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Gomez, Redden help Rangers jolt Lightning

Oct 5, 2008 - 11:03 PM PRAGUE, Czech Republic (Ticker) -- Scott Gomez and defenseman Wade Redden recorded a goal and an assist apiece as the New York Rangers notched their second consecutive 2-1 triumph over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.

Henrik Lundqvist finished with 18 saves for New York, which completed a two-game sweep at the O2 Arena as part of NHL Premiere 2008.

The Rangers, who held a 39-19 advantage in shots, enjoyed an 80-40 edge in the brief series.

Former Ranger Adam Hall scored and veteran goaltender Olaf Kolzig made 37 saves for Tampa Bay, which finished the 2007-08 season with an NHL-worst 31 wins.

Clearly frustrated, Tampa Bay coach Barry Melrose didn't mince words after the game.

"We're too easy to play against. Until that changes, we're going to have trouble," Melrose said. "Our goaltenders (Mike Smith and Kolzig) are great. We have a lot of skill on our team, but skill doesn't mean anything if you don't work hard, and we're being outworked."

With the game tied at 1-1 with 7:48 remaining in the second period, Gomez received a brilliant feed at the side of the net from Aaron Voros Gomez promptly tapped it in for his first goal of the season.

"We've got to pick up some things," Gomez said. "We get so many shots and we want to put more goals in.

"But the bottom line is we took four points and we'll keep it that way."

Gomez's goal came nearly 8 1/2 minutes after Redden leveled the contest with a power-play tally just 3:47 into the second period.

The former Ottawa Senators blue-liner accepted a centering feed from Markus Naslund and blasted a shot past Kolzig for his first goal as a member of the Rangers.

"I was standing there and the power play was pretty good tonight," said Redden, who signed a six-year, $39-million free-agent deal with New York during the summer. "We had the pressure, we hemmed them in pretty good, and Naslund just made a great play."

"Wade is a very calculated player, he's a very poised player," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "He's got a lot of patience. He can process things quickly and yet make it look almost too calm. He did it tonight."

Hall opened the scoring with 1:43 remaining in the first period.

After winning the faceoff in the offensive end, Hall drove to the net and redirected a shot from the point by defenseman Andrej Meszaros past Lundqvist for his first goal of the season. Hall played 49 games for the Rangers in the 2006-07 season.

"We're looking to make a perfect play, but the New York Rangers don't look to make a perfect play," Melrose said. "Look at our goal (by Adam Hall) we just shot it. We have to get back to a simple mindset. Great players that keep it simple are very tough to play against. That's what we have to get to doing more of."

Bidding for his first NHL goal of his career, Steven Stamkos hit the crossbar late in the second period for his only shot of the game. The top overall pick of the 2008 draft also notched two penalty minutes in his 14 minutes, 53 seconds of ice time.

The Rangers will host the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night, and the Lightning face the visiting Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.