "It was a goaltending clinic, for the most part. They both played very well."

Adam Hall forged the 4-4 tie in the third and Michael Nylander had a goal and two assists for New York, which also handed Philadelphia a loss in its home opener last season.

"It's a good win for us," Renney said. "We picked up two points and we get some early distance between us and the Flyers. In one sense, both teams showed what they are capable of and what they are not capable of in another."

Gagne scored twice and defenseman Joni Pitkanen added three assists for the Flyers, who have gone beyond regulation in five of their last nine meetings with the Rangers.

For the second time in as many games this campaign, New York took the lead less than a minute into the contest. On Saturday, Nylander buried the rebound of defenseman Marek Malik's shot from the high slot with just 42 seconds gone by for a 1-0 edge.

Forsberg, the Flyers' captain, tied it during a 5-on-3 power play midway through the first and Gagne beat Lundqvist high to the glove side with 4:11 left to give Philadelphia a 2-1 advantage.

"This was a much better game for us than the Pittsburgh game (on Thursday)," Forsberg said. "I think we worked really well and played much better, but unfortunately, we didn't get the win."

Defenseman Michal Rozsival and Matt Cullen scored 3 1/2 minutes apart in the first half of the second period to put the Rangers in front, but Geoff Sanderson and Gagne tallied in the latter portion of the session to restore the Flyers' one-goal bulge.

"I went, on both goals, to his glove side," Gagne said. "I was trying a third time (in the shootout), but it didn't work."

Hall made the extended shootout possible by tapping in the rebound of Nylander's shot from the low slot at 8:33 of the third.