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Biron, Rangers blank Maple Leafs

Jan 15, 2012 - 6:04 AM Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Martin Biron made 20 saves to earn his second shutout of the season and lead the New York Rangers to a 3-0 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"I can't even call him a backup. He's played really well," Rangers head coach John Tortorella said about Biron, who improved to 9-2 in relief of starting goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. "He's just a perfect fit for where we are as a team. He's a great teammate."

Mike Rupp, Brian Boyle and Derek Stepan lit the lamp for New York, which won for the sixth time in seven games.

Jonas Gustavsson allowed all three goals on 30 shots as the Maple Leafs dropped their second straight game on the heels of a four-game win streak.

Rupp broke a scoreless tie 3:35 into the second period when he finished a 3- on-1 rush by the Rangers with the finale of a tic-tac-toe play that beat Gustavsson to the glove side.

Then, with 3:32 remaining in the second, Boyle sent a wrister from the top of the right circle that found the back of the net to give the Rangers some cushion.

Stepan capped the scoring at the 6:01 mark of the final period when he received a pass at the blue line and streaked alone towards the goaltender down the right side of the ice, faking left before deking to the right and wristing the puck into the net.

"I thought we came out flat a little bit," Toronto forward Clarke MacArthur said. "At this time of year there's no excuse for that. It was a big game for us and we got to have a better effort."

Biron made five saves and Gustavsson made eight in a scoreless first period.

Game Notes

Toronto has dropped three straight games to New York at home...Biron and Stepan also had an assist in the game...Each team went 0-for-2 on the power play.