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Rangers overcome early deficit, down Canadiens

Feb 3, 2008 - 11:30 PM By Mark Lidbetter PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MONTREAL (Ticker) - Chris Drury's goal with less than 10 minutes left in regulation highlighted a five-goal comeback by the New York Rangers en route to a 5-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday.

Trailing 3-0 after Sergei Kostitsyn's penalty shot conversion at 5:40 of the second period, the Rangers knotted the game when Scott Gomez punched in a rebound off Marc Staal's wrister with 4:30 left in the second period.

Montreal converted its first three power-play opportunities to grab its 3-0 lead.

"Our first period wasn't very good at all," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "We gave one of the better power plays an opportunity to establish itself and open up Montreal's game.

"None of us were too happy with our first. We knew we were going to have to correct ourselves and that we had to work at it a shift at a time."

Michal Rozsival and Brandon Dubinsky scored 24 seconds apart to pull the Rangers within 3-2 midway through the second.

"I think that first goal really helped us out - it showed us there was a lot of hockey game left," Gomez said. "We have to stick with our game plan. I think that's been the difference since the All-Star break. If 20 guys stick with it we'll be fine."

New York took the lead just past the midway point of the third, when Drury perfectly timed his race to the right corner and tipped Nigel Dawes' pass past Montreal netminder Cristobal Huet with 9:51 remaining.

"We were real fired up over what happened in the second and we carried that momentum to the third," Drury said. "Being down by three and coming back on the road was a big statement."

Martin Straka, who also assisted on the Rangers' first goal, capped the scoring with 1:30 remaining.

Underachievers for most of the season, the Rangers have won three straight and five of their last six as they try to solidify a playoff spot in the tightly bunched Eastern Conference.

After allowing three goals on the first 13 shots he faced, Henrik Lundqvist blanked the Canadiens over the final 34 minutes and finished with 25 saves. He has won four of his last five starts.

"We worked very hard for each other," Lundqvist said. "It was outstanding the way we played, short shifts and (we) stayed fresh. We didn't give them a chance to get their game going. Getting that next goal after they (Montreal) went up 3-0 was the key (to the win)."

Andrei Markov, Alexei Kovalev and Kostitsyn scored for the Canadiens, who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end.

"We couldn't have asked for a better start," Montreal defenseman Mike Komisarek said. "You can't let a team like that back in the game. I think we didn't stay with what worked for us, there were too many fancy things instead of getting the puck deep on them and working their defense."

Over the final two periods, the Rangers outshot the Canadiens, 26-19.

"I think we lost some of our energy in the second and third," Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau said. "Give them (New York) credit, they adapted. They have a team that you think is offensive with guys like Jagr, Drury, Gomez and Straka, but they play a solid defensive game."

The contest turned chippy in the third period as tempers flared following Ryan Hollweg's second-period check from behind on Kostitsyn.

Hollweg received a game misconduct for running the Russian left wing headfirst into the boards and could be facing a suspension.