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Valiquette lifts Rangers over Flyers

Mar 2, 2008 - 10:06 PM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Even if he is not going to play regularly, Stephen Valiquette has the mentality of a starting goaltender. On Sunday, it worked out well for the New York Rangers.

Valiquette stopped 17 of 18 shots in relief of an ineffective Henrik Lundqvist and added one more save in the shootout as the New York Rangers posted a 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Brendan Shanahan and Nigel Dawes scored in the bonus format for the Rangers, who have won four in a row and have gained at least one point in their last nine (7-0-2).

"If I wasn't prepared to go in as a starting goalie, then maybe it wouldn't have gone well," Valiquette said. "The team obviously helped out so much and played well in front of me. But it's very important for a backup goalie to approach a game this time off year as a start."

New York (34-24-8) climbed into a tie with the idle Boston Bruins for sixth in the Eastern Conference and pulled two points ahead of the Flyers (33-25-8).

"I know that the last 20 games are so critical to how we finish the season," Valiquette added. "(Rangers coach Tom) Renney's been saying, 'Be ready, big man, be ready all the time.' I came to the game this morning as a starting goalie and it worked out because I did get a chance to play."

It was New York's first shootout at home since Shanahan scored the game-winner against Atlanta on January 24. This time, he was able to beat goaltender Martin Biron with a nice forehand move.

"I tried to get a really good jump on him, deny the shot," Biron said. "He made a real good move to his forehand and I came across. I'd have to say that he didn't have much to shoot at. He just put it right in the right spot."

Shanahan's goal allowed Valiquette to pick up another big win in the shootout. It was almost exactly one year ago when he recorded a victory in the shootout over St. Louis that keyed New York's stretch drive.

Valiquette picked up his fifth win of the season and third against Philadelphia after making a lunging toe save on All-Star defenseman Kimmo Timonen before Jeff Carter's shot hit the left post in the shootout.

One thing Valiquette was unable to do was preserve a 4-3 lead. He allowed Carter to score off a rebound with 8:11 remaining in regulation, ending his shutout streak over the Flyers this season at 151 minutes, 49 seconds.

"He's a National Hockey League goaltender in every sense of the word," Renney said. "Who knows what lay in front of him in terms of his participation with us moving forward. Henrik's our No. 1 guy - there's no two ways about that - but (Valiquette) established himself as a very good backup goaltender in this league."

Carter's tying goal gave the Philadelphia a point in its fifth straight game (3-0-2). The Flyers also had a three-game winning streak stopped but pulled three points ahead of Buffalo, which plays Sunday night.

"Right now, it's tough to see it that way," Philadelphia center Daniel Briere said. "It still feels like a loss and we know that they did get two points out of it, so it's a little tough to digest right now. Hopefully down the road, it's a point that might come in handy."

Carter's second goal of the contest produced the game's fourth tie but Valiquette got the last laugh.

"The second one, I was just taking away the angle on the shot and a lot of times (goaltending coach) Benoit (Allaire) says to us that if we're in practice and he's hearing guys hit the glass, hit the boards and hit the post, then it means there's really not a lot to shoot at," Valiquette said. "So, I like to count that as a save in my mind."

Before Valiquette spelled Lundqvist, it was a wild start as each team scored three goals in the opening period. Lundqvist was lifted after surrendering eight shots in the first period and Antero Niittymaki was pulled early in the second.

"That was just a track meet," Renney said. "I was a little shocked after the first period that the score was what it was. But chalk this one up as ugly."

"It was pretty chaotic," Shanahan added. "It was not really the game we have been playing. We came home, we had a lot of energy and our own energy worked against us at times defensively."

Niittymaki's afternoon ended after recently acquired defenseman Christian Backman scored 1:51 into the second to give New York a 4-3 lead. Niittymaki surrendered four goals on 14 shots.

Biron also played well in relief, turning aside all 21 attempts he faced.

Philadelphia opened the scoring just 68 seconds into the contest when Vaclav Prospal scored off a scramble in front of Lundqvist. Martin Straka forged the first tie at 4:20 before defenseman Braydon Coburn put the Flyers ahead nearly four minutes later.

The Rangers appeared to re-gain the momentum as Fredrik Sjostrom and Ryan Callahan tallied 2:22 apart. That lasted less than two minutes as Carter blew past New York defenseman Marek Malik and put a backhander past Lundqvist.